US 7,125,224 B2Granted

Rotary kinetic tangential pump

AssigneeCharles Dow Raymond

InventorCharles Dow Raymond

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Abstract

A kinetic pump has a tangential axially inner inlet means and a tangential discharge and with a rotor having vanes forming fluid channels to move fluid from inlet to discharge. The volute is eliminated or restricted only to the discharge port sector, and the vanes, hence fluid channels, are oriented so as to be tangent to the inlet port axial cylindrical fluid entry zone. The removal of the volute makes the pump to be positive displacement, since the fluid is contained within the chambers enclosed by vanes, except for when passing the discharge port. The tangential orientation of the vanes allows the fluid, driven by atmospheric pressure to enter the chambers and fill the chambers both by the NPSH and by centrifugal force. The boundaries to the chambers are the fluid passages, and at the axial inner chamber surface by a cylindrical isobar formed by the divergent centrifugal force field, and at the axially outer surface, by an isobar corresponding to the outer distance from the axis at the tangential discharge port. This allows the pump to be filled by NPSH and gain rotational energy from the rotor, resulting in a focused tangential discharge of high velocity.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A rotary kinetic pump which operates on principles on inertia and momentum and said pump having rotating chambers which are filled with fluid by NPSH driven by atmospheric pressure, with the fluid gaining rotational energy within any enclosed chamber through force being transmitted to the fluid by a curved housing wall rather than by a rotor blade, and the enclosed fluid being allowed to exit through one or more tangentially orientated rotary discharge ports;

and with the structure of said rotary kinetic pump consisting of:
a rotor having a radially inner surface and a radially outer surface, with at least one communicating passage, and with the radially inner surface forming an intake plenum, and the radially outer surface and an end surface rotating in close proximity to a cavity in a stator housing member, and at the juncture of the radially outer surface of said rotor, at least one tangential discharge port, for a short angular sector of rotation, passing through the stator housing member wall so that fluid is discharged sinusoidally and intermittently as the rotor passage passes the discharge port, and outside of the angular sector of rotation of the discharge port during rotation, the passage is closed by the close proximity contact with the inner cavity wall of the housing at least momentarily, such that fluid is contained within the rotor passage and is not moving with respect to said rotor passage, so that when said rotor passage passes said tangential discharge port, the fluid in the radially outer portion of said rotor passage is ejected by momentum, and leaves a vacuum in the radially inner portion of said rotor passage, such that fluid enters the radially inner fluid passage by NPSH, and the fluid is only drawn in when the passage is open to said tangential discharge port, so that intake only takes place for a limited angle of rotation for said fluid passage, and when fluid is passing through an extended passage which includes the rotor passage plus discharge port, the cross sectional area at the radially inner passage entrance is substantially larger than any downstream area, such that the higher velocity discharge fluid capacity does not exceed the intake capacity, and that the intake plenum has at least one fluid intake means passing through the stator housing wall in which fluid is aimed toward the angular sector of intake to any open rotor passage, such that fluid, driven by NPSH at that angular sector enters the fluid passage in said rotor in a direct manner in which little force exists between the entering fluid and the rotor passage walls.

A rotary kinetic pump which operates on principles of in inertia, in particular, by the conservation of angular momentum, having rotating chambers which are filled with fluid by NPSH driven by atmospheric pressure, with the fluid gaining rotation energy within the enclosed chamber through force being transmitted to the fluid by a curved housing wall rather than by being struck by a rotor blade, and the enclosed fluid being allowed to exit the chamber through any tangentially orientated rotary discharge port;

and with the structure of said rotary of said rotary kinetic pump consisting of a rotor hub with shaft having an radially projecting conical protrusion and being more cylindrical on the radially end and outer surfaces, with vanes protruding from said radially outer and end rotor surfaces, and said vanes being tangent to the direction of rotation on the radially inner vane tips, but more radial in orientation at the radially outer vane tips, and each vane being angled back from direction of rotation from a sharp radially tangential inner tip to a more radially orientated outer tip at the radially outer diameter, and having adjacent vanes forming a rotating chamber the which gains rotational energy and a pressure gradient within said chamber, and which is bounded by the rotor, adjacent rotor vanes, a radially inner surface of revolution being a surface of equal pressure isobar, and a radially outer surface of revolution also a surface of equal pressure, and also a stator housing element consisting of a cavity in which said rotor rotates with the rotating vanes in close proximity to said cavity surface except at the radially inner portion of said cavity where an intake plenum cavity is formed which has an axial intake duct through said stator housing which is an axial diverging shape toward the intake plenum, and said stator cavity also having one or more tangential discharge ports passing through said radially outer stator housing wall in the direction of rotation to allow the rotating contained fluid in any rotor chamber to pass by momentum tangentially through any of said tangential discharge ports, thus completing the basic structure, but with the function of the pump being such that when any fluid contained any rotor chamber passes any tangential discharge port, the radially outer fluid exits tangentially from the radially outer boundary of said chamber, and is ejected at approximately the tip velocity of the radially outer vane rotor tip, and this creates a vacuum zone at that radial inner boundary of said chamber, causing fluid to be drawn into the chamber which has become an extended fluid passage which opens intermittently and sinusoidally as fluid being discharged and entering, and the said extended passage being the rotor chamber shape, plus a boundary on the inner cavity surface of the stator housing, which changes sinusoidally in length, plus the shape of the tangential discharge port;
and that the shape of said extended fluid passage is essential to the invention, that the passage must be much larger in cross section at the radially inner opening into the fluid passage, and the passage must be converging in cross sectional area with increased radial distance;
with the radially inner opening much larger in cross-sectional area than the discharge port;
such that the differential fluid velocities at inlet and outlet are taken in account so that the pump is not trying have the discharge flow exceed the intake flow and thus causing cavitation, and also because the passages pump fluid intermittently and sinusoidally, with still another essential and critical design factor being how the fluid enters the rotor chambers, which is as follows;
the fluid enters by an axial intake that becomes divergent due to a divergent chamber entry as well as fluid being forced radially outward by the conical rotor hub, such that the fluid enters the intake plenum with a radial flow component, but since this design has each rotor passage opening intermittently and sinusoidally at the same angular sector, the fluid within the intake plenum is caused to rotate as a vortex by the inner vane tips, since the fluid cannot enter the rotor chambers continuously, this causes the fluid to enter tangentially into the rotor chambers rather than radially, and since it enters tangentially into the chambers that are angled away from the direction of rotor motion, and since the inner vane tip is sharp and intersects the intake fluid at the radially outer plenum surface tangentially, there is very little contact or force with the vane surface, either on the leading edge of the following edge, since at that juncture, the incoming fluid is moving both in the same direction and with near to the same velocity as the inner vane tip, such that fluid enters the angled back rotor chamber by only being forced by atmospheric pressure acting against the rotating suction caused by discharging fluid in the chamber, and this allows fluid to enter each larger fluid chamber intermittently and sinusoidally with much less velocity between the fluid and the vanes, and with almost no force, having the result that there is little fluid shear, allowing the pumping of shear sensitive fluids, and also there is less wear due to less velocity, and also there is no source of cavitation or vane tip erosion and since generally only four or less vanes, the fluid passages are large and can accommodate debris without clogging and the sharp inner vanes tips can chop up incoming debris;
and the pump being more robust and simpler geometric design, and being more powerful for size, results in advantages both in cost and performance;
thus describing a pump that allows many new options and variations.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/804,709Filed 22 Mar 2004
Published: US 2004/0175268 A19 Sep 2004
Granted: 24 Oct 2006
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

F04C 14/22
Characterised by varying the volume of the working chamber: by changing the eccentricity between cooperating members
F01C 21/0836
By mechanical means: comprising guiding means, e.g. cams, rollers
F04B 1/04
Multi-cylinder machines or pumps characterised by number or arrangement of cylinders: having cylinders in star- or fan-arrangement
F04C 2/3442
The inner and outer member being in contact along one line or continuous surface substantially parallel to the axis of rotation: the surfaces of…