US 7,743,497 B2Granted

Method of providing non-uniform stator vane spacing in a compressor

AssigneeGeneral Electric Company

InventorsJames C. Gautreau, Stephen P. Wassynger

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Abstract

Stator blade counts of an upper compressor casing for adjacent stages S0 and S1 are changed in the field to provide additional stator vanes and hence an increased vane count. Particularly, the upper casing half of the compressor is removed from the lower casing half. The original stator vanes on opposite axial sides of the first stage buckets are removed from the upper casing half and replaced by an additional sets of stator vanes providing a non-uniform vane spacing as between the upper and lower halves of the compressor as well as between axially adjacent stages S0 and S1. The unequal vane counts reduce the vibratory response of the rotating blades between stages S0 and S1.

Claims7

Dependent claims

A method of retrofitting a compressor comprising the steps of:

(a) removing an upper half of the compressor casing in situ to open the compressor;
(b) removing a first set of stator vanes of an array thereof having a first blade count from the removed upper half of the compressor casing;
(c) in place of the removed first set of stator vanes, installing in the removed upper half of the compressor casing a second set of stator vanes with a second vane count different than the vane count of said first set of stator vanes, while maintaining without change, all original stator vanes in a lower half of the compressor casing;
and
(d) closing the compressor by securing the upper half of the compressor casing with the second set of stator vanes to the lower half of the compressor casing.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/244,372Filed 6 Oct 2005
Published: US 2007/0079506 A112 Apr 2007
Granted: 29 Jun 2010
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification17 codes

F04D 29/667
Especially adapted for elastic fluid pumps: by influencing the flow pattern, e.g. suppression of turbulence
F01D 9/041
Forming ring or sector: using blades
F04D 29/542
Specially adapted for elastic fluid pumps: bladed diffusers
F04D 29/666
Especially adapted for elastic fluid pumps: by means of rotor construction or layout, e.g. unequal distribution of blades or vanes

Family

US 2007/0079506 A1Pre-grant publication · published 12 Apr 2007
US 7,743,497 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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