Patent Grant
9057374
The present invention relates to an oilless screw compressor incorporating a heat-exchange for cooling compressed air.
There has been known an oil-free compressor having a pair of male and female screw rotors which can be rotated by timing gears in a contactless and oilless manner so as to compress air. The oil-free compressor has a compressor body for compressing air, and since the temperature of the compressed air discharged from the compressor body becomes high, the compressor is incorporated with a cooling unit for cooling the compressed air.
JP-A-3-290089 discloses a single stage oil-free compressor having such a configuration that a pre-cooler or an after-cooler is incorporated as the cooling unit for cooling the compressed air. In this example, an external cooling water is fed through the cooling unit in order to aim at cooling the compressed air.
JP-A-2001-153080 discloses a two-stage compressor having two compressor bodies. In this compressor, the compressed air from the first stage compressor body is cooled by an intercooler and the compressed air from the second stage compressor body is cooled by an aftercooler, respectively, as cooling units, which are fed thereinto cooling water. Further, JP-A-2006-249934 discloses a two-stage compressor in which the compressed air is cooled by a plate-type heat-exchanger.
In a screw compressor, a power required for compressing air is converted into heat, and accordingly, the temperature of the compressed air rises. The temperature of the compressed air becomes extremely high. As to the oilless screw compressor (oil-free compressor), the temperature of the compressed air discharged from the compressor body comes up to a temperature in a range from about 300 to 350 deg.C. in the case of the single stage type compressor, and in a range from 160 to 250 deg.C. even in the case of the two-stage type compressor.
There have been frequently used, as the cooling unit for cooling the high temperature compressed air in a water cooled compressor, a shell-and-tube type water cooled heat-exchanger (as, for example, disclosed in JP-A-2001-153080) in both single-stage and two-stage type. In the case of the two-stage type compressor, there are arranged individually a heat-exchanger for cooling a low pressure stage compressed air and a heat-exchanger for cooling a high pressure stage compressed air.
It has been difficult to miniaturize the shell-and-tube type water cooled heat-exchanger in view its structure, that is, it has been difficult to greatly miniaturize not only the cooling unit itself in the oilless screw compressor but also the oilless screw compressor unit. JP-A-3-290089 discloses an example utilizing a tube-type heat-exchanger, which is also difficult to be miniaturized, that is, it has been such a configuration that the miniaturization thereof is difficult.
Thus, it has been proposed to use the plate type heat-exchanger, which has a volumetric ratio of about 1/10 to 1/20 in comparison with the shell-and-tube type heat-exchanger, that is, the miniaturization thereof is extremely simple.
However, in the case of using the plate type heat-exchanger for cooling the high temperature compressed air discharged from the compressor body of the oilless screw type compressor, its fitting ports, channel plates, brazed portions between the channel plates and cover plates would be damaged or broken due to thermal fatigue caused by temperature difference. In particular, in a compressor which can be driven in response to the users' demand, upon automatic stopping of the compressor or unload operation (no-load running) thereof, only a slight quantity of compressed air remains in the heat-exchanger, that is, only the cooling water flows through the plate-type heat-exchanger, resulting in high possibility of occurrence of a temperature difference. At this time, since the cooling unit would be damaged or broken within a short time, there has been caused lowering of the reliability of the compressor itself.
In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims at providing a highly reliable oilless screw compressor in which damage and breakage of a cooling unit is restrained.
To the end, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an oilless screw type compressor comprising a water-cooled cooling unit for cooling compressed air discharged from a compressor body having a pair of female and male screw rotors which can be rotated in a contactless and oilless manner, wherein the cooling unit is composed of a plate type heat-exchanger, and a amount of cooling water for the plate type heat-exchanger can be adjusted.
Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an oilless screw compressor comprising a low pressure stage compressor body having a pair of male and female screw rotors which can be rotated in a contactless and oilless manner, for compressing air sucked thereinto, a water cooled type first heat-exchanger for cooling the compressed air discharged from the low pressure stage compressor body, a high pressure stage compressor body for compressing the compressed air cooled by the first heat-exchanger, and a water-cooled second heat-exchanger for cooling the compressed air discharged from the high pressure stage compressor body, wherein the first and second heat-exchangers are composed of a plate type heat-exchanger, and an amount of cooling water for the plate type heat-exchanger can be adjusted.
Further, in the above-mentioned aspects of the present invention, there may be provided more preferable specific embodiments as follows:
(1) the amount of the cooling water is adjusted or the supply of the cooling water is stopped upon automatic stopping of the compressor:
(2) the amount of the cooling water is adjusted or the supply of the cooling water is stopped in accordance with a time of no-load operation during no-load operation;
(3) the amount of the cooling water is adjusted or the supply of the cooling water is stopped, depending upon a temperature of the compressed air at an inlet port or an outlet port of the plate type heat-exchanger, or a temperature of the cooling water at the outlet port of the plate type heat-exchanger;
(4) the oilless screw compressor in which the plate type heat-exchanger has a compressed air fitting port and a cooling water fitting port which are arranged on opposite sides, respectively;
(5) the cooling water for the plate type heat-exchanger is fed thereinto after it cools the low pressure stage compressor body, the high pressure stage compressor body, or both of them; and
(6) the cooling water for the plate type heat-exchanger is fed thereinto after it is fed into a lubricant heat-exchanger.
Further, in the second aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the cooling water for the plate type heat-exchanger is fed into the plate type heat-exchanger for cooling the compressed air discharged from the high pressure stage compressor body after it is fed into the plate type heat-exchanger for cooling the compressed air discharged from the low pressure stage compressor body. Alternatively, it is preferable that the cooling water is fed into the plate type heat-exchanger for cooling the compressed air discharged from the low pressure stage compressor body after it is fed into the heat-exchanger for cooling the compressed air discharged from the high pressure stage compressor body.
In addition, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, there is preferably provided such a configuration that the above-mentioned plate type heat-exchanger is provided in the compressor body, a gear casing incorporating gears for driving the compressor body, a pipe line through which the high temperature compressed air flows, or at a position where waste heat therefrom is received, or such a configuration that the plate type heat-exchanger is integrally incorporated with the compressor body, the gear casing or the pipe line.
According to the present invention, there can be provided a highly reliable oilless screw compressor.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Explanation will be hereinbelow made of an oilless screw compressor comprising a compressor body having a pair of male and female screw rotors which can be rotated by timing gears in a contactless and oilless manner, and a cooling unit for cooling compressed air discharged from the compressor body, wherein the cooling unit for the compressed air is composed of a plate type heat-exchanger, as an embodiment according to the invention.
In particular, explanation will be made of such an example that thermal fatigue of the plate type heat-exchanger is reduced by restraining variation in temperature of the plate type heat-exchanger, caused during automatic stopping or unload operation of the compressor, thereby it is possible to avoid occurrence of damage or breakage of the plate type heat-exchanger.
Specifically, there has been provided a means for stopping the supply of cooling water for the plate type heat-exchanger, or a means for adjusting an amount of the same, during an automatic stopping or unload operation of the compressor. The means for adjusting the amount of cooling water is capable of stopping the supply of the cooling water for the plate type heat-exchanger or adjusting the amount of the same during stopping of the compressor, depending upon information concerning any one of an unload time, a cooling water temperature or a temperature of the compressed air, by means of a selector valve or an adjusting valve connected to a cooling water pipe line.
A typical one of portions which could be damaged or broken due to thermal fatigue, in the plate type heat-exchanger, is fitting ports subjected to large temperature variation. Each fitting port is provided in a cover plate covering the associated plate. It is preferable that the fitting port for the compressed air and the fitting port for the cooling water are not provided in one and the same cover plate but are arranged being opposed to each other.
In order to reduce temperature variation of the plate type heat-exchanger during unload operation, the cooling water can be fed into the plate type heat-exchanger after the supply of the cooling water into the lubricant heat-exchanger, and alternately in the case of using the cooling water for cooling the compressor body, the cooling water is fed thereinto after the supply of the cooling water into a cooling jacket of the compressor body, or after the supply of the same into both of them.
Further, the plate type heat-exchanger should restrain variation in the temperature thereof during automatic stopping or unload operation of the compressor, and accordingly, the following configuration should be used: that is, the plate type heat-exchanger is arranged in the vicinity of the compressor body, the gear casing incorporating therein gears for driving the compressor, in which extra heat remains due to waste heat in the compressor unit, and a pipe line through which the high temperature compressed air flows, or the plate type heat-exchanger is integrally incorporated therewith. Explanation will be hereinbelow made of a specific embodiment with reference to the drawings.
The male rotor 5 is attached at its one axial end with a pinion gear 9, which is meshed with a bull gear 10 attached to a shaft of a motor 12. The pinion gear 9 and the bull gear 10 are accommodated in the gear casing 4 having a lower part serving as an oil reservoir 11. Further, the end part of the shaft attached thereto with the bull gear 10 is coupled to the shaft of the motor 12 through the intermediary of a coupling 31. With the use of these compressor driving gears, the output power of the motor 12 is transmitted to the compressor body.
It is noted that some of reference numerals in
The low pressure stage compressor body 2 is connected on the suction air side (in the upper part) thereof with a suction throttle valve 13 for adjusting the amount of air sucked into the screw compressor body. Thus, by adjusting the throttle valve 13, the amount of air to be compressed can be adjusted.
Further, an air passage is formed by a pipe line, so that air taken into the screw compressor 1 is compressed and is then discharged. That is, the air fed from the suction port into the low pressure stage compressor body 2 by way of the suction throttle valve 13 is compressed through the rotation of the pair of rotors, and is then fed into a discharge pipe line 14 on the compressed air discharge side. Thereafter, the air is fed into the high pressure stage compressor body 3 by way of a discharge pipe line 16 connected to the suction port of the high pressure stage compressor body 3. The air fed into the high pressure stage compressor body 3 is further compressed, and then is discharged from the discharge port into a discharge pipe line 17 on the compressed air discharge side, from which the compressed air is fed into a discharge pipe line 32 connected to an external supply side line (which is not shown) of the compressor unit 1.
The discharge pipe line 14 on the compressed air discharge side of the low pressure stage compressor body 2 is connected to a heat-exchanger 15 for the low pressure stage compressed air, which is composed of a plate type heat-exchanger, that is, the plate type heat-exchanger is used as the heat-exchanger 15 for the low pressure stage compressed air. Further, the discharge pipe line 16 on the secondary side of the heat-exchanger 15 is connected to the suction port of the high pressure stage compressor body 3. That is, the plate type heat-exchanger as a cooling unit is connected in the passage connecting between the low pressure stage compressor body 2 and the high pressure stage compressor body 3.
The discharge port of the high pressure stage compressor body 3 is connected to the heat-exchanger 19 for the high pressure stage compressed air, which is composed of a plate type heat-exchanger, through a check valve 18 by way of the discharge pipe line 17. Accordingly, a secondary discharge pipe line 32 of the plate type heat-exchanger 19 for the high pressure stage compressed air is connected to the external supply line (which is not shown) of the compressor unit 1. That is, the plate type heat-exchanger is incorporated in the passage between the high pressure stage compressor body 3 and a connection for an external equipment.
Meanwhile, the cooling water is fed from an external portion of the unit, after flowing through the lubricant heat-exchanger 22, the jackets 23 for the low pressure stage compressor body 2 and the high pressure stage compressor body 3, the plate type heat-exchanger 15 for the low pressure stage compressed air and the plate type heat-exchanger 19 for the high pressure stage compressed air, and is then discharged outside of the cooling unit 1. Thus, the heating parts and the compressed air are cooled by the cooling water.
It is noted that there are provided a drain pipe line 33 for the low pressure stage compressed air and a drain pipe line 34 for the high pressure stage compressed air, respectively in the pipe lines downstream of the heat-exchanger 15 and the heat-exchanger 19, for external drainage.
The lubricant which is reserved in the oil reservoir 11 in the lower part of the gear casing 4, is sucked up through a strainer 25 for removing unnecessary matters, when an oil pump 24 is operated. Thereafter, the lubricant passes through the lubricant heat-exchanger 22 and an oil filter 26 so as to lubricate the gears and bearings (which are not shown) in the compressor bodies, gears in the gear casing 4 and the like, and is thereafter returned into the oil reservoir 11 in the lower part of the gear casing 4. Through heat-exchange with the cooling water in the above-mentioned lubricant circulation passage, the lubricant is cooled and is then fed into the several parts. It is noted, as shown in
In the water cooled two-stage oilless screw compressor 1 as stated above, the torque of the motor 12 is transmitted to the male rotor 5 through the intermediary of gears such as the bull gear 10 and the pinion gear 9, for driving the compressor. The torque transmitted to the male rotor 5 is transmitted to the female rotor 6 through the intermediary of the timing gears 7, 8, and accordingly, the male rotor 5 and the female rotor 5 are rotated, being made into not contact with each other so that the ambient air is sucked into the compressor body by way of the suction filter 27 and the suction throttle valve 13, and is compressed up to a predetermined pressure. This compressed air is cooled with the above-mentioned configuration, and is then fed into the supply side.
It is noted, in
Referring to
Referring to
Upon load operation, in such a condition that the air is sufficient on the client side, the pressure in the discharge pipe line 32 increases. At this time, when the pressure which is detected by a pressure sensor (which is shown in
The air is used on the client side, and accordingly, when the detected pressure comes down to a pressure P3 set as a value which is lower than the pressure P2, the control part 40 again controls the capacitive control valves (such as the throttle valve 13, the vent valve 28 and the like) so as to carry out load operation with the output pressure P2. Thus, depending upon the degree of consumption of the air on the client side, load/unload operation is repeated. That is, the control part 40 controls the capacitive control valves so as to constitute a load and unload cycle. As shown in
Further, although detailed description will be omitted, the speed of the motor 12 may be changed in accordance with a value of consumption of the air in the case of incorporating an inverter unit.
Detailed explanation will be hereinbelow made of the cooling unit in this embodiment.
The plate type heat-exchanger 35 used as the cooling unit in this embodiment, is composed of two cover plates 36 and channel plates 37 formed of an extremely thin stainless sheet. They are blazed with one another by copper or the like. Specifically, the channel plates 37 are interposed between the cover plates 36 surrounding the former at both sides. The compressed air and the cooling water are led into the pipe lines through the fitting ports 38. The compressed air and the cooling water are alternately led between the channel plates 37 so as to carry out the heat-exchange therebetween. Further, the channel plates 37 are formed therein with a herringbone pattern, that is, the channel plates 37 are formed therein with complicated passages which are alternately superposed with one another. With these complicated passages, the heat-exchange rate can be enhanced thereby it possible to miniaturize the heat-exchanger.
In the case of the oilless screw compressor, the compressed air having an extremely high temperature flows therethrough during load operation, and accordingly, it can be effectively cooled by the plate type heat-exchanger as the cooling unit. Meanwhile, during unload operation, the compressed air in the discharge pipe line between the check valve 18 and the compressor body is vented to the outside from a vent silencer 29 by the opening of the vent valve 28 so as to carry out unload operation. Upon automatic stopping or during unload operation of the compressor, the cooled air is returned to a check valve 18 from the supply side line.
Further, in this condition, if the cooling water is continuously fed into the plate type heat-exchanger, repeated stress is caused, due to temperatures with the frequent repetitions of such operation. The repeated stress due to the temperatures would cause damages or breakage to brazing parts between the channel plates 37, the channel plates 37, the cover plates 36 and the fitting ports 38 through which the high temperature compressed air passes at first due to differences in thermally expansion and contraction coefficients thereamong. Thus, it is difficult to use the plate type heat-exchanger under the above-mentioned repeated stress caused by high temperatures.
As an example, the temperature of compressed air discharged from the high pressure stage compressor body 3 of two-stage compressor of 75 kW type comes up to 200 deg.C. during load operation. However, the air which has been cooled down to a value nearly equal to the atmospheric temperature is returned from the supply side line to the check valve 18 upon automatic stopping or during unload operation of the compressor. Thus, should the cooling water continuously flow through the plate type heat-exchanger even upon automatic stopping or during unload operation of the compressor, the above-mentioned damage or breakage would be soon caused.
Accordingly, in accordance with the capacitive control, that is, the amount of the cooling water is controlled so as to be decreased during unload operation, the reliability of the heat-exchanger may be enhanced. For example, the temperature sensor 20 is incorporated so as to detect a temperature of the cooling water or a temperature of the compressed air. Further, the control part adjusts the amount of the cooling water in dependence upon the thus detected value, thereby it is possible to restrain the damage and the breakage of the plate type heat-exchanger.
More specifically, the amount of the cooling water flowing through the plate type heat-exchanger is adjusted in accordance with a temperature of the cooling water at the outlet port of the plate type heat-exchanger or a temperature of the primary or secondary side compressed air detected by the temperature sensor 20 (shown in
Instead of the provision of the temperature sensors 20 as stated above, the amount of the cooling water may be controlled on the basis of a value detected by a pressure sensor. Because, unload operation is carried out if an external discharge pressure P1 of discharging the water externally is detected by the pressure sensor so as to determine an overcharge condition, and accordingly, if the amount of the cooling water is reduced at this time, the similar effect can be obtained.
The adjustment for the amount of the cooling water is carried out by stepless control or on-off control with the use of a control equipment such as the electric valve 21 shown in
As shown in
Further, in the configuration of the plate type heat-exchanger, in stead of such a configuration, as shown in
The fitting ports 38 are hereafter described. The amount of the cooling water is adjusted or the supply of the cooling water is stopped, depending upon a temperature of the compressed air at a compressed air inlet port 38a or a compressed air outlet port 38c of the plate type heat-exchanger, or a temperature of the cooling water at the cooling water outlet port 38b of the plate type heat-exchanger. Cooling water is supplied to the plate type heat exchanger through a cooling water inlet port 38d.
The fitting port 38 is one of those which would be frequently damaged, that is, it would probably damaged or broken due to temperature fatigue in the connection part between the fitting port 38 and the cover plate 36. With the provision of the fitting port 38 of the plate type heat-exchanger through which the high temperature compressed air first flows, and the fitting port 38 for the cooling water in the respective different cover plates 36, the temperature difference between the fitting port 38 and the cover plate 36 is restrained, thereby it is possible to avoid damage or breakage of the fitting ports 38.
It is noted that the plate type heat-exchanger is set in a such a position that waster heat is highly possibly received, within the compressor unit. With this configuration, the plate type heat-exchanger can restrain from abruptly lowering its temperature upon automatic stopping and during unload operation of the compressor so as to reduce a burden upon the plate type heat-exchanger.
In view of the embodiments as stated above, in the oilless screw compressor in which the temperature of compressed air becomes high, a plate type heat-exchanger can be used. Further, in comparison with a conventional shell-and-tube heat-exchanger, the volume of the plate type heat-exchanger can be greatly reduced, and accordingly, it is possible to relax restraints to the layout of the heat-exchanger within the unit. Thus, the degree of freedom of laying out the pipe lines connecting between the heat-exchangers and the compressor bodies can be enhanced, and further, the length of the pipe line route can be shortened, thereby it is possible to aim at miniaturizing the overall size of the unit, and reducing the number of required components.
Thus, in the case of using a plate type heat-exchanger as a heat-exchanger for cooling a compressed air in an oilless screw type compressor in which the temperature of compressed air becomes higher, damage and breakage caused by the temperature fatigue can be avoided by adjusting the amount of the cooling air flowing through the plate type heat-exchanger. In addition to the adjustment for the amount of the cooling water, there may be used such a configuration that variation in the temperature of the plate type heat-exchanger can be restrained so as to restrain frequent operation of the cooling water switching valve or the regulator valve, thereby it is also possible to avoid damaging or breaking the control equipment.
It is noted that with the use of the inverter device so that the speed of the motor 12 is variable, the amount of the cooling water can be controlled in accordance with a speed of the motor 12.
It should be further understood by those skilled in the art that although the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-000304 | Jan 2007 | JP | national |
The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/752,319 filed May 23, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,988,435 and claims priority from Japanese application No. JP2007-000304 filed on Jan. 5, 2007, the contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference into this application.
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|---|---|---|---|
| 4815950 | Aoki et al. | Mar 1989 | A |
| 6561766 | Nishimura et al. | May 2003 | B2 |
| 7988435 | Fujimoto et al. | Aug 2011 | B2 |
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| Entry |
|---|
| Communication dated Oct. 4, 2011, for Japanese Application No. 2007-000304; 3 pages; Japanese Patent Office, Japan. |
| Office Action of Chinese Application No. 200710104469 dated Jul. 31, 2009, with partial translation. |
| European Search Report dated Jan. 25, 2001; National Registration No. BE 200700243; 6 pages; European Patent Office. |
| Communication mailed on Mar. 21,2012, in connection with Japanese Application No. 2007-000304, 3 pages, Japanese Patent Office, Japan. |
| English translation of communication mailed Sep. 10, 2013, in connection with Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-109074, 4 pages; Japanese Patent Office, Japan. |
| English translation of communication mailed Mar. 24, 2014, in connection with Chinese Patent Application No. 200710104469.X, 18 pages. |
| English translation of communication mailed Dec. 24, 2013, in connection with Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-109074, 6 pages. |
| Communication issued Sep. 2, 2014, in connection with Chinese Application No. 200710104469.X, , with English translation thereof, 18 pgs. |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20110243781 A1 | Oct 2011 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11752319 | May 2007 | US |
| Child | 13164320 | US |
