Patent Application
20230383760
Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to compressors, pumps, and expansion engines with shaft wear sleeves, improved lubricant film thickness, and/or lubricant with additives for handling debris-laden fluids. In particular, compositions, methods, systems, and applications herein are directed to reducing and/or eliminating wear between moving parts in compressors, pumps, and expansion engines, which may be implemented in equipment of vapor compression systems, such as, for example, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and/or refrigeration (HVACR) systems.
HVACR systems are generally used to heat, cool, and/or ventilate an enclosed space (e.g., an interior space of a commercial building or a residential building, an interior space of a refrigerated transport unit, or the like). A HVACR system may include a heat transfer circuit that utilizes a working fluid for providing cooled or heated air to an area. The heat transfer circuit includes a compressor.
The compressors include parts (e.g., driveshaft, scroll, rotor, screws, impeller, and the like) configured to move to compress a working fluid. The compressor can include one or more bearing(s) that include surfaces (e.g., a moving surface and a non-moving surface, or the like) that slide against each other to allow movement, for example, for supporting the rotating shaft within the compressor. A bearing can provide support while allowing a moving component to move relative to the housing of the compressor. Lubricant (e.g., oil or the like) can be supplied to the bearing(s) to prevent wear between the surfaces of the bearings. Seals can also be provided along the rotating shaft to prevent leakage of the working fluid between different stages, e.g., high and low stages, of the compressor, for example, a labyrinth seal.
The lubricants are used on these load bearing surfaces to reduce friction and wear. For example, in HVACR systems, utilizing saturated and unsaturated hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants—also referred to as hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) when unsaturated, may employ a polyol ester (POE) or a polyvinyl ether (PVE) lubricant. A specific lubricant is selected by considering the lubrication requirements of the intended system of use and ensuring that the refrigerant and oil mixture properties meet these requirements.
Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to compressors, pumps, and expansion engines with shaft wear sleeves, improved lubricant film thickness, and/or lubricants with additives, e.g., for handling debris-laden fluids. In particular, compositions, methods, systems, and applications herein are directed to reducing and/or eliminating wear between moving parts in compressors, pumps, and expansion engines, which may be implemented in equipment of vapor compression systems, such as, for example, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and/or refrigeration (HVACR) systems.
Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to overcoming the deficiencies of compressors, pumps, and expansion engines, which may be implemented in equipment of vapor compression systems, such as, for example, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and/or refrigeration (HVACR) systems. In an embodiment, a compressor includes a shaft having a wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment on at least a portion of an outer surface of the shaft adjacent the bearing and/or seal. In an embodiment, the lubricant is a polyol ester (POE) lubricant with a viscosity of at least 70 centistokes at 40° C., and at least 10 centistokes at 100° C., or between 76-77 centistokes at 40° C., and at least 10 centistokes at 100° C. In another embodiment, the lubricant is a lubricant blend composition comprising two or more lubricants, the two or more lubricants including a first lubricant; and a second lubricant, in which the first lubricant is present at a higher volume percentage than the second lubricant, and the first lubricant includes a higher viscosity than the second lubricant. In yet another embodiment, the lubricant includes additives, in which the additives include one or more of anti-wear additives, corrosion inhibitor additives, antioxidant additives, and acid catching additives. It is appreciated that while each of the above features were found to mitigate the wearing of the surfaces, it was surprisingly found that at least a combination of two of the above features resulted in unexpectedly improved properties than the feature alone, and most preferably, when the compressor included the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment, e.g., the chromium oxide (ceramic) wear sleeve, along with the use of a higher viscosity oil, e.g., viscosity at or about 75 centistokes or higher at 40° C., and the additives, at the critical ranges discussed herein. That is, it was surprisingly found that such combination of features provided the required protection against system debris and oil breakdown for continued operation of the compressor, e.g., reduced and/or prevented excessive abrasive wear of the system by, for example, permitting intermittent contact with lubricant having small hard particles.
In an embodiment, a compressor is provided. The compressor includes a housing, a shaft configured to be rotated relative to the housing to compress a refrigerant, a motor configured to drive the shaft, a lubrication system configured to supply lubricant to the compressor; and a bearing configured to support the shaft. The shaft comprises a wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment on at least a portion of an outer surface of the shaft adjacent the bearing.
In an embodiment, the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment is a coating selected from at least one of hard chrome, chromium oxide, aluminum oxide, cobalt/chromium carbide, boron nitride, CoNiCrAlY, NiCoCrAlY, complex carbides in nickel rich matrix, tungsten carbides in cobalt rich matrix (ExoGard), graphite, molybdenum, tungsten, diamond-like carbon, nickel alloy, hardened steel, or a combination thereof.
In an embodiment, the lubricant has a viscosity between at or about 70 centistokes and at or about 100 centistokes at 40° C., and/or between at or about 10 centistokes and at or about 12.6 centistokes at 100° C.
In an embodiment, the lubricant includes additives, wherein the additives include one or more of anti-wear additives, corrosion inhibitor additives, antioxidant additives, and acid catching additives.
In an embodiment, the lubricant comprises the anti-wear additives, the corrosion inhibitor additives, the antioxidant additives, and the acid catching additives, wherein the anti-wear additives include triaryl phosphates, the corrosion inhibitor additives include benzotriazole, the antioxidant additives include butylated hydroxytoluene, and the acid catching additives include 2-ethylhexyl glycidyl ether.
In an embodiment, the lubricant comprises between at or about 85 and at or about 95 volume % polyol ester (POE), between at or about 5 and at or about 15 volume % alkylbenzene (AB), and between at or about 1 and at or about 5 mass % additives.
In an embodiment, the lubricant comprises between at or about 95 and at or about 99 volume % polyol ester (POE) oil, and between at or about 1 and at or about 5 mass % additives.
In an embodiment, the lubricant comprises between at or about 0.5 and at or about 4 mass % of the anti-wear additives and between at or about 250 and at or about 5000 ppm of the antioxidant additives.
In an embodiment, a method of retrofitting a compressor is provided. The method includes coating a sleeve for a shaft of the compressor to provide a wear-resistant coating. The method further includes interference fitting the sleeve on the shaft of the compressor by heating the sleeve and fitting the sleeve over the shaft.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:
Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to compressors, pumps, and expansion engines with shaft wear sleeves, improved lubricant film thickness, and/or lubricant including additives for handling debris-laden fluids. In particular, compositions, methods, systems, and applications herein are directed to reducing and/or eliminating wear between moving parts in compressors, pumps, and expansion engines, which may be implemented in equipment of vapor compression systems, such as, for example, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and/or refrigeration (HVACR) systems.
A HVACR system is generally configured to heat and/or cool an enclosed space (e.g., an interior space of a commercial or residential building, an interior space of a refrigerated transport unit, or the like). The HVACR system includes a heat transfer circuit that includes a compressor and a working fluid (e.g., a refrigerant, a refrigerant mixture, or the like) that circulates through the heat transfer circuit. The working fluid is utilized to heat or cool a process fluid (e.g., air, water and/or glycol, or the like).
The compressor includes components (e.g., driveshaft, scroll, rotor, screws, impeller, and the like) that move relative to the housing of the compressor to compress the working fluid. One or more bearing(s) are provided to support the components within the compressor, in which lubricant is provided to lubricate the moving components and/or provide a sealing film. After being supplied to the bearing(s), the lubricant mixes with additional working fluid, in which the lubricant may lose refrigerant or include additional refrigerant, depending on the temperature and/or pressure conditions in the bearing and/or cavities. The lubricant is separated from the working fluid and the separated lubricant, which may include refrigerant, is then circulated back to the bearing(s). The lubricant can be stored in a lubricant tank until its supplied back to the bearing(s). The working fluid includes refrigerant. New types of low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants with zero ozone depletion potential, such as R514A refrigerant, R1233zd(E) refrigerant, R1234ze(E) refrigerant, R515B refrigerant, R513A refrigerant, and the like, are more easily dissolved into the lubricant causing the lubricant to be less effective in providing lubrication to the bearing(s).
In such equipment of vapor compression systems, the moving parts are separated from a wearing surface(s) of a moving part and/or a non-moving part by the lubricant. Abrasive wearing can occur when the lubricant is contaminated with small hard particles, e.g., greater than 25 microns and preferably between 25 to 100 microns. The small hard particles can include sheared off welded asperities, spalling, corrosion products, machining chips and debris, sand castings, un-clean assembly processes, oxides from chemical reactions, and/or the like. As such, the small hard particles can become embedded or lodged between the moving parts and the wearing surface(s) and the sliding between the moving part and the wearing surface can experience abrasive wearing due to the presence of these small hard particles, e.g., wire-wooling of the rotating shaft. That is, the small hard particle may be too large to pass the clearance distance between the moving part and be lodged between the rotating shaft and journal bearing, causing the debris to abrade the rotating shaft and/or journal bearing. For example, the thickness of the oil film within the bearing can be 25-50 microns. Particles that are smaller than the thickness may pass through the bearing without contact. Particles larger than this thickness may become embedded therein.
Further, as discussed above, as vapor compression systems are replacing the refrigerants having high global warming potential with refrigerants that are non-ozone depleting and have low global warming potential, new failure mechanisms are being observed due at least in part to the refrigerant being easily dissolved into the lubricant causing the lubricant to be less effective in providing lubrication to the bearing. For example, refrigerants used today and being developed as next generation refrigerants for HVACR equipment are soluble in POE and PVE lubricants depending on the operation type of the HVACR equipment (e.g. variable or fixed speed operation, compressor type e.g., rotary, screw, centrifugal, and the like). However, these refrigerants can potentially exhibit higher solubility and may be increasingly used in variable or high speed compressor product applications in which the lubricity of the lubricant is not sufficient. As such, newer developed refrigerants may result in corrosion of the wearing surfaces, e.g., between the moving and/or non-moving parts, which can contribute to the generation of the small hard particles which may be carried by the lubricant to cause the premature wear of the wear surface, e.g., between the rotating shaft and/or bearing(s).
Furthermore, due to the use of the POE lubricant, which is compatible with the low GWP refrigerants, more moisture is present than previous lubricant materials. As such, when the rotating shaft, which is made of iron/steel, is exposed to air and to the POE lubricant, the rotating shaft may become corroded, e.g., oxidation, and the corrosion product is carried by the lubricant as the small hard particles.
Additionally, without wishing to be bound by theory, it is understood that refrigerants break down due to heat or chemical reactions and can form corrosive chemicals. As such, the corrosive chemicals can corrode the bearing, for example, the tin in the Babbitt lining, and/or the rotating shaft, for example, carbon steel sleeve (1026, 1045), low alloy steel (4140 material), or steel alloy, and the corrosion product is carried by the lubricant to result in small hard particles trapped between the moving parts, e.g., the rotating shaft and bearing, to cause wearing or wire-wooling of the shaft and/or bearing. The carrying of the small hard particles, e.g., the corrosion product, in the lubricant can also cause further corrosion/abrasion rather than forming a corrosion/tribological film between the surfaces of the moving and/or non-moving parts, e.g., polar oil tends to suspend and carry corrosion products, rather than the products forming and staying on the metallic surfaces to provide a tribological wear surface layer. That is, the corrosion of certain surfaces can reduce the lubricant film thickness, and thus reduce the load carrying capacity of the bearing system which can also lead to elevated temperatures further breaking down the refrigerant.
Additionally, in the presence of moisture and refrigerant breakdown products, the potential exists for tin oxide to form. Tin oxide can potentially lead to small hard particle generation or decreased ability to embed small hard particles, both capable of producing wearing or wire-wooling of the moving and/or non-moving part(s).
On the other hand, the use of the prior refrigerants, e.g., the ozone depleting and/or high GWP refrigerants, with the compatible lubricants, such as mineral oil, in such vapor compression equipment, did not exhibit the same type of failures. For example, moisture content was much lower in the prior lubricants. Moreover, the non-polar nature of the prior lubricants resulted in more stable wear situations since the non-polar lubricant allowed the products to form and stay on the metallic surfaces to provide a tribological wear surface layer.
Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to overcoming the deficiencies as described above for compressors, pumps, and expansion engines, which may be implemented in equipment of vapor compression systems, such as, for example, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and/or refrigeration (HVACR) systems. In an embodiment, a compressor includes a shaft having a wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment on at least a portion of an outer surface of the shaft under the bearing and/or seal. In an embodiment, the lubricant is a polyol ester (POE) lubricant with a viscosity of at least 70 centistokes at 40° C., and at least 10 centistokes at 100° C., or between 76-77 centistokes at 40° C., and at least 10 centistokes at 100° C. In another embodiment, the lubricant is a lubricant blend composition comprising two or more lubricants, the two or more lubricants including a first lubricant; and a second lubricant, in which the first lubricant is present at a higher volume percentage than the second lubricant, and the first lubricant includes a higher viscosity than the second lubricant. In yet another embodiment, the lubricant includes additives, in which the additives include one or more of anti-wear additives, corrosion inhibitor additives, antioxidant additives, acid catching additives. It is appreciated that while each of the above features were found to mitigate the wearing of the surfaces, it was surprisingly found that at least a combination of two of the above features resulted in unexpectedly improved properties than one of the features alone, and most preferably, when used with a zero ozone depletion potential and/or low GWP refrigerant and the compressor included the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment, e.g., the chromium oxide (ceramic) wear sleeve, along with the use of a higher viscosity oil, e.g., working or pure oil viscosity between at or about 75 centistokes and at or about 100 centistokes at 40° C., and the additives, at the critical ranges discussed herein. That is, the combination of features as discussed herein provides a vapor compression system having a compressor that permits intermittent contact with lubricant having small hard particles to mitigate/reduce or prevent excessive wear of the moving and/or non-moving parts.
The heat transfer circuit 10 can generally be applied in a variety of systems used, for example, to control an environmental condition (e.g., temperature, humidity, air quality, or the like) in a space (generally referred to as a conditioned space). Examples of systems include, but are not limited to, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) systems, transport refrigeration systems, or the like.
The components of the heat transfer circuit 10 are fluidly connected. The heat transfer circuit 10 can be specifically configured to be a type of cooling system (e.g., fluid chiller) capable of operating in a cooling mode. Alternatively, the heat transfer circuit 10 can be specifically configured to be a heat pump system which can operate in both a cooling mode and a heating/defrost mode.
Heat transfer circuit 10 operates according to generally known principles. The heat transfer circuit 10 can be configured to use a heat transfer fluid or medium (e.g. working fluid) to heat or cool a process fluid or medium (e.g., a liquid such as, but not limited to, water or the like), in which case the heat transfer circuit 10, in an embodiment, may be generally representative of a fluid chiller system. The heat transfer circuit 10 can alternatively be configured to use a heat transfer fluid or medium (e.g. working fluid) to heat or cool a process medium or fluid (e.g., a gas such as, but not limited to, air or the like), in which case the heat transfer circuit 10 may be generally representative of an air conditioner or heat pump. In an example, the working fluid can be a refrigerant or refrigerant blend.
In operation, the compressor 12 compresses a heat transfer fluid or working fluid (e.g., refrigerant or the like) from a relatively lower pressure gas to a relatively higher-pressure gas. The relatively higher-pressure gas is discharged from the compressor 12 and flows through the condenser 14. In accordance with generally known principles, the heat transfer fluid flows through the condenser 14 and rejects heat to a heat transfer fluid or medium (e.g., water, air, etc.), thereby cooling the heat transfer fluid. The cooled heat transfer fluid, which is now in a liquid form, flows to the expander 16. The expander 16 reduces the pressure of the heat transfer fluid. In an embodiment, the expander may be an expansion valve, expansion plate, expansion vessel, orifice, or the like, or other such types of expansion mechanisms. It should be appreciated that the expander may be any type of expander used in the field for expanding a working fluid to cause the working fluid to decrease in pressure and temperature. As a result, a portion of the heat transfer fluid is converted to a gaseous form. The heat transfer fluid, which is now in a mixed liquid and gaseous form flows to the evaporator 18. The heat transfer fluid flows through the evaporator 18 and absorbs heat from a heat transfer medium (e.g., water, air, etc.), heating the heat transfer fluid, and converting it to a gaseous form. The gaseous heat transfer fluid then returns to the compressor 12. The above-described process continues while the heat transfer circuit is operating, for example, in a cooling mode (e.g., while the compressor 12 is enabled).
As seen in
Refrigerant enters the compressor 200 through the suction inlet 205, is compressed by the compression mechanism 215, and the compressed refrigerant is discharged from the discharge outlet 210 of the compressor 200. The bearing(s) 230 provide support to moving parts (e.g., rotating components) of the compressor while allowing the moving parts to move. In an embodiment, the bearings 230 can be radial bearings. However, in another embodiment the bearing(s) supplied lubricant can be thrust bearings. It should be appreciated that the bearing(s) 230 in an embodiment may be a different type of bearing (e.g., a thrust bearing, or the like). Seals 235 can be provided along the rotating shaft to prevent leakage of the working fluid between different stages, e.g., high and low stages, of the compressor and/or between the motor and the compression stages, for example, a labyrinth seal. It is appreciated that
The lubricant supply system is configured to provide lubricant to lubricate the compressor 200. The lubricant supply system at least supplies lubricant to the one or more moving parts of the compressor 200 (e.g., bearing, scrolls, rotors, impellers etc.). In the illustrated embodiment, the supply system supplies lubricant to at least one of the following components, compressor shaft 220, bearing(s) 230, seals 235, impellers 215, or a combination thereof.
The working fluid circulating in the heat transfer circuit 10 and that is compressed by the compressor 200 includes a refrigerant (e.g., a single refrigerant, a refrigerant blend, or the like). In an embodiment, the refrigerant is a low GWP refrigerant such as R513A refrigerant, R514A refrigerant, R515B refrigerant, R1233zd(E) refrigerant, and/or R1234ze(E) refrigerant, and the like (e.g., having a GWP of less than 750, having a GWP of less than 600). During operation, the working fluid can be combined with the lubricant to provide sealing and lubrication to the moving parts.
As seen in
As discussed above, when using certain low GWP refrigerants and lubricants that contains POE or a mixture of POE and AB, it was observed that small hard particles from sheared off welded asperities, spalling, corrosion products, machining tools, machining processes, sand castings, un-clean assembly processes, oxides from chemical reactions, and/or the like, were carried by the lubricant and became lodged between the wear surfaces, e.g., bearings or shaft seals, and the compressor shaft 220. As such, small hard particles started to wear the compressor shaft 220 and/or bearing 230 or seal 235, e.g., acted as a cutting tool and machined away the components.
Various embodiments as discussed below were found to overcome these deficiencies of premature wear, e.g., wearing of the moving and non-moving parts due to lubricant having small hard particles. For example, a wear-resistant sleeve-like coating can be applied to the compressor shaft to increase shaft hardness and improve resistance to chemical reactions, or the working or pure oil viscosity of the lubricant can be between to about 70 and to about 100 cSt, and most preferably between to about 75 to about 100 cSt at 40° C., to improve operating film thickness, or specific additives can be added to the lubricant to reduce wear and chemical reactions. While the embodiments are discussed separately, it is appreciated that the combination of at least two of the features resulted in the unexpected improvement to the properties of the compressor with respect to the abrasive wear.
In an embodiment, as seen in
It is appreciated that the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment, as used herein is not limited to a sleeve with a coating, but can be a number of different applications to increase surface hardness of the compressor shaft, including, but not limited to, a coating on at least a portion of the compressor shaft, a surface treatment on at least a portion of the compressor shaft, a sleeve that is fitted on the compressor shaft, or the like. The coating can be applied in a number of different manners. For example, the coating can be applied using plasma spraying, chemical vapor deposition, thermal spraying, electrodeposition, dip coating, or a combination thereof or similar application that provides bonding of the coating layer to the substrate.
In an embodiment, the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment can be retrofitted to a compressor shaft, for example, installed at a customer site, or provided during manufacturing of the compressor, e.g., selected portions of the compressor shaft are provided with the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment.
For example, in an embodiment, as seen in
In an embodiment, the sleeve can have a wall thickness between at or about 0.2 inches and at or about 0.7 inches, and preferably, less than at or about 0.5 inches, and most preferably 0.23 inches for being interference fitted on the compressor shaft. The coating on the sleeve can have a thickness between at or about 0.005 and at or about 0.05 inches, and preferably at or about 0.015 inches. It is understood that the term “about” references design tolerances, manufacturer variances, measurement variance, or the like, as used herein.
In an embodiment, the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment is retrofitted to a compressor by shrink fitting the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment onto the compressor shaft to reduce overall cost and design impact. Specific portions of the compressor shaft are selected that are likely to experience abrasive wear, for example, areas of the compressor shaft under the journal bearing and/or inboard and outboard labyrinth seals. The specific portions of the compressor shaft can be treated, for example, ground, chemical or laser etching, or the like to remove a portion of the outer surface of the compressor shaft to receive the sleeve of the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment.
It is appreciated that by applying the coating on the sleeve to form the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment 340, the coating layer, for example, the chromium oxide coating, will reduce and/or eliminate shaft wear when contacting the small particle debris since the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment provides durability against wear and is resistant to chemical reactions.
In an embodiment, as seen in
As seen in
Similar to the embodiment shown in
In another embodiment to reduce and/or eliminate wear, a lubricant is provided in the vapor compression system. In particular, compositions, methods, systems, and applications herein are directed to a lubricant that balances solubility and viscosity of a low GWP refrigerant, where in some cases the lubricant herein helps reduce solubility of a refrigerant and increase viscosity of the lubricant.
It is appreciated that the lubricity (e.g. lubrication quality) can be impacted when the viscosity is too low, for example through insufficient bearing film thickness in the compressor which can lead to system wear, reduced system life, and/or system failure. Too high of viscosity can impact efficiency of the system through increased power consumption to move the fluid. Targeting a suitable resulting viscosity from the lubricant can provide adequate viscosity to create an acceptable film when mixed with refrigerant, for example in a chiller system. That is, the solubility of the refrigerant is not detrimental to the viscosity to provide an acceptable bearing film thickness.
In an embodiment, a lubricant can be polyol ester (POE) or a lubricant blend that includes a mixture of two or more different types of lubricants to reduce refrigerant solubility. In an embodiment, the lubricant blend includes one or more of polyol ester (POE), a polyvinyl ether (PVE), or polyalkylene glycol (PAG) as the first lubricant and one or more of alkylbenzene (AB), polyalphaolefin (PAO), mineral oil, or estolide as the second lubricant. In an embodiment, the first lubricant is POE and the second lubricant is AB.
In an embodiment, a POE includes but is not limited to for example a compound which may be derived from alcohols including pentaerythritol, trimethylolpropane, neopentyl glycol, and dipentaerythritol (or combinations), and carboxylic acids comprised of 4 to 10 carbons in linear or branched formation or mixed (both linear and branched).
In an embodiment, a PVE includes but is not limited to for example polymers that contain ether side chains comprised of 2-8 carbons.
In an embodiment, an AB includes but is not limited to for example alkylbenzenes which are branched, linear, or are combinations thereof.
In an embodiment, a mineral oil (MO) includes but is not limited to for example paraffins, naphthenes, aromatics, nonhydrocarbons, or combinations thereof.
In an embodiment, lubricant has a resulting ISO viscosity for example at 40° C. of at or about 70 to at or about 100 cSt, and in some embodiments, at or about 75 to at or about 90 cSt. In an embodiment, the lubricant is used in a system implemented with rotary, screw, scroll compressor, or a centrifugal compressor, which may operate at variable or fixed speed.
In an embodiment, the lubricant was selected to increase the operating viscosity to form the bearing film at the required thickness to prevent premature wear between the moving parts. Specifically, in some embodiments, the lubricant includes between at or about 95 and at or about 100 volume % polyol ester (POE) oil. In other embodiments, the lubricant includes the lubricant blend that includes by volume of the lubricant at or about 85 to at or about 95 percent by volume of the first lubricant and at or about 5 to at or about 15 percent by volume of the second lubricant, and preferably at or about 90 percent by volume of the first lubricant and at or about 10 percent by volume of the second lubricant. It was surprisingly found that, for use with certain low GWP refrigerants by increasing the viscosity of the lubricant to have the same or similar viscosity as that of mineral oil, which is between at or about 70 cSt to at or about 100 cSt at 40° C. or at or about 10 cSt to at or about 12.6 cSt at 100° C., and preferably between at or about 75 cSt and 90 cSt at 40° C., and nominally 76-77 or 90 cSt at 40° C., to provide the tribofilm, the premature bearing failure was at least partially mitigated and/or prevented.
Applications of the lubricant herein can include vapor compression systems that employ a centrifugal compressor, a screw compressor, a scroll compressor, or reciprocating compressor, which may be used in a fixed or variable speed operation. The lubricant herein may be mixed with a refrigerant or refrigerant blend, including two or more of saturated hydrofluorocarbon, unsaturated hydrofluorocarbon, saturated hydrofluorochlorocarbon, unsaturated hydrofluorochlorocarbon, hydrocarbon, fluorinated or nonfluorinated ether, carbon dioxide, and ammonia.
In an embodiment, such refrigerants can include but are not limited to at least one of or blends of 1,1-dichloro-2,2,2-difluoroethane, 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane, 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane, 1,1,2,2,3-pentafluoropropane, difluoromethane, 1,1-difluoroethane, 1,2-dichloroethylene (E), 1,2-dichloroethylene (Z), 1,1-dichloroethylene, 1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluorobutene (Z), 1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluorobutene (E), 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane, 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane, C2-C8 hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, and ammonia, and combinations thereof. In an embodiment, the POE lubricant and/or the POE/AB lubricant blend is not used with trans-1-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene (R1233zd) since R1233zd likely has higher solubility in a POE oil than a typical mineral oil.
In yet another embodiment, the lubricant can include or be mixed with additives when used with the low GWP refrigerant. In an embodiment, the additives can include one or more of dispersants, detergents, anti-wear additives, pressure agents, corrosion inhibitors, antioxidants, acid catchers, viscosity index improvers, pour point depressants, foaming agents, anti-foaming agents, or other like stabilizing or performance enhancing compounds. More preferably, the additives include one or more of the anti-wear additives, the corrosion inhibitor additives, the antioxidant additives, and the acid catching additives, and in some embodiments, the additives only include the combination of anti-wear additives and the antioxidant additives.
It is appreciated that the anti-wear additives include triaryl phosphates, which is a lubricity improvement additive and refrigerant stabilizer, the corrosion inhibitor additives include benzotriazole, which is a yellow metal passivator, lubricity improvement additive, and refrigerant stabilizer, the antioxidant additives include Attorney Docket No.: 20424.0686US1 butylated hydroxytoluene, which is a free radical scavenger, antioxidant, and refrigerant stabilizer, and the acid catching additives include 2-ethylhexyl glycidyl ether, which is an acid scavenger and refrigerant stabilizer, as summarized in Table 1 below.
Furthermore, the additives can be present in the lubricant and/or the lubricant blend at or about 1 to at or about 5 mass % with respect to the mass of the lubricant. Specifically, TAP can be present in an amount between at or about 0.5% to at or about 4 mass %, and preferably at 2 mass %, BZT can be present in an amount at or about 20 ppm to at or about 1000 ppm, and preferably 90 ppm, 2-ethylhexyl glycidyl ether (AC) can be present in an amount at or about 250 ppm to at or about 5000 ppm, and preferably, 900 ppm, and BHT can be present in an amount at or about 250 ppm to at or about 5000 ppm, and preferably, 1000 ppm.
It is appreciated that the various embodiments as discussed herein can be combined to provide unexpected improvements in the properties. For example, since the above mentioned failure mechanism was not experienced with the refrigerant R-123 in combination with the mineral oil based lubricant, such combination of various embodiments have unexpectedly improved properties, and specifically, at the critical ranges, as disclosed herein. For example, in an embodiment the wear-resistant sleeve-like coating can be applied to the compressor shaft to increase shaft hardness and improve resistance to chemical reactions. In another embodiment, the lubricant is selected to have a viscosity at or about 75 to at or about 100 cSt, and nominally 76-77 or 90 cSt at 40° C., which allowed the compressor to have an improved operating clearance between the moving and/or non-moving parts, e.g., the shaft and journal bearing and the shaft and shaft seals which, for example, to allow smaller sized debris to pass through the operating clearances. Moreover, when the additives were provided in the lubricant at the concentrations, as disclosed herein, the lubricant provided anti-wear protection while reducing chemical reactions from occurring at the wear surfaces, e.g., at the journal bearing location or seal location. Furthermore, when the compressor included the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment, e.g., the chromium oxide (ceramic) wear sleeve, along with the use of a higher viscosity oil and the additives, at the critical ranges discussed herein, it was surprisingly found that such combination of features provided the required protection against system debris and oil breakdown for continued operation of the compressor, e.g., mitigated and/or prevented wear of the system.
A carbon steel sleeve, which can be a 1026, 1045, or 4140 material, was prepared for installation on a compressor shaft. The carbon steel sleeve was cylindrical and machined to be a shrink fit design to at or about 0.002 to at or about 0.005″ interference fit to withstand temperature gradients. The sleeve was then sprayed to have a hard coating layer, for example, chromium oxide, to provide high hardness and protection against wear. The wear-resistant sleeve had a total wall thickness at or around 0.5 inches with an at or about 0.015 inch ceramic chromium oxide layer.
The portions of the compressor shaft that experiences the abrasive wear was determined, e.g., portion adjacent or at the location of the journal bearing and/or labyrinth seal, and the portion of the compressor shaft was treated, e.g., ground or etched, such that when the sleeve was heated to a temperature to allow thermal expansion, the sleeve was fit over the compressor shaft at the selected portion(s). The sleeve was then cooled to room temperature and ground to match the outer surface of the compressor shaft.
As such the portion of the compressor shaft having the wear-resistant treatment had improved chemical resistance and high hardness, e.g., between at or about 60 to at or about 70 HRC.
A hard chrome sleeve was also prepared in a similar manner on a carbon steel sleeve, as discussed above. The resulting wear-resistant treatment was also found to have improved chemical resistant and high hardness, e.g., between at or about 80 to at or about 90 HRC.
Different lubricants were evaluated to increase the lubricant viscosity to obtain improved operating clearances between the compressor shaft and the bearings. As seen in Table 2, the blends were modified so that the operating viscosity of the lubricant was matched to the operating viscosity of the R123/mineral oil mixture. For example, the POE was increased to 85% to 90%, with the remainder being AB and/or additives or a pure POE having the requisite viscosity was selected, e.g., 96-100% POE for example, lubricant SE75D from Synergy. The 90/10 ratio had a viscosity that met or exceeded the R123/mineral oil mixture, while the 85/15 ratio had a similar but lower viscosity.
90-91%
Different additive concentrations were used in the lubricant to evaluate the lubricant/additive(s) that had the least amount of reactivity with the common chiller materials, e.g., copper, steel, aluminum, and bearing Babbitt. By changing additive concentrations in the samples shown below, the preferred additive concentration was determined based on, for example, a criteria selected from at least one of the total acid number, amount of fluoride, the amount of chloride, the dissolved elements, or a combination thereof.
A preferred embodiment of the additives used with lubricant is provided below in Table 3.
That is, triaryl phosphate is provided at 2% since it reacts with metal surfaces to improve load carrying capability. 2-ethylhexyl glycidyl ether is provided at 900 ppm to reduce the impact and/or presence of any reactive species that could be present due to oil breakdown. Butylated hydroxytoluene is provided at 1000 ppm to reduce the impact and/or presence of any reactive species that could be present due to oil breakdown. Finally, benzotriazole is provided at 90 ppm to drive passivation of metal surfaces.
It is appreciated that while the additives and additive concentrations have been discussed herein, such disclosure is not intending to limit the additives and additive concentrations. In an embodiment, the additives can only include the antiwear additive, such as Triotyl phosphate (TCP) at a concentration between at or about 0.5 to 3% by weight, and the antioxidant additive BHT between at or about 0.1-1.0% by weight.
Aspects
Any one or more of aspects 1 to 16 may be combined with any one or more of aspects 17 to 21, and vice versa.
Aspect 1: A compressor, comprising a housing; a shaft configured to be rotated relative to the housing to compress a refrigerant; a motor configured to drive the shaft; a lubrication system configured to supply lubricant to the compressor; and a bearing configured to support the shaft, wherein the shaft comprises a wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment on at least a portion of an outer surface of the shaft adjacent the bearing.
Aspect 2. The compressor according to Aspect 1, wherein the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment is a coating selected from at least one of hard chrome, chromium oxide, aluminum oxide, cobalt/chromium carbide, boron nitride, CoNiCrAlY, NiCoCrAlY, complex carbides in nickel rich matrix, tungsten carbides in cobalt rich matrix (ExoGard), graphite, molybdenum, tungsten, diamond-like carbon, nickel alloy, hardened steel, or a combination thereof.
Aspect 3. The compressor according to Aspect 2, wherein the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment is a coating of hard chrome or chromium oxide, and preferably, chromium oxide.
Aspect 4. The compressor according to any of Aspects 1-3, wherein the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment is a carbon steel sleeve having a hard chromium or chromium oxide coating, wherein the hard chromium or the chromium oxide coating has a thickness between at or about 0.005 and at or about 0.05 inches and the carbon steel sleeve has a wall thickness between at or about 0.2 inches and at or about 0.7 inches.
Aspect 5. The compressor according to any of Aspects 1-4, wherein the lubricant is a lubricant blend composition comprising two or more lubricants, the two or more lubricants including a first lubricant and a second lubricant, wherein the first lubricant is present at a higher volume percentage than the second lubricant, and the first lubricant includes a higher viscosity than the second lubricant, first lubricant is polyol ester (POE) or a polyvinyl ether (PVE) and the second lubricant is alkylbenzene (AB) or mineral oil.
Aspect 6. The compressor according to Aspect 5, wherein the lubricant has a viscosity of at least 70 centistokes at 40° C., and at least 10 centistokes at 100° C.
Aspect 7. The compressor according to Aspect 6, wherein the lubricant has a viscosity between at or about 90 centistokes and at or about 100 centistokes at 40° C., and between at or about 12 centistokes and at or about 12.6 centistokes at 100° C.
Aspect 8. The compressor according to any of Aspects 1-5, wherein the lubricant has a viscosity of at least 70 centistokes at 40° C., and at least 10 centistokes at 100° C.
Aspect 9. The compressor according to any of Aspects 1-8, wherein the lubricant comprises additives, wherein the additives include one or more of anti-wear additives, corrosion inhibitor additives, antioxidant additives, and acid catching additives.
Aspect 10. The compressor according to Aspect 9, wherein the lubricant comprises the anti-wear additives, the corrosion inhibitor additives, the antioxidant additives, and the acid catching additives, wherein the anti-wear additives include triaryl phosphates, the corrosion inhibitor additives include benzotriazole, the antioxidant additives include butylated hydroxytoluene, and the acid catching additives include 2-ethylhexyl glycidyl ether.
Aspect 11. The compressor according to Aspect 9, wherein the lubricant comprises between at or about 0.5 and at or about 4 mass % of the anti-wear additives; between at or about 20 and at or about 1000 ppm of the corrosion inhibitor additives; between at or about 250 and at or about 5000 ppm of the antioxidant additives; and between at or about 250 and at or about 5000 ppm of the acid catching additives.
Aspect 12. The compressor according to Aspect 9, wherein the lubricant comprises between at or about 85 and at or about 95 volume % polyol ester (POE), between at or about 5 and at or about 15 volume % alkylbenzene (AB), and between at or about 1 and at or about 5 mass % additives.
Aspect 13. The compressor according to Aspect 9, wherein the lubricant comprises between at or about 95 and at or about 99 volume % polyol ester (POE) oil, and between at or about 1 and at or about 5 mass % additives, wherein the lubricant has a viscosity of at least 70 centistokes at 40° C., and at least 10 centistokes at 100° C.
Aspect 14. The compressor according to Aspect 13, wherein the lubricant comprises between at or about 0.5 and at or about 4 mass % of the anti-wear additives and between at or about 250 and at or about 5000 ppm of the antioxidant additives.
Aspect 15. The compressor according to any of Aspects 1-14, wherein the refrigerant is a hydrofluoroolefin (R514A) based refrigerant.
Aspect 16. The compressor according to any of Aspects 1-15, further comprising a seal configured to prevent the compressed gas from flowing to the motor along the shaft, wherein the shaft further comprises the wear-resistant sleeve-like treatment on at least a portion of the outer surface of the shaft adjacent the seal.
Aspect 17. A method of retrofitting a compressor, comprising: coating a sleeve for a shaft of the compressor according to any of Aspects 1-13 to provide a wear-resistant coating; and interference fitting the sleeve on the shaft of the compressor by heating the sleeve and fitting the sleeve over the shaft.
Aspect 18. The method according to Aspect 17, wherein the wear-resistant coating is provided by spray coating, preferably by plasma spraying.
Aspect 19. The method according to any of Aspects 17-18, wherein the method further comprises cooling the sleeve and grinding the sleeve for fitting on the shaft.
Aspect 20. The method according to any of Aspects 17-19, wherein the wear-resistant coating comprises a coating selected from at least one of hard chrome, chromium oxide, aluminum oxide, cobalt/chromium carbide, boron nitride, CoNiCrAlY, NiCoCrAlY, complex carbides in nickel rich matrix, tungsten carbides in cobalt rich matrix (ExoGard), graphite, molybdenum, tungsten, diamond-like carbon, nickel alloy, hardened steel, or a combination thereof.
Aspect 21. The method according to Aspect 20, wherein the sleeve comprises carbon steel and chromium oxide is sprayed on an outer surface of the sleeve to provide the wear-resistant coating.
With regard to the foregoing description, it is to be understood that changes may be made in detail, without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is intended that the specification and depicted embodiments are to be considered exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the broad meaning of the aspects and claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17804786 | May 2022 | US |
| Child | 18326731 | US |
