The invention relates to compressors. More particularly, the invention-relates to refrigerant compressors.
Screw-type compressors are commonly used in air conditioning and refrigeration applications. In such a compressor, intermeshed male and female lobed rotors or screws are rotated about their axes to pump the working fluid (refrigerant) from a low pressure inlet end to a high pressure outlet end. During rotation, sequential lobes of the male rotor serve as pistons driving refrigerant downstream and compressing it within the space between an adjacent pair of female rotor lobes and the housing. Likewise sequential lobes of the female rotor produce compression of refrigerant within a space between an adjacent pair of male rotor lobes and the housing. The interlobe spaces of the male and female rotors in which compression occurs form compression pockets (alternatively described as male and female portions of a common compression pocket joined at a mesh zone). In one implementation, the male rotor is coaxial with an electric driving motor and is supported by bearings on inlet and outlet sides of its lobed working portion. There may be multiple female rotors engaged to a given male rotor or vice versa.
When one of the interlobe spaces is exposed to an inlet port, the refrigerant enters the space essentially at suction pressure. As the rotors continue to rotate, at some point during the rotation the space is no longer in communication with the inlet port and the flow of refrigerant to the space is cut off. After the inlet port is closed, the refrigerant is compressed as the rotors continue to rotate. At some point during the rotation, each space intersects the associated outlet port and the closed compression process terminates. The inlet port and the outlet port may each be radial, axial, or a hybrid combination of an axial port and a radial port.
It is often desirable to temporarily reduce the refrigerant mass flow through the compressor by delaying the closing off of the inlet port (with or without a reduction in the compressor volume index) when full capacity operation is not required. Such unloading is often provided by a slide valve having a valve element with one or more portions whose positions (as the valve is translated) control the respective suction side closing and discharge side opening of the compression pockets. The primary effect of an unloading shift of the slide valve is to reduce the initial trapped suction volume (and hence compressor capacity); a reduction in volume index is a typical side effect. Exemplary slide valves are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20040109782 A1 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,249,866 and 6,302,668.
Compressor lubrication is important. Lubricant (e.g., oil) entrained in the refrigerant flow may help lubricate the rotor lobes. Such oil may be introduced in the suction plenum or may already be contained in the inlet refrigerant flow. Additional lubrication may be required for the bearing systems. Accordingly, oil flows may be introduced to the bearing compartments (e.g., from an oil supply provided by a separator downstream of the compressor discharge). It is often desired to provide yet further lubrication of the rotor lobes. Various systems have included the introduction of oil through the unloading slide valve element. Additionally, oil has been introduced through the rotors themselves (e.g., from an inlet at an end of one of the rotors to one or more outlets along the lobed body of that rotor).
According to one aspect of the invention, a screw compressor has compressor lubrication network having a lubricant outlet port along a low pressure cusp.
In various implementations, an unloading slide valve element may be along a high pressure cusp. The network may include a an axial feed passageway and a branch to the outlet and additional branches to bearing compartments. The network may include a metering orifice in the branch. The outlet port may be provided in a remanufacturing of a compressor or the reengineering of a compressor configuration from an initial baseline configuration.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.
In the exemplary embodiment, the motor is an electric motor having a rotor and a stator. One of the shaft stubs of one of the rotors 26 and 28 may be coupled to the motor's rotor so as to permit the motor to drive that rotor about its axis. When so driven in an operative first direction about the axis, the rotor drives the other rotor in an opposite second direction. The exemplary housing assembly 22 includes a rotor housing 48 having an upstream/inlet end face 49 approximately midway along the motor length and a downstream/discharge end face 50 essentially coplanar with the rotor body ends 32 and 36. Many other configurations are possible.
The exemplary housing assembly 22 further comprises a motor/inlet housing 52 having a compressor inlet/suction port 53 at an upstream end and having a downstream face 54 mounted to the rotor housing downstream face (e.g., by bolts through both housing pieces). The assembly 22 further includes an outlet/discharge housing 56 having an upstream face 57 mounted to the rotor housing downstream face and having an outlet/discharge port 58. The exemplary rotor housing, motor/inlet housing, and outlet housing 56 may each be formed as castings subject to further finish machining.
Surfaces of the housing assembly 22 combine with the enmeshed rotor bodies 30 and 34 to define inlet and outlet ports to compression pockets compressing and driving a refrigerant flow 504 from a suction (inlet) plenum 60 to a discharge (outlet) plenum 62 (
For capacity control/unloading, the compressor has a slide valve 100 (
At respective suction and discharge ends of the axial passageway 206 (
Returning to
The exemplary positioning of the outlet 242 is such that it is exposed to suction conditions. This may be distinguished from other lubrication systems that introduce oil only to a closed compression pocket. However, the outlet 242 may be positioned so that the compression pocket closes on the introduced oil very shortly after introduction (e.g., oil dropped onto the surface of a rotor lobe tends to move with the lobe and the compression pocket may close on that location along the lobe very shortly thereafter). This proximity may help avoid any deleterious effects of longer-term exposure of the oil to suction conditions.
The branch 240 may be added to a compressor in a remanufacturing or added to a compressor configuration in a redesign/reengineering. Other features of the baseline compressor's lubrication system may be preserved or may be modified. For example, a pre-existing axial passageway could be tapped into.
One or more embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, when implemented as a remanufacturing or reengineering, details of the baseline compressor may influence or dictate details of any particular implementation. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2005/003816 | 2/7/2005 | WO | 00 | 7/12/2007 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2006/085865 | 8/17/2006 | WO | A |
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