EP3458718A1 - Improved liquid ring pump - Google Patents

Improved liquid ring pump

Info

Publication number
EP3458718A1
EP3458718A1 EP17723493.7A EP17723493A EP3458718A1 EP 3458718 A1 EP3458718 A1 EP 3458718A1 EP 17723493 A EP17723493 A EP 17723493A EP 3458718 A1 EP3458718 A1 EP 3458718A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
pump
component
liquid ring
coating
rotor
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP17723493.7A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP3458718B1 (en
Inventor
Mark Gordon GLAISTER
Andries DE BOCK
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Edwards Ltd
Original Assignee
Edwards Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Edwards Ltd filed Critical Edwards Ltd
Publication of EP3458718A1 publication Critical patent/EP3458718A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP3458718B1 publication Critical patent/EP3458718B1/en
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

Links

Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
    • F04C—ROTARY-PISTON, OR OSCILLATING-PISTON, POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; ROTARY-PISTON, OR OSCILLATING-PISTON, POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS
    • F04C27/00—Sealing arrangements in rotary-piston pumps specially adapted for elastic fluids
    • F04C27/02—Liquid sealing for high-vacuum pumps or for compressors
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
    • F04B—POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS
    • F04B39/00—Component parts, details, or accessories, of pumps or pumping systems specially adapted for elastic fluids, not otherwise provided for in, or of interest apart from, groups F04B25/00 - F04B37/00
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
    • F04C—ROTARY-PISTON, OR OSCILLATING-PISTON, POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; ROTARY-PISTON, OR OSCILLATING-PISTON, POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS
    • F04C19/00—Rotary-piston pumps with fluid ring or the like, specially adapted for elastic fluids
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
    • F04C—ROTARY-PISTON, OR OSCILLATING-PISTON, POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; ROTARY-PISTON, OR OSCILLATING-PISTON, POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS
    • F04C7/00—Rotary-piston machines or pumps with fluid ring or the like
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
    • F04C—ROTARY-PISTON, OR OSCILLATING-PISTON, POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; ROTARY-PISTON, OR OSCILLATING-PISTON, POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS
    • F04C2270/00—Control; Monitoring or safety arrangements
    • F04C2270/20—Flow

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an improved pump component, and a pump comprising said improved component.
  • the present invention relates to a wet pump component, such as a liquid ring pump component, to reduce the power consumed during operation of a wet pump comprising said component.
  • Liquid ring vacuum pumps and compressors are well known in the art for pumping a variety of process fluid compositions.
  • the pumping mechanism of a typical liquid ring pump is shown in Figure 1 .
  • a liquid ring 100 is formed around an outer periphery of a generally cylindrical pumping chamber 102 on rotation of a rotor 104 mounted for rotation about an axis X which is eccentric to the central axis C of the pumping chamber 102.
  • the rotor has a plurality of blades 106 that extend radially outwardly from a hub 108 and are equally spaced around the rotor.
  • the blades 106 engage the liquid conveyed to the chamber, from a source of liquid 1 10, forming an annular ring 100 inside the pumping chamber 102.
  • the liquid ring provides both the axial seal at the rotor ends and the radial seal between adjacent blades 106.
  • the eccentricity of the rotor axis X with respect to the central axis C of the chamber 102 displaces the liquid ring 100 away from the rotor hub 108 in the inlet region 1 12 of the pump, forming an expanding compression region 1 14 between adjacent rotor blades 106 into which gas flows through the inlet port 1 12 of the pump.
  • continued rotation into the exhaust region of the pump displaces the liquid ring 100 towards the rotor hub 108, compressing the gas in the decreasing volume compression region 1 14 between adjacent blades 106 until it is expelled through the outlet port 1 16 of the pump.
  • the compression regions 1 14 are defined by adjacent rotor blades 106, the liquid ring 100, and an outer surface 1 18 of the hub. Accordingly, gas is pumped through a single stage for each rotation of the rotor.
  • a large contribution to power loss in liquid ring pumps has been attributed to frictional drag of the liquid ring 100 against the stationary walls defining pumping chamber 102. As shown in Figure 1 , the walls of the chamber 102 are stationary with respect to the liquid ring 100 and so, as the liquid ring continually circulates against their surfaces at high velocity, the fluid drag can represent a significant power loss.
  • the present invention aims at least to mitigate one or more of the problems associated with the prior art.
  • the present invention provides a pump component at least partially coated with a coating comprising at least one alkoxysilane.
  • Figure 1 shows a radial cross section through a prior art liquid ring pump.
  • Figure 2 shows a radial cross section through a liquid ring pump according to the present invention.
  • Figure 3 shows an exploded view of a section of a two stage liquid ring pump according to the present invention.
  • a radial cross section through a liquid ring pump according to the present invention is illustrated.
  • the same reference numerals used to denote features in Figure 1 have been used to denote the identical features in Figure 2 and, for brevity, will not be explained further.
  • the surface of the casing, or stator component, 102 has a coating 123 comprising an alkoxysilane, such as methyltrimethoxysilane and/or phenyltrimethoxysilane, applied thereto.
  • the coating 123 may be applied at room temperature and requires little or no component surface preparation. Once applied, for example by spraying the coating onto the desired area of the component 102, 108, 106, or dipping the component in a coating solution, the coating 123 self-seals to form a highly hydrophobic glass like ceramic surface coating 123.
  • the alkoxysilanes can be applied to leave coatings with thicknesses of just 6 ⁇ , which is considerably less than the minimum radial clearance between the rotor blades 106 and internal surface of the stator 102. Thus, because the radial clearance is sealed by the liquid ring 100, no additional machining operations are required pre or post application. This also means that the coating 123 can be applied to existing liquid ring pumps already in operation to provide the benefits thereof retrospectively. Once applied, the coating 123, develops a surface with a low
  • the coatings also advantageously improve heat transfer from the work fluid thus increasing convective heat loss through the stator and to the external atmosphere.
  • Axial chamber walls (not shown) which define the rest of the chamber 102 shown in Figure 2 are also preferably coated with the coating comprising at least one alkoxysilane to further reduce the power losses and improve heat transfer (where required).
  • FIG 3 shows an exploded view section of a two-stage liquid ring pump according to the present invention.
  • the pump comprises two inlets 212 and two outlets 216 through which gas is conveyed to and from the pumping chamber 202.
  • the pumping chamber 202 is defined by two axial end plates 202b which are connected to either end of a generally cylindrical chamber 202a.
  • the work fluid, usually water, for the liquid ring is conveyed to the chamber 202 from a liquid source via the inlets 210 located in the axial end plates 202b and coaxial with the shaft 201.
  • the axis of the shaft 201 is again eccentric to the central axis of the chamber 202.
  • the work fluid conveyed to the chamber 202 engages with the rotor blades 206 extending radially outward from a hub 208 to form an annular liquid ring (not shown) in the pumping chamber.
  • the pumping action of the liquid ring pump is substantially identical to that described and illustrated for figures 1 and 2 except that gas can enter the pump via two inlets 212 and is exhausted via two outlets 216.
  • the surfaces of at least the chamber walls 202a and 202b defining the chamber 202 are provided with a coating comprising an alkoxysilane.
  • the coatings according to the present invention last considerably longer that known organic coatings applied to surfaces to reduce fluid friction due to the alkoxysilane's ability to completely coat the pump component surfaces, filling micro-voids and micro-cavities. This, together with the lack of micro-porosity associated with known organic coatings, protects metal components from oxidation mechanisms such as pitting and provides a superior surface finish.
  • the coating forms a hard, abrasion resistant layer that protects the chamber 102, 202 and rotor 106, 108, 206, 208 surfaces from abrasion by suspended solids contained within the work fluid captured from pumped process gases.
  • the hydrophobic coatings formed provide resistance to water ingress along the coating-metal substrate interface of a coated component which, together with the improved bonding process, provides high resistance to de- bonding in cases where the protective coating is penetrated down to the metal substrate.
  • the improved components and pumps according to the present invention provide significant reductions in power loss and increased longevity compared to the known textured surface or organic coatings, whilst reducing the complexity associated with the rotating canister designs.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Rotary Pumps (AREA)
  • Structures Of Non-Positive Displacement Pumps (AREA)
  • Details And Applications Of Rotary Liquid Pumps (AREA)

Abstract

Liquid Ring pumps are inherently inefficient due to energy losses caused by friction, the present invention overcomes this by providing a coating on certain surfaces of the pump to limit the friction.

Description

IMPROVED LIQUID RING PUMP
The present invention relates to an improved pump component, and a pump comprising said improved component. In particular, the present invention relates to a wet pump component, such as a liquid ring pump component, to reduce the power consumed during operation of a wet pump comprising said component.
Liquid ring vacuum pumps and compressors are well known in the art for pumping a variety of process fluid compositions. The pumping mechanism of a typical liquid ring pump is shown in Figure 1 . A liquid ring 100 is formed around an outer periphery of a generally cylindrical pumping chamber 102 on rotation of a rotor 104 mounted for rotation about an axis X which is eccentric to the central axis C of the pumping chamber 102. The rotor has a plurality of blades 106 that extend radially outwardly from a hub 108 and are equally spaced around the rotor. On rotation of the rotor 108, 106, the blades 106 engage the liquid conveyed to the chamber, from a source of liquid 1 10, forming an annular ring 100 inside the pumping chamber 102. The liquid ring provides both the axial seal at the rotor ends and the radial seal between adjacent blades 106.
The eccentricity of the rotor axis X with respect to the central axis C of the chamber 102 displaces the liquid ring 100 away from the rotor hub 108 in the inlet region 1 12 of the pump, forming an expanding compression region 1 14 between adjacent rotor blades 106 into which gas flows through the inlet port 1 12 of the pump. Conversely, continued rotation into the exhaust region of the pump displaces the liquid ring 100 towards the rotor hub 108, compressing the gas in the decreasing volume compression region 1 14 between adjacent blades 106 until it is expelled through the outlet port 1 16 of the pump. This results in a piston-type pumping action on the gas passing through the pump. That is, the compression regions 1 14 increase and decrease in volume through rotation of the rotor. The compression regions 1 14 are defined by adjacent rotor blades 106, the liquid ring 100, and an outer surface 1 18 of the hub. Accordingly, gas is pumped through a single stage for each rotation of the rotor. A large contribution to power loss in liquid ring pumps has been attributed to frictional drag of the liquid ring 100 against the stationary walls defining pumping chamber 102. As shown in Figure 1 , the walls of the chamber 102 are stationary with respect to the liquid ring 100 and so, as the liquid ring continually circulates against their surfaces at high velocity, the fluid drag can represent a significant power loss.
One solution to overcome power loss due to friction, described in EP0492792, is to provide a rotating canister within the pumping chamber that contains, and rotates with, the liquid ring 100. By providing a rotating canister that rotates with the liquid ring, the drag and thus power losses are
significantly reduced. However, this design introduces significant complexity into the liquid ring pump which, in addition to the additional cost of the unit, creates scalability issues. Another solution, described in US201 10194950, is the use of a textured surface to control boundary layer separation reducing, to some extent, the drag between the liquid ring and pumping chamber surfaces. However, this design requires a very specific pre-determined pattern to be applied to the chamber surfaces which add unnecessary complexity when manufacturing the liquid ring pump.
The present invention aims at least to mitigate one or more of the problems associated with the prior art.
In a first aspect the present invention provides a pump component at least partially coated with a coating comprising at least one alkoxysilane.
Other preferred and/or optional aspects of the invention are defined in the accompanying claims.
In order that the present invention may be well understood, several embodiments thereof, which are given by way of example only, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 shows a radial cross section through a prior art liquid ring pump.
Figure 2 shows a radial cross section through a liquid ring pump according to the present invention. Figure 3 shows an exploded view of a section of a two stage liquid ring pump according to the present invention. With Reference to Figure 2, a radial cross section through a liquid ring pump according to the present invention is illustrated. The same reference numerals used to denote features in Figure 1 have been used to denote the identical features in Figure 2 and, for brevity, will not be explained further. The surface of the casing, or stator component, 102, has a coating 123 comprising an alkoxysilane, such as methyltrimethoxysilane and/or phenyltrimethoxysilane, applied thereto. It will be appreciate that these are just two examples and other alkoxysilanes with the following properties are suitable alternatives. The coating 123 may be applied at room temperature and requires little or no component surface preparation. Once applied, for example by spraying the coating onto the desired area of the component 102, 108, 106, or dipping the component in a coating solution, the coating 123 self-seals to form a highly hydrophobic glass like ceramic surface coating 123. The alkoxysilanes can be applied to leave coatings with thicknesses of just 6 μηι, which is considerably less than the minimum radial clearance between the rotor blades 106 and internal surface of the stator 102. Thus, because the radial clearance is sealed by the liquid ring 100, no additional machining operations are required pre or post application. This also means that the coating 123 can be applied to existing liquid ring pumps already in operation to provide the benefits thereof retrospectively. Once applied, the coating 123, develops a surface with a low
coefficient of friction which in turn greatly reduces the power losses, in use, due to reduced friction between the liquid ring 100 and the coating 123 on surface of the chamber 102. The coatings also advantageously improve heat transfer from the work fluid thus increasing convective heat loss through the stator and to the external atmosphere.
Axial chamber walls (not shown) which define the rest of the chamber 102 shown in Figure 2 are also preferably coated with the coating comprising at least one alkoxysilane to further reduce the power losses and improve heat transfer (where required).
This is better illustrated in figure 3, which shows an exploded view section of a two-stage liquid ring pump according to the present invention. The pump comprises two inlets 212 and two outlets 216 through which gas is conveyed to and from the pumping chamber 202. The pumping chamber 202 is defined by two axial end plates 202b which are connected to either end of a generally cylindrical chamber 202a. The work fluid, usually water, for the liquid ring is conveyed to the chamber 202 from a liquid source via the inlets 210 located in the axial end plates 202b and coaxial with the shaft 201. The axis of the shaft 201 is again eccentric to the central axis of the chamber 202. On rotation of the shaft 201 the work fluid conveyed to the chamber 202 engages with the rotor blades 206 extending radially outward from a hub 208 to form an annular liquid ring (not shown) in the pumping chamber. The pumping action of the liquid ring pump is substantially identical to that described and illustrated for figures 1 and 2 except that gas can enter the pump via two inlets 212 and is exhausted via two outlets 216.
In order to reduce power losses due to friction, the surfaces of at least the chamber walls 202a and 202b defining the chamber 202 are provided with a coating comprising an alkoxysilane.
In both the examples shown in figures 2 and 3 it is also advantageous to coat at least part of the surface of the rotor 106, 206, rotor hub 108, 208, and shafts 201 (not shown for figure 2) that, in use, will come into contact with the moving work fluid to further reduce power losses due to friction. As the rotor blades 106, 206 are intimate contact with the moving work fluid to form the ring 100, it is advantageous to coat at least their leading surface with the coating 123.
The coatings according to the present invention last considerably longer that known organic coatings applied to surfaces to reduce fluid friction due to the alkoxysilane's ability to completely coat the pump component surfaces, filling micro-voids and micro-cavities. This, together with the lack of micro-porosity associated with known organic coatings, protects metal components from oxidation mechanisms such as pitting and provides a superior surface finish. In addition, the coating forms a hard, abrasion resistant layer that protects the chamber 102, 202 and rotor 106, 108, 206, 208 surfaces from abrasion by suspended solids contained within the work fluid captured from pumped process gases. The hydrophobic coatings formed provide resistance to water ingress along the coating-metal substrate interface of a coated component which, together with the improved bonding process, provides high resistance to de- bonding in cases where the protective coating is penetrated down to the metal substrate.
Although the examples show are for liquid ring pump components, it will be appreciated that other wet pumps such as rotary vane pumps and screw pumps designed to pump fluids comprising liquids and gas would benefit from having the coatings described herein applied to the surfaces that, in use, would come into contact with the fluid containing the gas/liquid mixtures.
Thus the improved components and pumps according to the present invention provide significant reductions in power loss and increased longevity compared to the known textured surface or organic coatings, whilst reducing the complexity associated with the rotating canister designs.

Claims

1. A pump component at least partially coated with a coating comprising at least one alkoxysilane.
2. A pump component according to Claim 1 , wherein the coating on the pump component is, in use, in contact with a work fluid.
3. A pump component according to Claims 1 and 2, wherein the
component is a liquid ring pump component.
4. A pump according to Claims 1 and 2, wherein the component is a rotary vane pump component
5. A pump according to Claim 1 , wherein the component is a screw pump component.
6. A component according to any preceding claim, wherein the pump component is at least one of a rotor component, a stator component and a rotor shaft component.
7. A liquid ring pump comprising components according to any of Claims 3 and 6
8. A rotary vane pump comprising components according to any of
Claims 4 and 6.
9. A screw pump comprising components according to any of Claims 5 and 6.
EP17723493.7A 2016-05-17 2017-05-08 Improved liquid ring pump Active EP3458718B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB1608622.5A GB2550365B (en) 2016-05-17 2016-05-17 Improved liquid ring pump
PCT/GB2017/051271 WO2017199001A1 (en) 2016-05-17 2017-05-08 Improved liquid ring pump

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP3458718A1 true EP3458718A1 (en) 2019-03-27
EP3458718B1 EP3458718B1 (en) 2024-05-01

Family

ID=56320507

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP17723493.7A Active EP3458718B1 (en) 2016-05-17 2017-05-08 Improved liquid ring pump

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US20190277287A1 (en)
EP (1) EP3458718B1 (en)
CN (1) CN209687716U (en)
AU (2) AU2017101844A4 (en)
GB (1) GB2550365B (en)
RU (1) RU192390U1 (en)
WO (1) WO2017199001A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN119982522B (en) * 2025-03-28 2026-04-17 中国矿业大学 Porous inner shell liquid ring pump

Family Cites Families (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6247906B1 (en) * 1999-05-28 2001-06-19 Joseph M. Pijanowski Combined pump and motor device
JP4232506B2 (en) * 2002-06-24 2009-03-04 株式会社豊田自動織機 Sliding parts
US7297246B2 (en) * 2004-04-22 2007-11-20 Sandia Corporation Electrokinetic pump
US20060292345A1 (en) * 2005-06-14 2006-12-28 Dave Bakul C Micropatterned superhydrophobic silica based sol-gel surfaces
NO2133572T3 (en) * 2008-06-12 2018-04-14
KR20120121211A (en) * 2011-04-26 2012-11-05 한라공조주식회사 compressor
JP6151710B2 (en) * 2011-11-22 2017-06-21 ステアリング・インダストリー・コンサルト・ゲゼルシャフト・ミット・ベシュレンクテル・ハフツングＳｔｅｒｌｉｎｇ Ｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｙ Ｃｏｎｓｕｌｔ ＧｍｂＨ Impeller for liquid ring vacuum pump and liquid ring vacuum pump
WO2013090168A1 (en) * 2011-12-16 2013-06-20 Ticona Llc Injection molding of polyarylene sulfide compositions
WO2015017358A1 (en) * 2013-08-02 2015-02-05 Lufkin Industries, Llc Improved stator assembly for progressive cavity pumping systems

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB2550365A (en) 2017-11-22
WO2017199001A1 (en) 2017-11-23
GB2550365B (en) 2020-08-12
CN209687716U (en) 2019-11-26
BR112018073624A2 (en) 2019-02-26
EP3458718B1 (en) 2024-05-01
US20190277287A1 (en) 2019-09-12
RU192390U1 (en) 2019-09-16
GB201608622D0 (en) 2016-06-29
AU2017101844A4 (en) 2019-05-16
AU2017266497A1 (en) 2018-12-06

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