US2603196A

US2603196A - System for cooling engine liquids

Info

Publication number: US2603196A
Application number: US147653A
Authority: US
Inventors: George H Dieter
Original assignee: Fluor Corp
Current assignee: Fluor Corp
Priority date: 1950-03-04
Filing date: 1950-03-04
Publication date: 1952-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 1969-07-15

Description

Jully E5, 1952 G. H. METER 3 9 SYSTEM FOR COOLING ENGINE LIQUIDS Filed March 4, 1950 39 a; a? 56' a? 2 .5.

i ,7 5 ,7 r (350265 E D/ETEE,

- 35 INVENTOR. 5f 4 5 M BYW m Patented July 15, 1952 SYSTEM FOR COOLING ENGINE LIQUIDS George H. Dieter, Glendale, Calif., assignor to The Fluor Corporation, Ltd Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application March 4, 1950, Serial No. 147,658

7 Claims. (01. 1234l.49)

This invention relates to air-cooled heat exchange apparatus associated with engine-driven compression or pumping facilities, and has for its primary object to provide an improved system for driving fans and pumps. A further object of this invention is to provide means whereby a low-speed engine driving a compressor, pump, or the like may also supply power for the operation of a fan at variable speeds and for the operation of pumps serving the engine at constant speeds.

Air-cooled heat exchange units are often installed in connection with large-scale compression and pumping facilities to provide means to dissipate heat from the driving engine and from the fluid discharged by the pump or compressor. Such heat exchange units are well known in the art, and may comprise, for example, a bank of tubes through which the fluid to be cooled is passed, and a fan, blower, or other mechanism to force air across the outer surfaces of the tubes.

The equpment with which these air-cooled heat-exchange units are associated commonly comprises a large compressor or pump driven by an internal combustion engine. A combination machine in which the engine and compressor are built in the same frame has found wide application for compression service. These very large engines and engine-compressors are characteristically low-speed machines, their main shafts ordinarily rotating at speeds not in excess of a few hundred revolutions per minute.

The fan member of the air-cooled heat exchange unit usually operates best at relatively high speeds. Moreover, since it is frequently desirable to change the rate of delivery of air to the heat exchange surfaces during the operation of the unit, in order to compensate for changes in air temperature, humidity, and the heat load imposed on the exchanger, variable speed drives are usually provided to operate the fans. One method in common use consists of driving the fan by means of a variable-speed electric motor, which in turn often necessitates the installation of an engine-generator unit. This system is fre quently objectionable due to the very high equip ment costs involved.

According to my invention, I utilize power provided by the engine operating a compressor, pump, or the like, for the purpose of driving the aforementioned fan, and provide means whereby the fan may be operated at various speeds even though the speed of the engine remains constant.

The conditions necessitating changes in the fan speed do not appreciably change the quantity of heat to be dissipated from the engine. For-this reason, it is desirable to maintain a uniform flow of cooling water through the engine (and through the oil cooler, when such a cooler is used), and to operate pumps for this purpose at a constant speed. This invention includes means for utilizing the power of the engine to drive such pumps at constant speeds independently of changes in the fan speed.

I have found that using the power of the engine for operating fans and pumps results in an important reduction of cost for the entire installation, in comparison to systems in which a separate motive power source is provided for operating the fan.

In practicing the invention, I connect to the constant-speed power output shaft of the engine a mechanical transmission which provides a power take-off shaft operable at any of a number of different speeds. I connect the fan to this variable speed shaft by any suitable means, thus affording a method of driving the fans at various speeds even though the engine operates at constant speed.

In order to drive the aforementioned pumps, I provide connecting means through which the pumps are driven at a relatively high speed either directly by the constant-speed power output shaft of the engine, by means attached thereto, or by suitable constant-speed means provided by the transmission. In this manner I insure that the speed of the pumps is entirely independent of the speed of the fan, and is not changed by changing the speed of the fan.

According to an alternative form of the invention, I may provide two or more transmissions in tandem arrangement, driving the first transmission through connecting means by the engine,

the second transmission through constant-speed means provided by the first, and so on throughout the group of transmissions. I typically provide each transmission with a variable-speed power take-off shaft which may be connected to a fan. In this way I may drive a number of separate fans, selecting and changing the speed of each without affecting the speed of any of the others.

The invention contemplates the use of any type of transmission (e. g. gear, belt or fluid drive) suitable for the intended purpose. The connec tions between the transmission and engine and between the transmission and fan may be made by any suitable means, for example, flexible couplings.

In applying this invention, furthermore, I may drive the aforementioned pumps directly from .the power output shaft of the engine, an extem sion thereof, or, preferably, by constant-speed means provided by the transmission.

The invention further contemplates the application of the system herein disclosed to any installation including an engine, an air-cooled heat exchanger, and a fan, in which the engine is situated in reasonable proximity to the heat exchanger and fan.

As used in this specification, the term engine" is defined to include machines of the class comprising internal combustion engines such as gasoline engines, diesel engines, combination'enginecompressors, and the like, ordinarily operating at low speeds. Furthermore, the word fan is used to include propeller-type fans, blowers, and other rotary equipment used to impel a stream of air.

The above and other features and objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the typical embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a general View illustrating one embodiment of the invention in an engine water and oil cooling system;

Fig. 2 is a plan view taken on line '2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional enlargement of the variable speed transmission embodied in the system of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are views illustrating variational variable speed transmission and fan drive combinations.

Referring first to the general showing of Fig. l, I have indicated at IU what may be regarded as an engine having water and oil circulatory systems, and specifically a unit comprising an internal combustion engine and gas compressor powered by the engine proper, and of the general type now in common use in natural gas compressor stations. The engine water circulating system includes an outlet line H through which warm water is taken for cooling in the manner later described, and the cooled water return line or inlet l2. The engine oil is cooled by withdrawal through line l3 and passage through a cooler or heat exchanger l4, beyond which the cooled oil is returned to the engine through line l5. Engines of this type operate at a slow constant speed, and it will be understood therefore that the power output shaft |6| of the engine rotates at a substantially constant speed so slow as to require the use of a speed increase gearing,'

or the equivalent, in order that the later described fan may be powered by the engine at fficient speed.

Cooling of the engine water or oil, or both, is effected by air-cooled heat transfer apparatus, generally indicated at It, of the general type employing a motor driven fan operating to displace atmospheric air at high velocity over one or more exchanger coils. Merely as illustrative, the assembly I6 is shown to comprise a chamber I! having in its opposite walls the air inlets I8 and containing within ring IS a fan 20 which displaces air upwardly through an appropriate arrangement of cooling or exchanger coils 2|. Typically, the coil assembly 2| may comprise a water cooling tube bank 22 fed with warm water through line 23 and from which the cooled water is taken through line .24. A second and independent tube bank 25 receives warm oil-cooling water through line 26 and discharges the cooled water through line 21. Other independent fluids, such as all or a portion of the gas discharged by the compresser unit; H], may be subjected to cooling 4 or condensation in the apparatus l6 by passage from header 28 through the intermediate tube banks 29 to the discharge header 30.

The engine shaft |6| is connected through flexible coupling 3| with the constant speed shaft 32 in a transmission 33, see particularly Fig. 3. Shaft 32 carries a pair of

fixed gears

34 and 35 which mesh respectively with pinion gears 36 and 31 carried by

shafts

38 and 39 which, in turn, drive the pumps 40 and 4|. Shaft 32 having constant speed rotation, it follows that pumps 40 and 4| at times are driven at constant speed.

The fan shaft 44 is driven through the transmission 33 and at variable speeds, by way of a flexible shaft 45 journalled in bearings 46 and made up of sections 41 interconnected by the flexible couplings 48. The fan shaft 44 is driven by shaft 45 and at relatively high speed, by way of an appropriate speed increasing gear assembly conventionally illustrated as contained within the gear box 49. Provision is made for driving shafts 44 and 45 at variable speeds by providing on shaft 44| within the transmission 33 a clutch and gear assembly generally indicated at 50 of a known type including di'lferential size gears 5| and 52 adapted selectively to be brought into and out of meshing engagement respectively with

gears

53 and 54 fixed on the shaft 3|. As will be understood, Fig. 3 is an essentially diagrammatical showing intended to typify any suitable shiftable gear transmission operable to bring two or more gears on shaft 44! selectively into driven engagement with any of a corresponding number of gears on the constant speed shaft 32, so that the relative speed of the fan may be selectively varied. However, while the fan speed thus be comes variable, the pumps 40 and 4| remain at substantially constant speed operation.

Pump 4| receives warm water from the oil cooler I4 through line 56 and discharges the water through line 26 and exchanger 25, from which the cooled water is returned to the exchanger |4 through line 21. Pump 40 may operate to circulate the engine water similarly and through a cycle independent of the oil cooler I4, or it may be so connected into the engine water and oil cooler water circuits as to provide circulation for both. Thus, taking suction from line piunp 40 circulates the warm engine water through line 23, exchanger 22 and finally through line 24 back to the engine inlet |2. If desired, line Il may be connected with cooler |4 through the valved line 51 so that the pump takes warm water from both the engine and oil cooler. That portion of the cooled recirculated water not returned directly to the engine, passes to the oil cooler through the valve line 58.

Fig. 4 illustrates a variational form of the invention in accordance with which the variable speed transmission is adapted to be positioned within the air chamber l1 adjacent the fan gear box, instead of being located remotely therefrom, as in Fig. 1. Here the shaft I62 driven at constant speed from the remotely positioned engine,-'

directly into the gear box 64 through which the fan shaft 44 is driven.

In some instances it may be desirable to drive a plurality of fans at variable speeds from a single constant speed power source. For such purposes I may employ the arrangement generally indicated in Fig. 5 and according to which the constant speed engine driven shaft 65 runs through a first transmission 66 into a second transmission 61 which is essentially the same as the transmissions 33 and B8 of Figs. 3 and 4. Each of the pump shafts 10 to i3 is driven at constant speed from the engine output shaft 65. Transmission 65 contains a shaft Hi carrying gears and 76 which may be clutched selectively with gears H and 18 on shaft 65, so-that a first fan shaft 19 may be driven at variable speeds from shaft 14 by way of gears 80. A second fan shaft 8| is driven through transmission 6'! and at variable speeds from a shaft 82 corresponding to shaft 63 in Fig. 4, and through the gear box 83.

I claim:

1. The combination comprising an engine normally operating at substantially constant speed, a heat exchanger, a fan operable to displace air against said exchanger, an adjustable transmission through which said fan is driven by the engine power at variable speeds, a fiuid circulating pump, and means comprising a power transmitting connection directly between said transmission and pump for driving said pump by the engine power at constant speed independently of variations of the fan speed.

2. The combination comprising an engine normally operating at substantially constant speed, a heat exchanger, a fan operable to displace air against said exchanger, an adjustable transmission through which said fan is driven by the engine power at variable speeds, an engine liquid cooling system comprising means for conducting heated engine liquid through said exchanger, a pump operating to circulate said fluid through said exchanger, and means comprising a power transmitting connection directly between said transmission and pump for driving said pump by the engine power at constant speed independently of variations of the fan speed.

3. The combination comprising an engine having a power output shaft normally driven at substantially constant speed, a heat exchanger, a fan operable to displace air against said exchanger, an adjustable transmission through which said fan is driven by said shaft at variable speeds, a pair of pumps for continuously circulating separate heated engine oil and water streams through the exchanger, and means comprising a power transmitting connection directly between said transmission and pump for driving said pumps by said shaft at constant speed independently of variations of the fan speed.

4. The combination comprising an engine having a power output first shaft normally driven at substantially constant speed, a heat exchanger, a fan operable to displace air against said exchanger, an adjustable transmission having a constant speed second shaft driven by said engine shaft and a third shaft driven by said second shaft and operating to drive said fan at variable speeds, variable speed gears interconnecting said second and third shafts, means for continuously transferring engine heat to a stream of water, a water circulating pump, means for circulating said water continuously through the exchanger, and means for driving said pump by said second shaft at constant speed regardless of the fan speed.

5. The combination comprising a slow-speed engine-compressor having a power output first shaft normally driven at substantially constant speed, a heat exchanger containing a plurality of tubes, a fan operable to displace air against said tubes, anadjustable transmission comprising a constant speed second shaft driven by said first shaft and a variable speed third shaft driven by said second shaft and by which said fan is driven at variable relatively high speeds, variable speed transmitting means interconnecting said second and third shafts, a pair of liquid circulating pumps, means for driving said pumps by said second shaft at a constant relatively high speed independently of the speed of said fan, and conduit means interconnecting said pumps, engine-compressor, and heat exchanger to provide circulationof liquid through said enginecompressor and exchanger.

6. The combination comprising a slow-speed engine-compressor having a power output first shaft normally driven at substantially constant speed, a heat-exchanger container comprising two sets of tubes, a fan operable to displace air against said tubes, an adjustable transmission comprising a constant speed second shaft driven by said first shaft and a variable speed third shaft driven by said second shaft and by which said fan is driven at variable relatively high speeds, variable speed transmitting means interconnecting said second and third shafts, a pair of water and oilcirculating pumps operating to continuously circulate separate streams of water and oil through said sets of exchanger tubes, and means for driving said pumps by said second shaft at constant relatively high speed in dependently of the speed of said fan.

"I. The combination comprising a slow-speed engine-compressor having a power output first shaft normally driven at substantially constant speed, a liquid circulating pump, a heat exchanger containing a plurality of tubes, a fan operable to displace air against said tubes, an adjustable transmission operated by said shaft through suit-' able connecting means and comprising a constant low-speed second shaft and a variable speed power take-off third shaft, means for connecting said fan With said variable speed third shaft and providing for operation of said fan at relatively high speeds, a pump operating to circulate fluid through said exchangers, means for operably connecting said pumps with said second shaft. conduit means interconnecting said engine compressor, pumps, and heat exchanger to provide for circulation of said fiuidthrough said enginecompressor and heat exchanger, a second transmission including a variable speed power takeoff shaft, and means for driving said second transmission by said constant low-speed second shaft of said first transmission.

GEORGE H. DIETER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,519,812 Schneider Dec. 26, 1924 1,727,950 Vaughn Sept. 10, 1929 1,820,091 Reavis Aug. 25, 1931 2,454,182 Kampa Nov. 16, 1948