US 11,788,557 B1
Centrifugal acceleration stabilizer
Chester V. Swiatek, Amherst, NY (US); Mikhail Grigoriev, East Amherst, NY (US); Paul C. Brown, Buffalo, NY (US); and Charles Impastato, East Aurora, NY (US)
Assigned to Ingersoll-Rand Industrial U.S., Inc., Davidson, NC (US)
Filed by Ingersoll-Rand Industrial U.S., Inc., Davidson, NC (US)
Filed on May 6, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/738,730.
Int. Cl. F04D 29/44 (2006.01); F04D 29/66 (2006.01); F04D 17/10 (2006.01); F04D 29/46 (2006.01)
CPC F04D 29/661 (2013.01) [F04D 17/10 (2013.01); F04D 29/441 (2013.01); F04D 29/444 (2013.01); F04D 29/464 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A centrifugal compressor comprising:
an impeller having a plurality of impeller vanes disposed around a hub, the impeller configured to rotate about an axis of rotation to receive a fluid flow at least substantially aligned with the axis of rotation, accelerate the fluid flow to a high velocity fluid flow, and dispense the high velocity fluid flow in a direction at least generally perpendicular to the axis of rotation;
a shroud configured to surround the impeller and direct the high velocity fluid flow dispensed by the impeller; and
a diffuser having a shroud surface adjacent to the shroud and a hub surface adjacent to the hub, the diffuser circumferentially disposed around the impeller and configured to receive the high velocity fluid flow from the impeller and convert the high velocity fluid flow into a high pressure fluid flow, the diffuser defining a diffuser passage and comprising a plurality of diffuser vanes extending from the hub surface to the shroud surface, respective ones of the plurality of diffuser vanes having a vane leading edge and a vane trailing edge;
wherein the diffuser includes a centrifugal acceleration stabilizer ring disposed in the shroud surface and located in a vaneless region between an impeller trailing edge and the vane leading edge, the centrifugal acceleration stabilizer ring configured to increase the radial velocity of a lower momentum region of a flow field flowing in the diffuser, resulting in a more uniform flow field across the diffuser passage, before re-expanding the area of the diffuser passage to facilitate diffusion before the vane leading edge, and where the centrifugal acceleration stabilizer ring has a height within a range between three percent (3%) and twenty percent (20%) of a distance between the shroud surface and the hub surface.