US2008310981A1PendingUtilityA1

Positive displacement flow separator

45
Assignee: GEN ELECTRICPriority: Jun 12, 2007Filed: Jun 12, 2007Published: Dec 18, 2008
Est. expiryJun 12, 2027(~0.9 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:James F. WiedenhoeferAdam RasheedPierre Francois PinardAnthony John DeanCharles Max Byrd
F01C 1/107
45
PatentIndex Score
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Cited by
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References
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Claims

Abstract

A positive displacement flow separator contains a rotor portion positioned inside a casing portion to act as a least area rotor which captures a volume and moves the volume along the length of the separator. The rotor portion contains a plurality of lobes which interact with grooves in the casing portion, such that the interaction of the lobes and grooves create barriers which capture the volume The creation of the volume creates a flow barrier between a downstream end of the separator and an upstream end of the separator. The flow separator is coupled to a combustion portion to provide a flow of material to the combustion portion.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
1 . A combustion device; comprising:
 a positive displacement flow device coupled to a combustion portion; said positive displacement flow device comprising:
 a casing portion having a plurality of grooves formed on an inner surface of said casing portion; and 
 and a rotor portion having a plurality of lobes formed on an outer surface of said rotor portion, where said rotor portion is positioned adjacent to said inner surface of said casing portion such that said lobes interact with said grooves; 
 wherein said interaction of said lobes with said grooves creates a plurality of contact points between said lobes and grooves which travel around a perimeter of, and along a length of, said rotor portion as said rotor portion rotates about an axis relative to said casing portion; and 
 wherein said interaction captures a volume of material and moves said volume along a length of said device due to said relative rotation, and 
   wherein said material exits said positive displacement flow device and enters said combustion portion where it is combusted.   
   
   
       2 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein each of said lobes and said grooves are continuous along a length of said device. 
   
   
       3 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein said interaction of said lobes and said grooves blocks a downstream end of said device from an upstream end of said device. 
   
   
       4 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein there are either N+1 or N−1 grooves, where N is the number of lobes on the rotor portion. 
   
   
       5 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein both the lobes and grooves run along the length of said device in a helical pattern. 
   
   
       6 . The combustion device of  claim 5 , wherein the pitch of the helical pattern of the lobes is different than that of the pitch of the helical pattern of the grooves. 
   
   
       7 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein the number of contact points remains the same regardless of the rotational orientation of the rotor portion within the casing portion. 
   
   
       8 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein both the casing portion and the rotor portion rotate about an axis and the casing portion rotates at a different speed than the rotor portion. 
   
   
       9 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein both the casing portion and the rotor portion rotate about an axis and the casing portion rotates in the same direction as the rotor portion. 
   
   
       10 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein each of said contact points has a gap between an end of said lobes and said grooves such that no physical contact is made at said contact points. 
   
   
       11 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein the cross-sectional geometry of said rotor and casing portions is constant along a length of said device. 
   
   
       12 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein the relative rotation of the rotor portion within the casing portion has either a hypocycloidic or epicycloidic geometry path. 
   
   
       13 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein the cross-sectional geometry of said rotor and said casing portions form a least area rotor. 
   
   
       14 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein a single rotation of said rotor portion within said casing portion captures said volume. 
   
   
       15 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein N corresponds to the number of lobes and there are N−1 grooves and the ratio of rotational speed between the casing portion and the rotor portion is defined by N/(N+1). 
   
   
       16 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein N corresponds to the number of lobes and there are N+1 grooves and the ratio of rotational speed between the casing portion and the rotor portion is defined by N/(N+1). 
   
   
       17 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein when the number of grooves is N−1, where N is the number of lobes, the number of contact points is defined by the expression (2N)−1. 
   
   
       18 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein when the number of grooves is N+1, where N is the number of lobes, the number of contact points corresponds to the number of grooves, N+1. 
   
   
       19 . The combustion device of  claim 1 , wherein the combustion portion is a pulse detonation combustor. 
   
   
       20 . A combustion device; said device comprising:
 a positive displacement flow device positioned upstream of a combustion portion, said positive displacement flow device comprising:
 a casing portion having a plurality of grooves formed on an inner surface of said casing portion; and 
 and a rotor portion having a plurality of lobes formed on an outer surface of said rotor portion, where said rotor portion is positioned adjacent to said inner surface of said casing portion such that said lobes interact with said grooves; 
 wherein said interaction of said lobes with said grooves creates a plurality of contact points between said lobes and grooves which travel around a perimeter of, and along a length of, said rotor portion as said rotor portion rotates about an axis relative to said casing portion; 
 wherein said interaction captures a volume of material and moves said volume along a length of said device due to said relative rotation, 
 wherein said interaction of said lobes and said grooves blocks a downstream end of said device from an upstream end of said device, and 
 wherein there are either N+1 or N−1 grooves, where N is the number of lobes on the rotor portion, and 
   wherein said material exits said positive displacement flow device and enters said combustion portion where it is combusted.   
   
   
       21 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein both the lobes and grooves run along the length of said device in a helical pattern, and wherein the pitch of the helical pattern of the lobes is different than that of the pitch of the helical pattern of the grooves. 
   
   
       22 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein both the casing portion and the rotor portion rotate about an axis and the casing portion rotates at a different speed than the rotor portion. 
   
   
       23 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein both the casing portion and the rotor portion rotate about an axis and the casing portion rotates in the same direction as the rotor portion. 
   
   
       24 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein each of said contact points has a gap between an end of said lobes and said grooves such that no physical contact is made at said contact points. 
   
   
       25 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein the cross-sectional geometry of said rotor and casing portions is constant along a length of said device. 
   
   
       26 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein the relative rotation of the rotor portion within the casing portion has either a hypocycloidic or epicycloidic geometry path. 
   
   
       27 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein the cross-sectional geometry of said rotor and said casing portions form a least area rotor. 
   
   
       28 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein a single rotation of said rotor portion within said casing portion captures said volume. 
   
   
       29 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein N corresponds to the number of lobes and there are N−1 grooves and the ratio of rotational speed between the casing portion and the rotor portion is defined by N/(N−1). 
   
   
       30 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein N corresponds to the number of lobes and there are N+1 grooves and the ratio of rotational speed between the casing portion and the rotor portion is defined by N/(N+1). 
   
   
       31 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein when the number of grooves is N−1, where N is the number of lobes, the number of contact points is defined by the expression (2N)−1. 
   
   
       32 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein when the number of grooves is N+1, where N is the number of lobes, the number of contact points corresponds to the number of grooves, N+1. 
   
   
       33 . The combustion device of  claim 20 , wherein the combustion portion is a pulse detonation combustor.

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