Compressor Housing Cooling via Perpendicular Air Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing oxygen concentrating apparatuses face challenges in efficiently cooling the compressor while minimizing weight and preventing noise emission, as the compressor housing obstructs cooling and increases weight.
Innovation Solution
An oxygen concentrating apparatus with a compressor housing featuring air inlet ports and a cooling fan that directs air flow perpendicularly to the compressor's surface, maintaining a flow velocity of 15 m/sec or lower to ensure effective cooling without excessive weight or noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-generated harmful factors
If a compressor housing is added to accommodate the compressor, then noise emission is minimized, but the compressor cannot be cooled efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The compressor housing is segmented with multiple air inlet ports distributed on the housing surface, allowing cooling air to enter from multiple locations. This segmentation enables the housing to simultaneously provide noise insulation and cooling functions by creating separate pathways for air intake and compressor accommodation.
Solution Approach 2:
A cooling fan is introduced as an intermediary device between the external environment and the compressor. The cooling fan actively draws cooling air through the inlet ports and directs it onto the compressor surface, mediating the heat transfer process while the housing maintains its noise insulation function.
2Temperature
If the cooling fan capacity and air inlet port diameter are increased to improve cooling, then cooling efficiency increases, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the parameters of the cooling system by carefully selecting the cooling fan capacity and air inlet port dimensions. By controlling the air flow velocity to be 15 m/sec or lower, the system achieves effective cooling while minimizing the size and weight of the cooling components, thus avoiding excessive weight increase.
3Temperature
If air flow velocity through air inlet ports is increased to improve cooling, then cooling efficiency improves, but pressure loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention establishes an optimal parameter range for air flow velocity (15 m/sec or lower) that balances cooling efficiency and pressure loss. This parameter optimization ensures sufficient heat dissipation from the compressor while minimizing energy loss due to excessive pressure drop across the air inlet ports.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively cools the compressor, maintaining a temperature difference below 30°C, reducing power consumption and preventing excessive pressure loss, while minimizing weight and noise, allowing for efficient operation and extended usage.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling fan mounted on the compressor housing at the air outlet opening for drawing the air from the compressor housing
Implementation Method 2
an adsorption column filed with an adsorbent material which selectively adsorbs nitrogen gas more than oxygen gas
Data Source
AI summary
An oxygen concentrating apparatus (10) has an oxygen concentrating unit (12), a compressor (26) for supplying compressed air to the oxygen concentrating unit (12) and a compressor housing (28) for accommodating the compressor (26). The compressor housing (28) includes a plurality of air inlet ports (28a) for introducing the air into the compressor housing (28) and an air outlet opening (28b) for discharging the air from the compressor housing (28). A cooling fan (30) is mounted on the compressor housing (28) at the air outlet opening (28b) for drawing the air from the compressor housing (28). The air inlet ports (28a) are disposed adjacent to the side wall of the compressor (26) to direct the air flow induced by the cooling fan perpendicularly to the side wall of the compressor (26). The capacity of the cooling fan (30) and the diameter of the air inlet ports (28a) are selected to ensure the velocity of the air flow through the air inlet ports (28a) is equal to or lower than 15 m/sec.