Side Channel Compressor Seal Assembly for Stable Impeller Clearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Side channel compressors experience efficiency reduction due to leakage currents caused by wear and unsatisfactory sealing, particularly under varying operating conditions such as temperature fluctuations.
Innovation Solution
A sealing device is pressed radially outward to compensate for volume changes and securely held in place to prevent axial migration, using a Teflon-based sealing strip or ribbon with an elastic holding mechanism to maintain a consistent seal across all operating states.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional seal assemblies are used to avoid leakage current, then sealing effect is improved, but wear occurs over service life leading to efficiency reduction
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing device utilizes elastic deformation characteristics to dynamically adapt to dimensional changes in the impeller and housing. By selecting materials with appropriate elastic properties, the seal maintains effective contact pressure throughout the service life, compensating for wear and thermal expansion without requiring replacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic sealing device automatically compensates for wear and dimensional changes through its inherent elastic recovery. The material continuously adjusts its deformation state to maintain sealing effectiveness, eliminating the need for external adjustment mechanisms or frequent maintenance interventions.
2Reliability
If seal assemblies are used to prevent leakage, then sealing effect is improved, but wear and unsatisfactory sealing occur under varying operating conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing device exploits the elastic properties of the material to dynamically adjust to changing operating conditions including temperature fluctuations and rotational speeds. The elastic deformation allows the seal to maintain optimal contact pressure across a wide range of operating parameters, ensuring consistent sealing performance.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than using a rigid seal that fails under varying conditions, the invention employs an elastic sealing device that dynamically adapts its deformation state. The seal continuously adjusts its geometry and contact pressure in response to changing operational parameters, maintaining effectiveness throughout the entire operating range.
3Productivity
If the gap between housing and impeller is reduced to minimize leakage, then efficiency is improved, but wear increases and sealing becomes more difficult under thermal deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic sealing device maintains a small effective gap for high efficiency while its elastic properties allow it to accommodate thermal expansion and wear. The material's ability to deform and recover ensures continuous sealing contact even when the gap dimensions change due to temperature or wear, preventing both leakage and excessive wear.
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 minimizes leakage currents and wear, ensuring sustained high efficiency and reliable sealing performance across all operating states by maintaining a small gap between the housing and impeller, even under thermal deformations.
Implementation Method 1
the at least one sealing device is itself elastic or resilient. It is therefore advantageously able to be forced, in particular pressed, radially outward
Implementation Method 2
the at least one sealing device has a radially outwardly facing sealing surface which extends adjacent to the at least one impeller, in particular with respect to the bearing ring base thereof and abuts there in a seal-forming fashion
Data Source
AI summary
A side channel compressor for compressing a gas includes a housing and at least one impeller which is arranged in the housing and configured to be driven in rotation about a central axis. In addition, the side channel compressor includes at least one seal assembly arranged in the housing and including at least one sealing device configured to seal at least one gap between the housing and the at least one impeller and be forced radially outward with respect to the central axis in order to keep the at least one gap small. The at least one seal assembly also includes at least one sealing-device-holding device configured to hold the at least one sealing device in an axially secured fashion with respect to the central axis and which includes at least one main holding body.