Maglev Centrifugal Pump Housing Layout to Minimize Leaks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Centrifugal pumps with non-contact magnetically supported and driven rotors face issues with leaks and complex, costly manufacturing due to contradictory requirements for mechanical stability and thin-walled components under high output conditions.
Innovation Solution
A pump unit design with the inlet and outlet arranged at the cover part, allowing for a robust cover part and a simple, thin-walled bottom part, reducing mechanical stresses and facilitating easier manufacturing, while maintaining non-contact magnetic levitation and drive.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the pump housing is designed with high mechanical stability to withstand heavy piping system forces, then reliability is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pump housing is divided into two separate parts: a robust cover part that withstands mechanical forces from piping systems, and a thin-walled bottom part that is easy to manufacture. This segmentation allows each part to be optimized independently for its specific function, resolving the contradiction between mechanical stability and manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the pump housing have different wall thicknesses and mechanical properties tailored to their local requirements. The cover part has high mechanical strength where needed to resist piping forces, while the bottom part can be thin-walled since it doesn't bear heavy mechanical loads. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by providing strength only where necessary.
2Ease of manufacture
If the pump housing uses thin-walled components to simplify manufacturing, then ease of manufacture is improved, but mechanical stability under high output conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pump housing is segmented into a thin-walled bottom part for easy manufacturing and a robust cover part for mechanical strength. This allows the majority of the housing to be simplified while maintaining strength where required by the piping system connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing structure transitions from uniform thickness to variable thickness, with thin walls in non-critical areas for manufacturing ease and thick walls in critical areas for mechanical strength. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction between ease of manufacture and mechanical stability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the inlet and outlet are arranged at different locations (bottom part and cover part), then connectivity is improved, but mechanical stresses on the sealing increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of arranging inlet and outlet at different locations to improve connectivity, the patent inverts this approach by placing both at the cover part. This maintains piping connectivity while eliminating the mechanical stress problem that would result from having components at different locations.
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
Enhances operational safety by minimizing leaks and simplifies manufacturing, ensuring reliable operation under high mechanical loads and aggressive chemical environments.
Implementation Method 1
A magnetic rotating field can be generated with the electrical windings of the stator, which on the one hand exerts a torque on the rotor, which effects its rotation about a desired axis of rotation defined by the axial direction
Implementation Method 2
which, on the other hand, exerts an arbitrarily adjustable transverse force on the rotor so that its radial position can be actively controlled or regulated
Implementation Method 3
the rotor is passively magnetically supported or stabilized by reluctance forces, i.e., it cannot be controlled
Data Source
AI summary
A pump unit for a centrifugal pump includes a pump housing with an inlet and with an outlet for a fluid to be conveyed, and a rotor arranged in the pump housing to convey the fluid, the rotor configured to be rotated about an axial direction, the pump unit capable of non-contact magnetic levitation of the rotor and non-contact magnetic drive of the rotor by a stator. The pump housing has a cover part and a bottom part to enclose the cover part, the bottom part having a cylindrical cup to receive the rotor, the cylindrical cup configured to be inserted into the cup-shaped recess of the stator. Both the inlet and the outlet of the pump housing are arranged at the cover part.