Modular Skeleton Steam Strainer for Turbomachines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Steam strainers in turbomachines face issues with high flow resistance and pressure losses, leading to reduced turbine efficiency and short service life due to damage from foreign bodies and limited repairability, making them costly to produce and maintain.
Innovation Solution
A modular steam strainer design featuring a skeleton-like tubular body with exchangeable shell-like individual elements and longitudinal struts, allowing for separate replacement of damaged parts and using selective laser melting for production to optimize flow and reduce costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a simple wound strainer or hole strainer is used, then the strainer can be easily manufactured, but the flow resistance increases and pressure losses become very high
Solution Approach 1:
The strainer surface is divided into multiple shell-like individual elements that are attached to a skeleton-like tubular body. This segmentation allows for optimized flow paths through each element while maintaining manufacturing simplicity, reducing overall pressure losses compared to conventional wound or hole strainers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional 2D strainer surfaces to a 3D modular structure with shell-like elements arranged around a tubular body. This dimensional change enables optimized flow paths and reduced flow resistance while maintaining ease of manufacture through standardized components.
2Reliability
If the entire steam strainer is exchanged when the lateral surface is damaged or clogged, then the steam strainer can be replaced, but the cost increases and other parts are damaged during installation and removal
Solution Approach 1:
The steam strainer is segmented into a skeleton-like tubular body and multiple attachable shell-like individual elements. When the lateral surface becomes damaged or clogged, only the affected shell elements need to be replaced, not the entire strainer. This segmentation prevents damage to other parts during replacement and reduces maintenance costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular design allows damaged shell-like individual elements to be discarded and replaced, while the skeleton-like tubular body and other intact elements are recovered and reused. This extends the service life of the steam strainer and reduces overall replacement costs.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional production technologies such as turning, milling, boring or welding are used to produce the lateral surface, then the steam strainer can be manufactured, but the production becomes cost-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The lateral surface is produced as separate shell-like individual elements that can be manufactured using cost-effective processes and then attached to the skeleton-like tubular body. This segmentation avoids the need for expensive conventional machining operations on the entire strainer, reducing production costs while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A steam strainer and a method for producing a steam strainer is provided. The steam strainer has a skeleton-like tube body, in which, to construct a shell surface, at least two shell-type individual elements are provided for mounting, wherein the skeleton-like tube body has two end surfaces which are kept at a defined spacing by at least one longitudinal strut connecting the two end surfaces, and wherein the at least two shell-type individual elements have a plurality of screen openings, and wherein the at least two shell-type individual elements and the longitudinal strut are independently exchangeable. In addition, a method for producing such a steam strainer is provided.