Rotary Pump Vane Transition Between Displacement and Centrifugal Modes
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pumps lack the ability to efficiently transition between positive displacement and centrifugal operation, which limits their versatility and efficiency, especially in varying fluid flow conditions.
Innovation Solution
A pump design featuring a housing with cylindrical interior and side surfaces forming a central chamber, a rotor with lobes and throughpassages, and a valve arrangement to manage fluid flow, allowing for both positive displacement and centrifugal operation by adjusting vane motion and using check valves to prevent backflow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional pump design is used, then the structure is simple, but the pump cannot efficiently transition between positive displacement and centrifugal operation
Solution Approach 1:
The pump is designed to perform multiple functions - both positive displacement pumping (via rotor lobes) and centrifugal pumping (via impeller vanes) - within a single device structure, allowing efficient operation across varying fluid flow conditions without requiring separate pump systems
Solution Approach 2:
The pump utilizes dynamic elements including a rotating rotor with lobes that create positive displacement, and an impeller with vanes that generate centrifugal force, allowing the pump to adapt its operating mode based on rotational speed and fluid conditions
2Productivity
If the pump lacks self-priming capability, then the structure is simpler, but the pump cannot efficiently handle fluid flow across different speed conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The pump incorporates a valve arrangement that performs preliminary actions to prevent backflow and maintain pressure differentials, enabling the pump to self-prime and efficiently handle fluid flow across different speed conditions without external priming assistance
Solution Approach 2:
The pump is designed with self-priming capability through integrated valve arrangements that automatically manage fluid direction and pressure, allowing the pump to prime itself without external assistance and maintain efficient operation across varying speeds
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
Enables the pump to self-prime and efficiently handle fluid flow across different speed conditions, transitioning seamlessly between positive displacement and centrifugal operation, while being cost-effective and robust.
Implementation Method 1
As the rotor turns in the chamber, the outer surface of the rotor is traversed by the vane to, in combination with the rotor and the housing, create, as the vane traverses a throughpassage, a chamber ahead of the vane which increases volume and communicates with the throughpassage, and a chamber behind the vane which decreases in volume and communicates with each outlet port
Implementation Method 2
the rotor can be an impeller which, in use, draws fluid through the one or more inlet ports into the central void
Implementation Method 3
a valve arrangement adapted to block flow into the chamber via each outlet port at least when the vane for each outlet port is traversing a throughpassage
Data Source
AI summary
A pump housing has a cylindrical interior surface having outlets and a pair of side surfaces defining, in combination with the interior surface, a substantially cylindrical chamber. The surfaces have inlets. A rotor has a void, lobes and, for each lobe, a throughpassage. The rotor is positioned in the chamber such that the void communicates with the inlet to receive fluid and the throughpassage for each lobe provides communication between the void and chamber. The rotor is rotatably mounted in the chamber such that the lobes traverse the cylindrical surface. Provided for each outlet is a vane. As the rotor turns, the rotor outer surface is traversed by the vane to create, as the vane traverses a throughpassage, a chamber ahead of the vane which increases in volume and communicates with the throughpassage, and a chamber behind the vane which decreases in volume and communicates with the outlet port.