Turbine Movable Sleeve Extends Flow Range
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Solution Overview
Problem
Turbines used in downhole drilling operations face limitations in flow rate range, leading to insufficient power generation, thermal stresses, and mechanical wear, with high maintenance and replacement costs due to erosion from suspended particles, and the challenge of selecting the correct turbine for specific flow rates.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a movable sleeve within the turbine that adjusts its cross-sectional area in response to pressure differentials, using removable sleeves or a spring-loaded mechanism to change the gap widths between blades and the hub, allowing operation across a wider flow rate range while reducing erosion and maintenance costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a turbine is designed for a specific optimal flow rate range, then it generates sufficient power and operates reliably within that range, but it cannot operate effectively outside this limited range, leading to insufficient power or excessive wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the turbine cross-sectional area adjustable through movable sleeves that can shift position in response to varying flow rates. This allows the turbine to dynamically adapt its geometry to match different operating conditions, transforming a static device into a dynamic one that maintains optimal performance across a wide flow rate range.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the turbine into multiple adjustable sections with movable sleeves that can be independently positioned. This segmentation allows different parts of the turbine to be optimized for different flow conditions, enabling the overall system to handle a broader range of flow rates while maintaining simplicity in each individual segment.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the turbine operates below the optimal flow rate range, then it can handle low flow conditions, but it produces insufficient power for electronic components
Solution Approach 1:
At low flow rates, the movable sleeves automatically adjust to a configuration that reduces the turbine cross-sectional area, concentrating the available flow to maintain sufficient power generation. This dynamic adjustment ensures that even at low flow rates, the turbine can produce adequate power for electronic components.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the turbine operates above the optimal flow rate range, then it can handle high flow conditions, but it experiences high thermal stresses and accelerated wear of mechanical components
Solution Approach 1:
At high flow rates, the movable sleeves shift to increase the turbine cross-sectional area, distributing the high flow across a larger area and reducing velocity. This dynamic adaptation decreases thermal stresses and minimizes erosive wear on blades and components, thereby maintaining reliability under high flow conditions.
4Ease of manufacture
If a fixed turbine design is used, then the manufacturing and installation are simple, but selecting the correct turbine for specific flow rates is difficult and may result in mismatched performance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal turbine design with movable sleeves that can adapt to multiple flow rate conditions. This single multi-functional turbine replaces the need for multiple fixed-design turbines, making manufacturing and installation simpler while ensuring the correct configuration is automatically selected based on actual flow conditions.
5Adaptability or versatility
If removable sleeves are used to adjust the turbine cross-sectional area, then the flow rate range is extended, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The movable sleeves are designed to automatically adjust the turbine cross-sectional area in response to flow rate changes without requiring external control systems or complex actuation mechanisms. The flow itself drives the adjustment, making the system self-regulating and minimizing the complexity of the sleeve mechanism while maximizing adaptability.
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
This solution extends the operational flow rate range of turbines, reduces thermal stresses and mechanical wear, minimizes maintenance costs, and eliminates errors in turbine selection by allowing the same turbine components to be used across various flow conditions, enhancing reliability and service life.
Implementation Method 1
a movable sleeve disposed within the turbine and axially movable between a first position and a second position in response to changes in a pressure differential between a first location in the turbine and a second location in the turbine
Implementation Method 2
As drilling mud passes through a stationary blade row in the turbine, it generates an angular momentum, or flow swirl, in expense of the pressure differential. The downstream rotating blade row, or rotor, converts that angular momentum, as well as its own reaction, into the shaft power
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for extending the operational flow rate range of a turbine is described herein. Two or more removable sleeves may be used to change the cross-sectional area of a turbine. Each removable sleeve may define or eliminate the stator gap between a stator blade tip and an inner wall of the removable sleeve and a rotor gap between a rotor blade tip and an inner wall of the removable sleeve. A movable sleeve may be disposed in the turbine and may move between a first position and a second position in response to changes in the pressure differential across the turbine. The movable sleeve may define or eliminate a stator gap between a stator blade tip and the inner conical surface of the sleeve or a hub of the turbine and a rotor gap between a rotor blade tip and the inner conical surface of the sleeve.