Combined axial piston liquid pump and energy recovery pressure exchanger
원문보기
IPC분류정보
국가/구분
United States(US) Patent
등록
국제특허분류(IPC7판)
B01D-061/06
B01D-061/08
B01D-063/00
출원번호
UP-0008772
(2008-01-15)
등록번호
US-7799221
(2010-10-11)
발명자
/ 주소
MacHarg, John P.
대리인 / 주소
McTaggart, J.E.
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
5인용 특허 :
10
초록▼
A pumping machine, that can serve a system as the sole main pump for pressurizing a primary liquid flow, incorporates, in a single machine, a rotor-drum type AP (axial piston) pump and a PX (pressure exchanger) that recovers energy from a secondary liquid flow such as the brine discharge from an RO
A pumping machine, that can serve a system as the sole main pump for pressurizing a primary liquid flow, incorporates, in a single machine, a rotor-drum type AP (axial piston) pump and a PX (pressure exchanger) that recovers energy from a secondary liquid flow such as the brine discharge from an RO seawater desalination system, with benefits including fewer moving parts and small machine size along with lower capital and operating costs. A single rotor-drum containing the cylinders and pistons is located between two end blocks, one or both configured with manifold passageways, ports and sliding valves. A swash-plate at one end reciprocates the pistons axially when the rotor-drum is rotated. Two working chambers, primary and secondary, are formed at opposite ends of a single piston in each cylinder, thus enabling the single rotor-drum to function as a primary liquid-pressurizing axial pump (AP) with sliding valves at the primary end enabling primary liquid pumping, and as a secondary outflow-driven pressure exchanger (PX) recovering energy from pressure drop in the secondary liquid flow and thus contributing work to primary pumping, saving energy and reducing operating costs.
대표청구항▼
What is claimed is: 1. A combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger, the liquid pump receiving, at a primary intake port, a primary liquid flow at a designated supply pressure and delivering the primary liquid flow via a primary output port to a pressurized destination
What is claimed is: 1. A combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger, the liquid pump receiving, at a primary intake port, a primary liquid flow at a designated supply pressure and delivering the primary liquid flow via a primary output port to a pressurized destination at a designated primary flow rate and at a designated increased pressure, the pressure exchanger receiving, at a secondary intake port, a secondary liquid flow at a designated secondary flow rate and at a designated elevated pressure, and delivering the secondary flow via a secondary output port as a discharge at a reduced pressure, while simultaneously delivering recovered energy to the liquid pump for reduced primary energy consumption and accordingly reduced primary operating cost, said combined axial piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger comprising: a rotor-drum configured with a plurality of cylinders arranged in a radial array constituting a set of cylinder bores extending from open ends at the primary end to a transverse bulkhead configured in secondary end region thereof; a primary end block interfacing a flat water-lubricated sliding primary end surface of said rotor-drum: a secondary end block having an inner surface generally facing a secondary end of said rotor-drum; said primary and secondary end blocks being mechanically coupled together so as to constitute an end block assembly flanking and supporting said rotor-drum in a manner to be rotatable about a central axis; a plurality of pistons, each disposed in a corresponding one of the cylinders in an axially and rotationally slidable manner, each piston having a cylindrical-shaped main portion of designated diameter, closely fitted to form a sliding seal in the corresponding cylinder and thus creating at the primary end a primary cylinder chamber having an effective cross-sectional piston area equal to that of the cylinder, each piston configured at the secondary end with an extending drive-rod traversing a slide-bearing configured in the bulkhead of the rotor-drum, thus creating at the secondary end a secondary cylinder chamber having an effective piston area equal to the cross-sectional area of the cylinder minus that of the drive rod; primary valve means providing commutated fluid communication from the primary end of each cylinder in overlapping rotational sequence (1) to the primary intake port so as to draw in primary liquid whenever the corresponding piston is moving away from the primary end during an intake stroke, and (2) alternately to the primary output port so as to deliver primary liquid to and thus apply pressure to the destination whenever the primary end of the piston is moving toward the primary end during an output stroke; and secondary valve means for connecting the secondary end region of each cylinder in overlapping rotational sequence (1) via the secondary intake port to a secondary liquid flow from a high pressure source whenever the piston moves away from the secondary end, driven in part by the high pressure, during an intake stroke, and (2) alternately via the secondary output port to a secondary liquid discharge flow path at reduced pressure whenever the piston moves toward the secondary end during an output stroke; driving means for energizing rotation between said rotor-drum and said end block assembly while also reciprocating the pistons axially in sequence via the drive-rods over a designated stroke length and actuating said primary and secondary valve means in a synchronous operating manner; whereby the pistons are made to perform, at their primary ends, a pumping action that serves to maintain designated elevated working primary pressure input at the destination while, at their secondary ends, the pistons are made to perform work in a pressure exchange that enables energy recovered from the secondary liquid flow to contribute to the primary pumping action and thus reduce overall operating costs. 2. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 1 wherein: said primary end block is configured with the primary intake port receiving primary liquid, the primary outlet port delivering primary liquid and a flat surface interfacing a flat water-lubricated sliding primary end surface of said rotor-drum, and said secondary end block is configured with the secondary intake port receiving secondary liquid, the secondary output port delivering primary liquid and a flat surface interfacing a flat liquid-lubricated sliding end surface at a secondary and opposite end of said rotor-drum. 3. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 1 wherein said driving means comprises: a swash-plate configured with an inclined flat smooth liquid-lubricated sliding surface; a set of sliders, each associated with a corresponding piston and attached to the corresponding drive-rod in a swivel manner, each slider configured with a flat smooth liquid-lubricated working surface interfacing, urged against and sliding on the flat smooth working surface of said swash-plate so as to reciprocate each piston independently in repeating sequential cycles in response to relative rotation between said rotor-drum and said swash-plate. 4. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 3 wherein said swash-plate is formed integrally as a single part along with said secondary end block. 5. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 3 wherein said swash-plate is formed separately as an additional part affixed to said secondary end block. 6. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 1 wherein said rotor-drum is configured with a coaxial driveshaft, made and arranged to receive rotational drive from an external motor so as to impart rotation to said rotor-drum. 7. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 1 wherein said primary and secondary valve means are made and arranged to function as reversing valves that open and close in a predetermined sequential manner in response to relative rotation between said rotor-drum and said end block assembly and resultant reciprocation of the pistons, so as to enable pump action in the primary cylinder regions and pressure-exchange energy recovery in the secondary cylinder regions. 8. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 1 wherein said primary valve means comprises: the primary flat end surface of said rotor-drum being configured with a set of apertures constituting open primary ends of the cylinders; and said primary end block including a primary stator valve plate, located at the flat surface thereof, configured with a pair of arcuate kidney-shaped primary valve port apertures, and having a smooth flat liquid-lubricated surface interfacing the flat primary end surface of said rotor-drum in a sealed sliding manner. 9. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 8 wherein the primary valve plate is formed integrally as a single part along with said primary end block. 10. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 8 wherein the primary valve plate is formed separately as a separate part affixed to said primary end block. 11. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 4 wherein said secondary valve means comprises: the secondary flat end surface of said rotor-drum being configured in an annular peripheral region of the secondary end of said rotor-drum with a set of arcuate kidney-shaped valve port apertures, each connected in fluid communication with a corresponding second cylinder chamber via a corresponding set of passageways configured in the secondary end region of said rotor-drum; and said secondary end block including a secondary valve plate, located at the flat surface thereof, configured with a pair of arcuate kidney-shaped secondary valve port apertures, and having a smooth flat liquid-lubricated surface interfacing the flat secondary end surface of said rotor-drum in a sealed sliding manner. 12. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 11 wherein the secondary valve plate is formed integrally as a single part along with said secondary end block. 13. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 11 wherein the secondary valve plate is formed separately as a separate part affixed to said secondary end block. 14. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 2 further comprising each piston being configured with a small central passageway providing liquid communication from the primary cylinder chamber to the secondary end of the piston drive-rod, and communicating liquid flow passageway means configured in the slider for lubrication of the associated slider/swash-plate interface. 15. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 1 wherein the piston drive-rods are dimensioned in diameter relative to the cylinder diameter so as to provide a ratio between total cross-sectional area of the primary piston ends and the effective cross-sectional area of the secondary piston ends that is equal to a ratio between the designated primary flow rate and the designated secondary flow rate. 16. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 1 wherein: the source of the primary liquid flow is a supply of seawater; the destination of the primary liquid flow is an intake of a reverse osmosis desalination chamber; the source of the secondary liquid flow is a brine outlet of the desalination chamber; and a substantial portion of a total external input energy requirement for motivating primary pumping to provide designated pressure and flow rate at the intake port of the reverse osmosis desalination chamber is supplied as energy recovered by said pressure exchanger portion, so that the external input energy requirement is reduced to substantially less than the total external input energy that would be required in absence of energy recovery. 17. An energy-recovering liquid pumping machine combining an axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger, the liquid pump receiving as intake a primary liquid flow at a designated supply pressure and delivering the primary liquid flow as output to a pressurized destination at a designated primary flow rate and at a designated increased pressure, the pressure exchanger receiving as intake a secondary liquid flow at a designated secondary flow rate and at a designated elevated pressure, and delivering the secondary flow as output discharge at a reduced pressure, while further delivering recovered energy to the liquid pump for reduced primary energy consumption and accordingly reduced primary operating cost, said energy-recovering liquid pumping machine comprising: a rotor-drum configured with a plurality of cylinders arranged in a radial array constituting a set of cylinder bores extending from open ends at the primary end to a transverse bulkhead configured in said rotor-drum near the secondary end thereof; a primary end block configured with a primary intake port receiving primary liquid, a primary outlet port delivering primary liquid and a flat surface interfacing a flat liquid-lubricated sliding primary end surface of said rotor-drum: a secondary end block configured with a secondary intake port receiving secondary liquid, a secondary outlet port delivering primary liquid and a flat surface interfacing a flat liquid-lubricated sliding secondary end surface of said rotor-drum; said primary and secondary end blocks being mechanically coupled together so as to constitute an end block assembly flanking and supporting said rotor-drum in a manner to be rotatable about a concentric axis; a plurality of pistons, each disposed in a corresponding one of the cylinders in an axially and rotationally slidable manner, each piston having a cylindrical-shaped main portion of designated diameter, closely fitted to form a sliding seal in the corresponding cylinder and thus creating at the primary end a primary cylinder chamber having an effective cross-sectional piston area equal to that of the cylinder, each piston configured at the secondary end with an extending drive-rod traversing a slide-bearing in the bulkhead of the rotor-drum, thus creating at the secondary end a secondary cylinder chamber having an effective piston area equal to the cross-sectional area of the cylinder minus that of the drive rod; the primary flat end surface of said rotor-drum being configured with a set of apertures constituting open primary ends of the cylinders; said primary end block including a primary valve plate, located at the flat surface thereof, being configured with a pair of arcuate kidney-shaped primary valve port apertures, and having a smooth flat liquid-lubricated surface interfacing the flat primary end surface of said rotor-drum in a sealed sliding manner; the secondary flat end surface of said rotor-drum being configured in an annular peripheral region of the secondary end of said rotor-drum with a set of arcuate kidney-shaped valve port apertures, each connected in fluid communication with a corresponding second cylinder chamber via a corresponding set of passageways configured in the secondary end region of said rotor-drum; said secondary end block including a secondary valve plate, located at the flat surface thereof, being configured with a pair of arcuate kidney-shaped secondary valve port apertures, and having a smooth flat liquid-lubricated surface interfacing the flat secondary end surface of said rotor-drum in a sealed sliding manner. 18. The combined axial-piston liquid pump and energy-recovery pressure exchanger as defined in claim 17 further comprising: said primary end block being configured with: the primary intake port receiving primary liquid; the primary outlet port delivering primary liquid; the secondary intake port receiving secondary liquid; the secondary output port delivering primary liquid: and a flat surface interfacing a flat water-lubricated sliding primary end surface of said rotor-drum; the primary flat end surface of said rotor-drum being configured with a set of apertures constituting open primary ends of the cylinders; and a set of secondary flow passageways each having a first end in fluid communication with a corresponding secondary cylinder chamber and having a second end constituting a valve port at the primary end surface of said rotor-drum located between the corresponding cylinder end and the central axis of said rotor-drum; said primary end block including a primary stator valve plate, located at the flat surface thereof, configured with a first pair of arcuate kidney-shaped apertures constituting the primary valve ports located on a first circle in alignment with the cylinders, and a second and smaller pair of arcuate kidney-shaped apertures constituting the secondary valve ports located on a secondary circle, smaller than the primary circle and concentric therewith, in alignment with the secondary floe passageways; a swash-plate configured with an inclined flat smooth liquid-lubricated sliding surface; and a set of sliders, each associated with a corresponding piston and attached to the corresponding drive-rod in a swivel manner, each slider configured with a flat smooth liquid-lubricated working surface interfacing, urged against and sliding on the flat smooth working surface of said swash-plate so as to reciprocate each piston independently in repeating sequential cycles in response to relative rotation between said rotor-drum and said swash-plate. 19. A method of recovering energy in a single pumping machine that delivers a primary liquid flow at a designated flow rate and at high pressure to a primary destination in a liquid-related process where there is available a secondary flow originating at a designated flow rate and at high pressure, to be disposed of at reduced pressure, comprising the steps of: providing a hydraulic pump of a type utilizing a rotor-drum with a plurality of uniform cylinders in a radial array, each cylinder extending from an open end at a flat primary end of the rotor-drum, to a bulkhead of the rotor-drum near the secondary end thereof; providing in each cylinder, a piston having a main body close-fitted in the associated cylinder and a primary end forming and facing a primary working cylinder chamber, the piston having a secondary end configured with an extending drive rod that traverses a sealed sliding guide aperture configured in the bulkhead, thus forming a secondary cylinder chamber having an effective piston area that is lees than the cylinder cross-sectional area, and thus less than the effective primary piston area, due to the reduction of secondary effective piston area by cross-sectional area occupied by the drive rod; dimensioning the piston drive-rods to have a diameter such that [effective secondary piston area]/[cylinder cross-sectional area] is made equal to [designated secondary flow rate]/[designated primary flow rate]; providing valve means, in end blocks interfacing both ends of the rotor-drum, made and arranged to alternately provide liquid communication between the primary cylinder chambers and a pair of primary ports, i.e. a primary intake port and a primary outlet port in the primary end block, and between the secondary cylinder chambers and a pair of secondary ports, i.e. a secondary intake port and a secondary outlet port in the secondary end block; and rotating the rotor-drum while reciprocating the pistons in a manner to perform a two-stroke pumping action in the primary cylinder chamber to pressurize the primary liquid flow as enabled by a primary sliding valve system selectively directing the primary liquid flow path through the primary portion of the rotating rotor-drum, and to perform pressure-exchange energy recovery from the secondary liquid flow as enabled by a secondary sliding valve system selectively directing the secondary liquid flow path through the secondary portion of the rotating rotor-drum, thus assisting the pumping action and reducing operating cost. 20. The method of method of recovering energy in a single pumping machine as defined in claim 19 wherein: the primary liquid flow is of seawater; the primary destination is a seawater intake of a main seawater chamber of a reverse osmosis desalination system; the secondary liquid flow is of brine from the main seawater chamber of the reverse osmosis desalination system, and the secondary destination is a brine disposal facility, where the brine may be treated or simply discharged as wastewater.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (10)
Andeen Gerry B. (Menlo Park CA), Fluid motor-pumping apparatus and method for energy recovery.
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