Abstract: A thrust load compensating system for a compliant foil hydrodynamic fluid film thrust bearing is disclosed. The system includes an end cap over the free end of a rotary machine shaft, a compliant foil hydrodynamic fluid film journal bearing located at the free end of the shaft, and a source of air whose pressure varies with the square of turbomachine speed. The compliant foil hydrodynamic fluid film journal bearing located at the free end of the shaft serves as a non-contacting rotary shaft seal and, together with the end cap and free end of the shaft forms a thrust piston chamber. The thrust load compensating system of the present invention can be utilized in high speed rotary machines that have a compressor wheel and a turbine wheel that generate large axial aerodynamic forces that increase with speed.

Abstract: A liquid fuel pressurization and control system is disclosed which utilizes either a helical flow pump, or a helical flow pump followed by a gear pump, to pressurize liquid fuel to precisely the pressure level required by a turbogenerator's combustor injectors. This eliminates the need to overpressurize the fuel then regulate the fuel pressure down using a flow control valve or a pressure control valve. The shaft torque and shaft speed of the pump are controlled by the turbogenerator's power controller so as to assure that the turbogenerator's speed is precisely controlled (e.g. within ten (10) rpm out of one hundred thousand (100,000) rpm), and that its turbine exhaust temperature is precisely controlled (e.g. within two (2) degrees Fahrenheit out of twelve hundred (1200) degrees Fahrenheit) over the full range of turbogenerator electrical output power.

Abstract: A compound shaft for a three journal bearing turbomachine which includes a first stiff shaft supported by two journal bearings, a second stiff shaft supported by one journal bearing and by one bi-directional thrust bearing, and a flexible disk shaft that operably connects the first and second stiff shafts. The flexible disk shaft utilizes a flexible disk to function as a low hysterisis joint in parallel with a non-linear trunion clock spring such that the flexible disk shaft transfers overturning support from the first stiff shaft to the second stiff shaft and transfers thrust bearing support from the second stiff shaft to the first stiff shaft. The flexible disk shaft allows the compound shaft to tolerate extremely large misalignments of the three journal bearings from a straight line axis.

Abstract: A flywheel rotor used in a flywheel energy storage system providing a high energy storage capacity while providing an ample volume for a high power motor-generator within its envelope includes an outer, primarily cylindrical body having conically tapered end sections, a conical hub section attached to the outer body, and a relatively short inner cylinder, which cylinder connects shaft to the inner portion of the conical hub section. In an exemplary case, the individual components are predominantly constructed of filament wound fiber composites while allowing material choices to be driven by both cost and performance. According to one aspect of the rotor, the inner portion of the inner cylinder can be a slotted aluminum cylinder.

Abstract: A flywheel rotor used in a flywheel energy storage system providing a high energy storage capacity while providing an ample volume for a high power motor-generator within its envelope includes an outer, primarily cylindrical body having conically tapered end sections, a conical hub section attached to the outer body, and a relatively short inner cylinder, which cylinder connects shaft to the inner portion of the conical hub section. In an exemplary case, the individual components are predominantly constructed of filament wound fiber composites while allowing material choices to be driven by both cost and performance. According to one aspect of the rotor, the inner portion of the inner cylinder can be a slotted aluminum cylinder.

Abstract: A flywheel support system isolates the flywheel and its motor-generator from the driving environment of an electrically powered motor vehicle. A suitable liquid, placed between the outer and vacuum housings of the flywheel assembly, provides buoyancy and damping to the vacuum housing, cooling of the motor-generator, and serves as one of the barriers to rotor energy and angular momentum transfer in the event of an accident or failure. During normal operation, a shearable mechanical gimbal system keeps the vacuum housing centered in the outer housing, reacts the spin moments generated by the motor-generator, and provides a path for the electrical leads into the vacuum housing. In the event of bearing seizure or rotor failure, the mechanical gimbal will shear and allow the vacuum housing to gradually spin down against the fluid. A system of both active and passive axial and radial magnetic bearings supports the rotating assembly including the rotor of the motor-generator.

Abstract: A compliant foil hydrodynamic fluid film thrust bearing is disclosed which is comprised of a two sided thrust disk rotating element, compliant fluid foil members that axially enclose the rotating element, compliant spring foil members that axially enclose the fluid foil members, a spacer ring that coaxially surrounds the thrust disk and is axially disposed between the fluid foil members, and a compliantly mounted and spring preloaded thrust plate element and a foil retaining bearing housing with an inwardly facing thrust surface that together axially enclose the spring foil members, the fluid foil members and the spacer ring. The foils have self shimming rings at their peripheries and are formed by chemical etching from flat sheets. The fluid foils are subsequently coated with a wear resistant coating and then cold stamped to imboss compound curve profiles into the fluid foil to form wedge channels which induce vortex fluid flow patterns in the bearing's working fluid.

Abstract: A flywheel assembly used for mobile energy storage incorporates a molecular pump and an internal chamber containing molecular sieves. The molecular pump shares the shaft, bearings, and motor of the flywheel rotor, and maintains the high vacuum desired in the vicinity of the flywheel rotor. The gases which evolve from the rotor during its operational life are pumped into the chamber containing the molecular sieves where they are adsorbed.

Abstract: A compliant foil hydrodynamic fluid film radial bearing is disclosed which is comprised of a cylindrical rotor, fluid foil(s), spring foil(s), and a foil retaining cartridge. The cartridge has circumferentially undulating cam shaped lobes or has circumferential ramps and joggles that induce the spring and fluid foils to form converging fluid-dynamic wedge channels which compress and pressurize the process fluid and diverging channels which draw in makeup fluid. A spring foil is formed as a thin, flat sheet having chemically etched slots of a pattern that causes cantilever beams to stand erect and function as springs when the foil is bent to install in the cartridge. When a single foil is used in lieu of a plurality of foils made up of segments, that foil is preloaded away from the rotor by bending stresses in the foil that are induced when the foil is bent to fit into the cartridge.

Abstract: A modulating valve is described for controlling the flow of a working fluid through a flow orifice. The valve includes a encapsulated armature having a permanent magnet and a pair of soft iron pole pieces within its interior. The armature is axially movable by the passage of current through one or a dual pair of solenoid coils surrounding the armature. A thin webbed sealing disk is stretched over the end of an armature housing extension and acts to close or modulate flow of working fluid by varying the axial clearance between the disk and a stationary annular seat of the flow orifice. The armature is supported on flexure guide springs that allow armature axial motion when axial magnetic forces are applied to the armature. These axial forces are provided by the interaction of the solenoid coil(s) and the field of the permanent magnet.

Abstract: Magnetic levitation apparatus utilizing an arrangement of permanent magnets, one or more electromagnets, position and motion sensors plus electronic circuitry to effectively support the weight of and control the position of a levitated object. Provision is made to minimize the force required from each electromagnet and the levitation system power consumption. Particular damping elements are incorporated in various arrangements of the levitation system to enhance the position and motion control of the levitated object.