EP2052156B1 - Multi-stage compressor - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a multi-stage compressor for compressing gases with a low-pressure region and a high-pressure region, wherein at least one screw compressor and in the high-pressure region at least a two-cylinder reciprocating compressor is provided and a common motor for driving the screw compressor and the reciprocating compressor is provided, wherein the longitudinal axis of a crankshaft of the engine is substantially horizontal and the engine is disposed laterally adjacent to the reciprocating compressor.

The combination of a rotary compressor, in particular a screw compressor, in the low pressure range with a reciprocating compressor in the high pressure region is basically from WO 03/010436 A1 the applicant known. Here, a multi-stage reciprocating compressor is shown for high compression of the gas to be compressed, wherein the cylinders of the individual compressor stages are arranged in a V-shape to each other. The drive of the reciprocating compressor and the low-pressure compressor takes place here via a common crankshaft.

From the FR 1 231 185 A is another type of multi-stage compressor for the compression of gases known in which no screw compressor is provided in the low pressure range. In addition, the engine is arranged above the low-pressure compressor and the high-pressure compressor, and the crankshaft is arranged vertically, so that the multistage compressor has an extremely high center of gravity.

From the FR 944 598 A Also known is a multi-stage compressor for compressing gases, wherein a centrifugal compressor is provided in the low-pressure region. Consequently, only a relatively low compression in the low pressure range is possible. In addition, the span of the device is very large.

From the GB 597 437 A For example, another aircraft air compressor is known in which a vane compressor is provided in a first compressor stage.

Furthermore, it is from the DE 4 313 573 A1 known to provide a screw compressor for low pressure compression and a separate driven by the screw compressor high pressure piston compressor for high pressure compression.

In addition, is still from the DE 199 32 433 A1 a method for improving the economics of positive displacement compressors, wherein it is disclosed herein that a centrifugal compressor is driven either by the drive motor of a reciprocating compressor or by a separate motor.

Furthermore, it is still out of the US 4,662,826 a different type of vacuum pump is known in which gas is first sucked by means of a rotary vacuum pump and then via a coupled to the crankshaft of the rotary vacuum pump reciprocating pump. In this case, however, there is no internal compression of the gas to be extracted, so that in comparison to a multi-stage high pressure compression any heating of the gas to be compressed or a condensate attack are not taken into account.

From the WO 2002/044564 A1 is a multi-stage piston compressor for the production of compressed air for rail vehicles known, which consists essentially of a drive unit and a downstream compressor unit and has a low-pressure and at least one high-pressure stage. Each of the cranks lying on a crankshaft has two opposing pistons mounted thereon, adjacent cranks being arranged substantially offset by 180 ° to one another, the pistons in this case being able to be vertically standing, lying horizontally or V-shaped.

From the FR 2 369 962 A a breathing gas pump is known in which both sides of an electric motor reciprocating pumps are provided with cylinder heads and an associated blower.

The DE 199 47 444 A1 shows a different type of special gas pump for the production of anesthetic gases, in which several successively connected, two-stage piston compressor are provided, which are designed double-acting. The two-stage design of the gas pump is particularly intended to achieve a compressor for small quantities and for high pressure ranges.

From the DE 29 39 298 A1 In general, a reciprocating compressor system is shown, which has a boxer compressor, wherein the piston liners of a stepped cylinder are rotated by 180 ° and arranged opposite one another.

From the GB 458 333 A In addition, a combined unit of internal combustion engine and pump or compressor is known. The pump or compressor unit has a crankshaft with three cranks, wherein two adjacent cranks are offset by 180 ° to each other, whose respective cylinders are arranged opposite each other in a horizontal plane.

The aim of the present invention is now to provide a multi-stage compressor of the type mentioned, which compared to comparable multi-stage compressors has an improved vibration behavior.

According to the invention this is achieved in that in each case a stepped piston is accommodated in the cylinders or the cylinders are designed double-acting and the cylinders whose longitudinal axes are arranged substantially horizontally, are rotated in the high pressure region rotated by 180 ° to each other. Due to the 180 ° twisted, opposite arrangement of the cylinder results in a much lower vibration run recorded in the cylinders piston for compression of the gas to be compressed. Together with the screw compressor provided in the low pressure range, this results in an extremely compact multi-stage compressor, with which a relatively high compression of a gas to be compressed can be achieved, at the same time generated by the multi-stage compressor Vibrations are kept low. As a result, the multistage compressor according to the invention is particularly suitable for use in mobile compressor installations as well as in compressor installations mounted on a ship. It is also particularly advantageous that the reciprocating compressor whose at least two cylinders are arranged rotated by 180 ° to each other, that are arranged in a so-called box design, compared to conventional, for example, V-shaped arranged to each other, cylinders have relatively low center of gravity.

In order to keep the overall center of gravity of the multi-stage compressor as low as possible, which is of particular importance in mobile compressor systems, the engine is arranged laterally next to the reciprocating compressor. In addition, it is favorable for a flat and thus a low center of gravity education that the longitudinal axis of a crankshaft of the engine as well as the longitudinal axis of the cylinder are arranged substantially horizontally.

With regard to a particularly compact design of the multi-stage compressor, it is advantageous to provide the common motor with two shaft ends, so that in a simple way the rotary compressor and the reciprocating compressor can be coupled to opposite sides of the engine.

Alternatively, it is also conceivable for a particularly compact design that the screw compressor is coupled to the engine driven reciprocating compressor. In this case, only a single crankshaft is required, over which both the screw compressor and the reciprocating compressor are driven.

Since the multi-stage compressor according to the invention should also be suitable in particular for mobile use on ships and trucks, it is favorable if the multi-stage compressor has a comparatively small span or width, without reducing the efficiency. This is achieved in that a stepped piston is accommodated in the cylinders or the cylinders are double-acting are formed. Due to the comparatively short span, the multi-stage compressor can advantageously be accommodated in ISO containers that are 8 ft (2.54 m) wide and either 20 ft (6,079 m) or 40 ft (12.9 m) long. Previously known multi-stage compressor, which had both a rotary and a reciprocating compressor, in which the piston compressor but V-shaped were arranged to each other, however, could not be included in ISO containers, which made a mobile application considerably more difficult.

In order to limit the compressor end temperature in the high-pressure region to a permissible value, it is favorable if the reciprocating compressor has a plurality of compressor stages. In the case of too high a degree of compaction in a single compression stage, due to the increase in the temperature of the gas to be compressed, further compression in a single compression stage would be inefficient.

For efficient control of the multi-stage compressor, it is advantageous if at least one control device is provided between the individual compressor stages, wherein as a control device discharge valves, bypass valves, adjustable dead spaces, speed controller and other fittings can be provided. In particular, various mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical or electronic components can be used to control or regulate the multi-stage compressor, whereby both a local control and a remote operation is possible.

With regard to efficient compression in the individual compressor stages, it is favorable if at least one damping device, a cooling device, a condensate separator, a drying device or a gas separator is provided between the individual compressor stages. In this case, the "individual" compressor stages can be assigned to both the low-pressure region and the high-pressure region, or else both can be assigned to the high-pressure region.

• Fig. 1 schematisch eine perspektivische Ansicht eines mehrstufigen Verdichters, bei welchem ein Rotationsverdichter und ein Hubkolbenverdichter in Boxerbauweise an gegenüberliegenden Ausgangsseiten eines zentralen Antriebsmotors angeordnet sind;
• Fig. 2 schematisch eine perspektivische Ansicht eines weiteren Ausführungsbeispieles, bei welchem der Rotationsverdichter an die Kurbelwelle des in Boxerbauweise ausgeführten Hubkolbenverdichters gekuppelt ist;
• Fig. 3 schematisch ein Blockschaltdiagramm eines mehrstufigen Verdichters mit einem zweistufigen Hochdruckverdichter;
• Fig. 4 schematisch eine Schnittansicht eines weiteren Ausführungsbeispiels mit einem im Boxerbauweise ausgeführten zweistufigen Hubkolbenverdichter;
• Fig. 5 schematisch eine Schnittansicht eines Zylinders mit einem Stufenkolben; und
• Fig. 6 schematisch eine Schnittansicht eines doppelwirkenden Zylinders.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, to which, however, it should not be restricted. In detail, in the drawing:

• Fig. 1 schematically a perspective view of a multi-stage compressor in which a rotary compressor and a reciprocating compressor in boxer design are arranged on opposite output sides of a central drive motor;
• Fig. 2 schematically a perspective view of another embodiment in which the rotary compressor is coupled to the crankshaft of the box-type piston compressor;
• Fig. 3 schematically a block diagram of a multi-stage compressor with a two-stage high-pressure compressor;
• Fig. 4 schematically a sectional view of another embodiment with a running in Boxerbauweise two-stage reciprocating compressor;
• Fig. 5 schematically a sectional view of a cylinder with a stepped piston; and
• Fig. 6 schematically a sectional view of a double-acting cylinder.

In Fig. 1 a multi-stage compressor 1 is shown, wherein in a low-pressure region 2, a screw compressor 3 is provided. The screw compressor 3 is coupled to a central drive motor, which drives the piston compressor 6, which is likewise provided in the high-pressure region 5, via a further crankshaft. The reciprocating compressor 6 in this case has two cylinders 7, which are arranged rotated by 180 ° to each other, so that the reciprocating compressor 6 is designed in a so-called boxer design, in which the recorded in the cylinders 7 piston 7 '(see. Fig. 3 ) run in the same plane of motion. This results in a high degree of smoothness of the reciprocating compressor 6, as a result of the cancellation of the first-order mass forces that the multi-stage compressor 1 over known devices has an improved vibration behavior. In addition, this also achieves a flat and short construction, so that in particular the center of gravity is relatively low compared to known devices, which is advantageous in particular when using the multistage compressor 1 on ships.

In Fig. 2 an alternative embodiment is shown, in which case the drive motor 4 has only one crankshaft 8, which drives with the interposition of a flywheel 9 via a clutch 10 in the boxer design running reciprocating compressor 6. The screw compressor 3 provided in the low-pressure region 2 can then be driven via the same crankshaft.

In the Fig. 1 and 2 In particular, it can still be seen that the screw compressor provided in the low-pressure region 2 is conventionally associated with an inlet control valve 11, via which the air inlet is regulated and the air inlet is closed in the event of shutdown of the multistage compressor 1. In addition, even air filter 12 of the drive motor 4 can be seen, as well as oil filter 13 and fuel filter 14. However, it is essential only the arrangement of the two cylinders 7 of the reciprocating compressor 6 in boxer design.

In the block diagram in Fig. 3 It can be seen that between the rotary or screw compressor 3 in the low-pressure region 2 and the high-pressure region 5, in which a reciprocating compressor 6 with two compressor stages 6 ', 6 "is provided, a cooling device 15 for cooling due to the internal compression having an elevated temperature Gas and then a condensate 16 is provided to allow efficient compression in the reformed high-pressure region 5. In addition, a pulsation damper 17 is provided to limit the pressure oscillations of the gas to be compressed in which a multi-stage reciprocating compressor 6 is provided, in which in each compressor stage 6, 6 ' two opposite cylinder 7 and piston 7 'are provided so that apart from the compact design of the multi-stage compressor 1 and the high efficiency of the compression and a high degree of smoothness of the overall arrangement is ensured, whereby the multi-stage compressor 1 in particular for use in mobile compressor systems and suitable on ships.

In Fig. 4 is a further embodiment of the multi-stage compressor 1 is shown, in particular the centrally located common engine 4 can be seen, which has a crankshaft 8 with two stub shafts 8 ', via a stub shaft 8' in the low pressure region 2, a screw compressor is driven and the other Stub shaft 8 'of the two-stage reciprocating compressor 6.

The two compressor stages 6, 6 'of the reciprocating compressor 6 designed in box construction can here, as in FIGS. 5 and 6 be seen as a stepped piston 15 or as a double-acting cylinder 16 be executed. By both embodiments, a comparatively short design of the reciprocating compressor 6 can be achieved and thus provided in accordance with the invention, rotated by 180 ° to each other arranged arrangement of the cylinder 7 in the high pressure region 5, a comparatively smaller span of the entire device 1 can be achieved since the reciprocating compressor 6 in the Width has the largest extension of the entire device 1. As a result, in particular the installation of the multi-stage compressor 1 in ISO containers, which have a width of 8 ft (2.44 m), possible, which for mobile use, especially on ships, together with the low center of gravity of the overall device of great advantage.

Claims (8)

1. A multi-stage compressor (1) for compressing gases with a low-pressure region (2) and a high-pressure region (5), wherein at least one screw-type compressor (3) is provided in the low-pressure region (2), and at least one reciprocating piston compressor (6) with two cylinders (7) is provided in the high-pressure region (5), and wherein a common engine (4) is provided for driving the screw-type compressor (3) and the reciprocating piston compressor (6), wherein the longitudinal axis of a crankshaft (8) of the engine (4) is arranged to be substantially horizontal, and the engine (4) is arranged laterally next to the reciprocating piston compressor (6), characterized in that one stepped piston each is received in the cylinders (7) or the cylinders (7) are designed to be double-acting, and the cylinders (7) are arranged to be rotated relative to each other by 180° in the high-pressure region (5), with the longitudinal axis of said cylinders (7) extending substantially horizontally.
2. The multi-stage compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that the screw-type compressor (3) and the reciprocating piston compressor (6) are coupled to the engine (4) at the opposing output sides.
3. The multi-stage compressor according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the screw-type compressor (3) is coupled to the engine-driven reciprocating piston compressor (6).
4. The multi-stage compressor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the reciprocating piston compressor (6) has several compressor stages (6', 6'').
5. The multi-stage compressor according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least one control means is provided between the individual compressor stages (2, 5; 6', 6'').
6. The multi-stage compressor according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least one attenuator (17), one cooling device (15), one condensate separator (16), one drying device or one gas separator is provided between the individual compressor stages (2, 5; 6', 6'').
7. Use of a multi-stage compressor according to any one of claims 1 to 6 in a mobile compressor plant.
8. Use of a multi-stage compressor according to any one of claims 1 to 6 in a compressor plant mounted on a ship.

Images