Patent ID: 11970973
Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE ELECTRICAL NORWAY AS
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  H  Y | IPC F  H

Claim 0:
1. A system comprising:
an electric machine including:
a stator comprising one or more windings;
a rotor comprising a plurality of permanent magnets configured to reduce induced currents in the rotor and cause a majority of heat generated by the electric machine via energy conversion losses to be localized to the windings of the stator;
a proximal bearing housed within a proximal bearing volume disposed along a proximal half of the rotor;
a proximal bearing volume fluid inlet and a proximal bearing volume fluid outlet;
a distal bearing housed within a distal bearing volume separate from the proximal bearing volume and disposed along a distal half of the rotor;
a distal bearing volume fluid inlet and a distal bearing volume fluid outlet;

a cooling system configured to supply, from a cooling fluid tank, a cooling fluid to cool the electric machine;
a stator tube configured to contain the cooling fluid within a stator portion of the electric machine and prevent the cooling fluid from contacting the rotor, the stator tube including a stator fluid inlet and a stator fluid outlet;
an engine; and
a chip detector fluidically coupled to the proximal bearing volume fluid outlet and the distal bearing volume fluid outlet and configured to receive the cooling fluid from the proximal bearing volume and the distal bearing volume, wherein cooling fluid exiting the stator fluid outlet does not flow through the chip detector before returning to the cooling fluid tank;
wherein the cooling system comprises a cooling circuit that includes both the engine and the electric machine, and wherein the cooling system is configured to supply the cooling fluid to the engine to cool the engine,
wherein the cooling system is configured to supply, from the cooling fluid tank, the cooling fluid to:
the proximal bearing volume via the proximal bearing volume fluid inlet,
to the distal bearing volume via the distal bearing volume fluid inlet, and
to the stator tube via the stator fluid inlet,

wherein the cooling fluid is configured to cool and lubricate the proximal and distal bearings, wherein the rotor is configured to transfer heat through the proximal and distal bearings to the cooling fluid.