Patent ID: 11867180
Assignee: COPELAND INDUSTRIAL LP
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 11:
12. A high pressure single screw compressor comprising:
a housing;
a main rotor that is secured within the housing and rotatably driven by a main rotor drive shaft about a main rotor drive shaft axis, and operably engaged with a plurality of gate rotors that are also secured within the housing;
a suction end cavity having a first pressure;
a discharge cavity having a second pressure, wherein the discharge cavity is bounded by the main rotor and the housing, the second pressure of the discharge cavity is a result of the compression of gases by the high pressure single screw compressor, and the first pressure is less than the second pressure; and
a seal assembly comprising
a seal body having a textured outer surface, the seal body being disposed around substantially an entirety of a circumference of a main rotor and located between the suction end cavity on a first side of the seal body and the discharge cavity on a second side of the seal body opposite the first side, wherein a difference in pressure between the suction end cavity on the first side of the seal body and the discharge cavity on the second side of the seal body is greater than or equal to 600 psi, and wherein the seal body is made of a thermoplastic or thermoset material, and wherein an outer diameter of an outer surface of the seal body is greater than a diameter of an outer surface of the main rotor, and
at least one attachment structure which fixedly attaches the seal body to, so as to be rotatable along with, the main rotor,
wherein the textured outer surface creates a labyrinthine path between the suction end cavity and the discharge cavity between the housing and the main rotor.