Patent ID: 8152439
Filing Date: 2012-04-10
Classification: F04D

Abstract:
1. A method for starting a supersonic gas compressor, said supersonic gas compressor comprising one or more aerodynamic ducts mounted for rotary movement, said one or more aerodynamic ducts comprising a converging inlet portion and a diverging outlet portion, said aerodynamic duct comprising one or more structures that at supersonic inflow conditions generate oblique shock waves in a gas within said converging inlet portion and a normal shock wave in a gas as said gas enters or passes through said diverging outlet portion, said aerodynamic duct having an inlet relative Mach number with a design operating point selected within a design operating envelope for a selected gas composition, gas quantity, and gas compression ratio, said method comprising initiating rotary movement of said converging inlet portion of said one or more aerodynamic duct(s)s with an inlet gas stream to be compressed; removing a selected quantity of bypass gas from said converging inlet portion as said one or more aerodynamic duct(s) increase in rotary speed while said gas therein transforms from a subsonic inflow condition to a supersonic condition at an inlet relative Mach number associated with said design operating point, said selected quantity of bypass gas at an inlet relative Mach number associated with said design operating point being between (a) an upper limit described by the equation and (b) a lower limit described by the equation wherein m m M=the inlet relative Mach number for the aerodynamic duct(s), and effectively eliminating removal of said quantity of bypass gas from said converging inlet portion after said oblique shocks are effectively stabilized.