Patent ID: 7334990
Filing Date: 2008-02-26
Classification: F04D

Abstract:
1. A gas compressor, said compressor comprising: (a) a circumferential housing, said housing having a stationary peripheral wall, said stationary peripheral wall having a inner surface portion defined by a surface of rotation; (b) an inlet for supply of gas to be compressed; (c) a rotor, said rotor having a central axis and adapted for rotary motion within said housing, said rotor extending radially outward from said central axis to an outer surface portion; (d) one or more strakes, each of said one or more strakes extending outward from said outer surface portion of said rotor to a tip end, said tip end adjacent to said inner surface portion of said stationary peripheral wall, at least one of said one or more strakes further comprising (i) an upstream end having an inlet, (ii) downstream from said inlet, a supersonic compression ramp, said ramp oriented to develop an axially oriented supersonic shock during compression of an inlet gas, and (iii) a shock capture lip, said shock capture lip axially displaced from said supersonic compression ramp and positioned at a location on said outer surface of said rotor so that said shock compression ramp and said shock capture lip effectively contain a supersonic shock wave therebetween at a selected design Mach number; (e) a outlet diffuser, said diffuser situated downstream of said supersonic compression ramp; and (f) wherein said one or more strakes separate said inlet gas from compressed gas downstream of each one of said supersonic gas compression ramps.