Patent ID: 7326027

Claim:
A centrifugal compressor comprising: a) an impeller comprised of a plurality of blades attached to a hub and rotating inside an enclosure that provides for a stationary flow path, said impeller receiving an input fluid and imparting kinetic energy to the received fluid having an absolute velocity and providing an output from said impeller that is in an orthogonal direction relative to the axis of rotation of said impeller; b) at least one flow stabilizing device interacting with the output of the impeller and modifying the tangential and radial components of the absolute velocity vector of the received fluid flow output of the impeller; said at least one flow stabilizing device providing an output, said flow stabilizing device being responsive to a control signal generated by a controller providing motive power for the purpose of activating and deactivating said flow stabilizing device, and; c) a diffuser receiving said output of the flow stabilizing device and providing a pressurized fluid output, said diffuser being a vane-island diffuser containing a predetermined number of passageways and comprising vaneless, semi-vaneless and vaned-passage regions, said flow stabilizing device comprises a rod, having at one end a shaped surface arranged to abut the vaneless and semi-vaneless regions of said diffuser, said rod having its opposite end connected to an actuating device and arranged to provide translation of said rod relative to a guide sleeve, said rod and said actuating device being supported by said guide sleeve which at one end abuts the vaneless and semi-vaneless regions of said diffuser, said guide sleeve being supported by an attachment structure and coupled to said actuating device that provides translation and rotation of said guide sleeve relative to said attachment structure in response to said output of said controller.