Patent ID: 8198770

Claim:
A method of cooling shaft bearings of a high speed rotating machine, said method comprising utilizing a primary cooling circuit of the machine that is structured and operable to cool a drive package of the machine to cool condenser ends of each of a plurality of independent heat pipes absent an auxiliary cooling system structured for cooling the heat pipe condenser ends, each heat pipe operable in any orientation and disposed completely within an outer body of the high speed rotating machine having the respective condenser end disposed within the primary cooling circuit and a respective evaporator end disposed within a component of a bearing housing of a shaft bearing of the high speed rotating machine that is in thermally conductive contact with the shaft bearing such that heat generated by the bearing during operation of the machine and transferred to the bearing housing component is absorbed from the component at the heat pipe evaporator ends and removed from the component via the heat pipe condenser ends that are cooled using the primary cooling circuit, thereby cooling the component and in turn cooling the shaft bearing.