Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation

Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company

Kazushi Mori

Hideki Nagao

Peter C Rasmussen

Dag O Calafell, Ii

Stan O Uptigrove

Ii Dag O Calafell

An exemplary embodiment of the present techniques provides a system for decreasing a temperature of a fluid. The system includes an axial flow expander for expanding gas flowed in a direction along an axis thereof. The axial flow expander includes: an outer casing made as a unified structure having an inlet port and an outlet port. An inner casing is fixed inside the outer casing. A rotor shaft is accommodated inside the inner casing, and is aligned with the axis. A number of bearings allow the rotor shaft to rotate around the axis. Moving blades protrude from the rotor shaft and are arranged inside the gas passage in an alternating fashion with a number of stator vanes. The inner casing, the rotor shaft, the bearings, the stator vanes, and the moving blades are integrally assembled, and inserted into the outer casing in the direction along the axis.

Systems and methods of utilizing axial flow expanders

The axial flow expander includes: an outer casing provided with a suction port and a discharge port through which gas is discharged from the outer casing; an inner casing inside which a gas passage is formed and which is provided with a first communication portion which communicates the gas passage with the suction port and a second communication portion which communicates the gas passage with the discharge port; a rotor shaft which extends in the direction along an axis; a bearing configured to bear the rotor shaft; stator vanes which protrudes inward from an inner periphery of the inner casing; and moving blades which protrudes outward from the rotor shaft. The inner casing, the rotor shaft, the bearing, the stator vanes, and the moving blades are integrally assembled, and the assembled members are inserted into the outer casing.

Axial flow expander

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Kazushi Mori