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Compressor unit comprising a centrifugal compressor and an electric motorRelated Patent Categories: Pumps, Motor Driven, Electric Or Magnetic Motor, Rotary Motor And Rotary Nonexpansible Chamber Pump, Having BearingCompressor unit comprising a centrifugal compressor and an electric motor description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070110601, Compressor unit comprising a centrifugal compressor and an electric motor. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation of copending U.S. application, Ser. No. 10/480,011, filed Apr. 16, 2004, which is a national phase application based on PCT/NL2002/00336 filed on May 24, 2002, which claims priority to and the benefit of Application NL 1018212, filed on Jun. 5, 2001, which applications are entirely incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention relates to a compressor unit, comprising a centrifugal compressor for compressing a gas, having a rotor with one or more compressor impellers, and an electric motor having a stator and a rotor for driving the rotor of the compressor, the compressor and the electric motor being accommodated in a common gas-tight housing which is provided with a gas inlet and a gas outlet, and the rotor of the compressor and the rotor of the electric motor being arranged on a common rotor shaft which is mounted in magnetic bearings. BACKGROUND OF THE ART [0003] A compressor unit of this type is known, for example, from WO-A-94/29597 and EP-A 1 074 746. [0004] In the compressor unit which is known from WO-A 94/29597, a compressor impeller is arranged on both sides of the electric motor. The rotor shaft is mounted in two radial magnetic bearings, which are each arranged between the electric motor and a compressor impeller, and an axial magnetic bearing, which is likewise arranged between the electric motor and one of the compressor impellers. [0005] In the compressor unit which is known from EP-A 1 074 746, in particular FIG. 2, the compressor impellers are arranged on one side of the electric motor. The rotor shaft comprises two parts which are connected to one another by means of a coupling. The rotor shaft is mounted in three radial magnetic bearings which are arranged at both ends of the rotor shaft and between the electric motor and the centrifugal compressor, and one axial magnetic bearing, which is arranged between the electric motor and the centrifugal compressor. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] It is an object of the invention to provide an improved compressor unit of the type described in the preamble which can be of compact design and in which the bearings are readily accessible without it being necessary to remove the housing of the compressor unit. [0007] This object is achieved by the fact that the rotor shaft comprises a single unit and is mounted in two magnetic radial bearings, each in the vicinity of one end of the common rotor shaft, and one axial magnetic bearing which is arranged in the vicinity of the one of the radial bearings. [0008] Preferred embodiments of the compressor unit according to the invention are defined in the dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0009] The invention will be explained in more detail in the following description of a number of embodiments of the compressor unit according to the invention with reference to the drawing, in which: [0010] FIG. 1 diagrammatically depicts a first embodiment of the compressor unit according to the invention, and [0011] FIG. 2 diagrammatically depicts a second embodiment of the compressor unit according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0012] The compressor unit shown in FIG. 1 comprises a centrifugal compressor 1 for compressing a gas, for example process gas, having a rotor 2 with one or more, in this case three, compressor impellers 3, and an electric motor 4 with a stator 5 and a rotor 6 for driving the rotor 2 of the compressor. The compressor 1 and the electric motor 4 are accommodated in a common gas-tight housing 7 which is provided with a gas inlet 8 and a gas outlet 9. The housing 7 is divided in the customary way and comprises a plurality of parts which are fixedly connected to one another. [0013] The rotor 2 of the compressor 1 and the rotor 6 of the electric motor 4 are arranged on a common rotor shaft 10 which comprises a single unit. The rotor shaft 10 is mounted in two radial magnetic bearings 11 and 12 which are each arranged in the vicinity of one end 13 and 14, respectively, of the rotor shaft 10, and one axial magnetic bearing 15, which is arranged in the vicinity of the radial bearing 11. The rotor shaft 10 is not supported between the electric motor 4 and the centrifugal compressor 1. The magnetic bearings 11, 12 and 15 will generally be electromagnetic bearings. [0014] The design of the compressor unit with the rotor shaft which comprises a single unit and the bearings arranged only in the vicinity of the ends of the rotor shaft means that the compressor unit can be of compact structure and that the bearings are readily accessible for maintenance without the housing of the compressor unit having to be removed. [0015] The compressor unit is preferably arranged vertically. This has the advantage that in particular the radial bearings 11 and 12 can be of relatively lightweight design, since these bearings merely have to centre the rotor shaft. [0016] The axial bearing can also be of relatively lightweight design if it is ensured that the axial force on the rotor shaft which is produced by the compressor impellers acts counter to the force of gravity. [0017] The vertical arrangement of the rotor shaft has the further advantage that the compressor unit takes up relatively little space in the horizontal direction. [0018] Obviously, it is also possible for the rotor shaft to be arranged horizontally. However, the design of the compressor unit, and in particular the design of the bearings, has to be adapted to this arrangement. Continue reading about Compressor unit comprising a centrifugal compressor and an electric motor... Full patent description for Compressor unit comprising a centrifugal compressor and an electric motor Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Compressor unit comprising a centrifugal compressor and an electric motor patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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