Abstract:
Within a vaporization chamber which houses apparatus to be cooled (e.g., a transformer) a film of liquid flowing over a heated surface of said apparatus is evaporated thereby cooling the apparatus. The surface includes grooves which stabilize the distribution of a flowing liquid film so that all sections of the surface are maintained in a wetted condition by the flowing film thereby eliminating, or significantly reducing, the occurrence of dry, and therefore hot, spots on the surface. A vapor push pump within the vaporization chamber recirculates liquid so that the liquid can be redistributed as a flowing film over the aforesaid grooved surfaces. The use of a vapor push pump in combination with grooved evaporator surfaces, inter alia, enables significant efficiencies and economies respecting, among other things, the circulation rate of liquid coolant required.
Abstract:
Cryogenic liquid for cooling the rotor of a superconducting generator enters the rotor along the inner surface of a centrally-disposed rotating conduit extending into the rotor. From the resulting annulus of liquid coolant surrounding a vapor core, liquid coolant flows via a pair of liquid-delivery ducts to the surface of the pool of coolant bathing the rotor windings. Each delivery duct comprises a radially-extending receiving tube and a radially-extending delivery tube interconnected by an over-flow trap. The outer end of the delivery tube is in flow communication with the vapor in the central core of the rotor winding chamber and the inner end of the receiving tube is in flow communication with both the liquid coolant and the vapor core in the rotating conduit.