Method to operate a vacuum system comprising at least a first vacuum pump and a second vacuum pump wherein the first vacuum pump and the second vacuum pump are connectable to a vacuum chamber to maintain a set pressure inside the vacuum chamber. The first vacuum pump is a Variable Speed Drive pump wherein the first vacuum pump and the second vacuum pump are connected in series. The method comprises the steps of controlling the performance of the first vacuum pump and the performance of the first vacuum pump is controlled to be equal to or higher than the performance of the second vacuum pump while maintaining the set pressure in the vacuum chamber.

An HVAC system includes an unloading device, a centrifugal compressor, a gas foil bearing, a VFD and a controller. The controller is programmed to start the centrifugal compressor from a stopped condition by operating the unloading device to remove a load from the centrifugal compressor, accelerating the motor to a first speed above a liftoff speed of the gas foil bearing and below an operating speed of the centrifugal compressor, running the motor for a period of time, operating the unloading device to apply the load to the centrifugal compressor, and accelerating the motor to the operating speed.

A compressor that vibrates a rotary shaft or changes an operating frequency of a motor, in response to a vibration frequency of a discharge passage falling outside of a normal range. The compressor may include one or more impeller configured to draw in and compress refrigerant; a motor configured to rotate the one or more impeller; a rotary shaft, to which the one or more impeller and the motor are coupled; at least two thrust bearings that limit vibration of the rotary shaft; a vibration measuring sensor configured to measure a vibration frequency of a discharge passage; and a controller configured to control the at least two thrust bearings based on the vibration frequency. Upon determining that the vibration frequency falls outside of a normal vibration frequency range, the controller controls the at least two thrust bearings to vibrate the rotary shaft a predetermined number of times.

Combining at least one centrifugal compression stage and at least one positive displacement compression stage in an integrally geared compressor to allow for different types of compression based on a temperature or a volume of gas to be compressed by the integrally geared compressor.

A chiller system is provided and includes a compressor, a variable frequency drive (VFD) to drive the compressor at variable frequencies and a chiller controller to ascertain a chiller condition and to command the VFD to drive the compressor at one of the variable frequencies based on the chiller condition at a first sampling rate. The VFD is configured to drive the compressor at the one of the variable frequencies responsive to being commanded by the chiller controller, to ascertain the chiller condition at a second sampling rate, which is substantially higher than the first sampling rate, and to alert the chiller controller accordingly.

According to one aspect, a clutch mechanism includes a control member. The control member is adapted to receive motive power and includes a first dry clutch member and a first viscous clutch member. The clutch mechanism further includes an output member that includes a second dry clutch member and a second viscous clutch member. The first and second dry clutch members form a dry clutch and the first and second viscous clutch members form a viscous clutch. The clutch mechanism further includes an actuation arm coupled to at least one of the control and output members. The actuation arm is selectively controllable to effect relative movement of the control and output members such that one of the dry and viscous clutches is selectively engaged.

A method of setting up an electrical motor speed control in a fluidic system including a turbomachine, an electric motor having a number p of pole pairs rotating the turbomachine, a variable speed drive controlling the speed of the electric motor, a sensor measuring a parameter H, Q of the turbomachine, and a system controller receiving the sensor's measurements and controlling the operation of the fluidic system. The method includes driving the electric motor at a predetermined electrical frequency, Fe, such that the turbomachine rotates with a controlled rotational speed N, determining the point of intersection of the system curve of the fluidic system and of the performance curve of the turbomachine to obtain the turbomachine's nominal operating point, and thus the nominal value, Hn, Qn, of the turbomachine parameter, measuring, with the sensor, the current value, H, Q of the turbomachine parameter, calculating the controlled rotational speed N by inputting, into the Affinity Laws, the determined nominal value, Hn, Qn, the measured current value, H, Q, and the known nominal rotational speed, Nn, of the turbomachine, determining the number p of pole pairs of the electric motor based on the ratio of the electrical frequency Fe and the calculated controlled rotational speed N, and adapting the setup of the variable speed drive to match the determined number p of pole pairs.

Repeated cycles each consist of a pump down phase and a holding phase, wherein a start timepoint of each cycle is the timepoint when a rise in an inlet pressure of the pump is sufficiently large and the time extending between two consecutive cycle start timepoints is a cycle time. A control method includes determining a start of a next cycle during a present cycle, wherein it is preferable that the present cycle directly precedes the next cycle. The method further includes controlling the pump to accelerate to a maximum allowed speed during the holding phase of the present cycle before the start of the next cycle such that at the start of the next cycle full pump capacity is available.

A surge control system includes a rotor system with at least one compressor section and at least one turbine section operably coupled to a shaft. The surge control system also includes sensors configured to collect sensor data from the rotor system, an electric motor operably coupled to the rotor system, and a controller. The controller is operable to detect surge event from the sensor data, determine an amount of power to apply to the rotor system, and increase the amount of power provided to the rotor system to recover from the surge event.

A fan array fan section in an air-handling system includes a plurality of fan units arranged in a fan array and positioned within an air-handling compartment. One preferred embodiment may include an array controller programmed to operate the plurality of fan units at peak efficiency. The plurality of fan units may be arranged in a true array configuration, a spaced pattern array configuration, a checker board array configuration, rows slightly offset array configuration, columns slightly offset array configuration, or a staggered array configuration.