Isolation of generator bearing housing from generator enclosure and methods therefore

摘要

The bearing housing (10) of an electrical generator is isolated from the interior of the generator enclosure (10) by forming a cavity (37) in the generator end wall with a seal (41) between the generator end wall and the rotor. By sealing the bearing housing from the interior of the enclosure, the bearing housing is subject entirely to ambient pressure while the interior of the generator is subject to high vacuum pressure for cooling purposes. This isolation minimizes or eliminates potential for oil leakage into the interior of the generator previously caused by exposure on one side of the bearing housing to high vacuum pressure within the generator enclosure and the opposite side to the ambient pressure. This isolation system also eliminates the need for a high suction pressure vapor extractor and enables a conventional vapor extractor (39) associated with the lubrication oil system to remove oil vapors from the bearing housing.