US Patent Issued to ACD on March 4 for "Turboexpander labyrinth seal" (California Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,241,552, issued on March 4, was assigned to ACD LLC (Santa Ana, Calif.).

"Turboexpander labyrinth seal" was invented by Duane Bergmann (Big Bear Lake, Calif.), John Park (Irvine, Calif.), Asit Singhal (Lake Forest, Calif.) and Geoff Legg (Huntington Beach, Calif.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "There is disclosed a labyrinth seal arrangement for gas turboexpanders and the like which reduces process gas losses. The labyrinth seal includes a plurality of axially spaced seal sets with teeth facing a seal member. A plurality of vent ports in between each seal set permits extraction of gradually lower pressure process gas."

The patent was fil...