Supersonic centrifugal compressor

Claim 1

A supersonic centrifugal compressor comprising: a rotor casing, a rotor mounted for rotation about its axis within said casing, said casing and said rotor having spaced opposed, similarly curved surfaces defining therebetween a gas flow path which changes from axial to radial, a plurality of circumferentially spaced blades carried by said rotor and extending outwardly of said rotor surface from the vicinity of the compressor axis throughout that portion of the flow path which changes from axial to radial, said rotor surface being formed at its radially outboard end by a single radial disc whose periphery extends radially beyond the outboard edges of said blades to form a disc extension, said rotor casing surface extending in a radial direction substantially parallel to said disc extension to form a gas deceleration chamber with said disc extension, a diffuser chamber having fixed vanes defining passages leading from said deceleration chamber and inclined to the radial direction, and said fixed vanes of said diffuser chamber extending outwardly from a point on said casing generally adjacent the periphery of said disc extension.