Patent Application
20140144122
The present invention generally involves a crossfire tube assembly between adjacent combustors.
Gas turbines are widely used in industrial and commercial operations. A typical gas turbine includes an inlet section, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. The inlet section cleans and conditions a working fluid (e.g., air) and supplies the working fluid to the compressor section. The compressor section increases the pressure of the working fluid and supplies a compressed working fluid to the combustion section. The combustion section mixes fuel with the compressed working fluid and ignites the mixture to generate combustion gases having a high temperature and pressure. The combustion gases flow to the turbine section where they expand to produce work. For example, expansion of the combustion gases in the turbine section may rotate a shaft connected to a generator to produce electricity.
The combustion section typically includes multiple combustors annularly arranged between the compressor section and the turbine section. A casing generally surrounds each combustor to contain the compressed working fluid flowing to each combustor, and one or more nozzles supply fuel to mix with the compressed working fluid before the mixture flows into a combustion chamber downstream from the nozzles. A liner circumferentially surrounds the combustion chamber to define at least a portion of the combustion chamber, and a flow sleeve may circumferentially surround at least a portion of the liner to define an annular plenum between the flow sleeve and liner through which the compressed working fluid may flow before entering the combustion chamber. An ignition device, such as a spark plug, may be used to initiate combustion in one combustion chamber, and one or more crossfire or crossover ignition tubes may be used to spread the combustion to adjacent combustors. For example, a crossfire tube may extend through the liner, flow sleeve, and casing of adjacent combustors to allow the combustion in one combustor to propagate to the adjacent combustor.
Although the crossfire tubes are effective at propagating combustion between adjacent combustors, the assembly and/or location of the crossfire tubes may have one or more disadvantages. For example, installation and removal of the crossfire tubes may result in damage to retention clips or other clamps used to hold the crossfire tubes in place. In addition, the crossfire tubes may create flow instabilities of the compressed working fluid flowing around the crossfire tubes in the annular plenum between the flow sleeve and the liner. In some combustor designs, fuel may be supplied through quaternary ports located between the crossfire tubes and the nozzles, and the flow instabilities around the crossfire tubes may create backflow regions that may draw burnable mixtures of fuel back toward the crossfire tubes, creating conditions more conducive to a flame holding event. Therefore, an improved crossfire tube assembly that addressed one or more of these concerns would be useful.
Aspects and advantages of the invention are set forth below in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
One embodiment of the present invention is a crossfire tube assembly between adjacent combustors that includes a first sleeve adapted to provide fluid communication from a first combustor and a second sleeve adapted to connect to provide fluid communication from a second combustor. The second sleeve extends at least partially inside the first sleeve. A bias is between the first and second sleeves.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a crossfire tube assembly between adjacent combustors that includes a telescoping sleeve. The telescoping sleeve has a first end adapted to provide fluid communication from a first combustor and a second end adapted to provide fluid communication from a second combustor. The crossfire tube assembly further includes means for separating the first end from the second end.
In yet another embodiment, a gas turbine may include a compressor, a plurality of combustors downstream from the compressor, and a turbine downstream from the plurality of combustors. A first sleeve is adapted to provide fluid communication from a first combustor, and a second sleeve is adapted to provide fluid communication from a second combustor. The second sleeve extends at least partially inside the first sleeve, and a bias is engaged with the first and second sleeves.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will better appreciate the features and aspects of such embodiments, and others, upon review of the specification.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof to one skilled in the art, is set forth more particularly in the remainder of the specification, including reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to present embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The detailed description uses numerical and letter designations to refer to features in the drawings. Like or similar designations in the drawings and description have been used to refer to like or similar parts of the invention. As used herein, the terms “first”, “second”, and “third” may be used interchangeably to distinguish one component from another and are not intended to signify location or importance of the individual components. The terms “upstream,” “downstream,” “radially,” and “axially” refer to the relative direction with respect to fluid flow in a fluid pathway. For example, “upstream” refers to the direction from which the fluid flows, and “downstream” refers to the direction to which the fluid flows. Similarly, “radially” refers to the relative direction substantially perpendicular to the fluid flow, and “axially” refers to the relative direction substantially parallel to the fluid flow.
Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit thereof. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used on another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Various embodiments of the present invention include a crossfire tube assembly for a gas turbine that generally includes an extendable or telescoping sleeve between adjacent combustors. The telescoping sleeve may include first and second sleeves or ends adapted to provide fluid communication between the adjacent combustors, and a bias or other means may separate the first sleeve or end from the second sleeve or end. In particular embodiments, the bias or other means may be a compression spring and/or may circumferentially surround at least a portion of the first and/or second sleeves or ends. In other particular embodiments, the telescoping sleeve may define a slot, and the bias or other means may extend at least partially inside the slot. In this manner, the telescoping sleeve may define a sealed passage between the adjacent combustors to allow combustion in one combustor to propagate to the adjacent combustor. Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be described and illustrated generally in the context of a gas turbine, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the teachings herein that embodiments of the present invention may be used with combustors incorporated into other turbo-machines, and the present invention is not limited to gas turbines unless specifically recited in the claims.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein identical numerals indicate the same elements throughout the figures,
The combustors 20 may be any type of combustor known in the art, and the present invention is not limited to any particular combustor design unless specifically recited in the claims.
A flow sleeve 52 may circumferentially surround at least a portion of the liner 48, and an impingement sleeve 54 with flow holes 56 may circumferentially surround at least a portion of the transition piece 50. The flow sleeve 52 and impingement sleeve 54 combine to define an annular plenum 58 around the liner 48 and impingement sleeve 54. In this manner, the compressed working fluid 18 from the compressor 16 may flow through the flow holes 56 in the impingement sleeve 54 and along the outside of the transition piece 50 and liner 48 to provide convective and/or conductive cooling to the transition piece 50 and liner 48. When the compressed working fluid 18 reaches the head end volume 42, the compressed working fluid 18 reverses direction to flow through the nozzles 44 and into the combustion chamber 46.
As shown in
The bias 64 or other means for separating the ends 76 of the sleeves 70 adjusts the length 66 of the telescoping sleeve 62 to accommodate varying distances and/or vibrations between the adjacent combustors 20. In the particular embodiment shown in
As shown in
One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the teachings herein that the embodiments of the crossfire tube assembly 60 shown in
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
