This application relates to and claims the benefit of and priority to Polish Patent Application No. P.437651, filed Apr. 20, 2021, entitled “Gas Turbine Component with Fluid Intake Hole Free of Angled Surface Transitions,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure is directed to gas turbine components with fluid intake holes. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to gas turbine components with fluid intake holes free of angled surface transitions.
Gas turbines may include one or more combustors, each having a transition piece disposed downstream of the one or more combustor liners and upstream of a gas turbine first stage nozzle in a turbine section of the gas turbine, such that the transition piece associated with each combustor routes combustion products from the combustor to the first stage nozzle. These combustion products from the combustion of an air-fuel mixture travel through the combustor to the gas turbine, defining a hot gas path characterized by extreme conditions.
Fluid intake holes, such as dilution holes and mixing holes, may be disposed in the wall of the combustor liner or the transition piece (or a unibody combustor, which is a unitary component combining a combustor liner and a transition piece), collectively referred to as a “gas turbine combustion duct.” The fluid intake holes intake an external fluid into the gas turbine combustion duct to adjust the air-fuel mixture or the stream of combustion products in the hot gas path. However, due to the fluid dynamics of the hot gas path, the stream of combustion products flowing through the gas turbine combustion duct may be ingested into the fluid intake holes against the flow of the external fluid. Such ingestion of the stream of combustion products into the fluid intake holes may locally degrade the gas turbine combustion duct, potentially leading to cracking or failure.
In an exemplary embodiment, a gas turbine combustion duct includes a duct body and a fluid intake hole. The duct body has an upstream end and a downstream end, the duct body including a duct wall defining a plenum for routing a flow of combustion products from upstream in a combustor downstream through the gas turbine combustion duct to a gas turbine first stage nozzle. The duct wall has an inward-facing surface adjacent to the plenum, an outward-facing surface opposite the inward-facing surface, and a duct wall thickness between the inward-facing surface and the outward-facing surface. The fluid intake hole extends from the outward-facing surface to the inward-facing surface through the duct wall thickness for receiving a fluid flow from outside the plenum into the plenum, the fluid intake hole being laterally circumscribed about its entire periphery between the outward-facing surface and the inward-facing surface by a lateral-facing surface. The lateral-facing surface includes a curved surface portion along a shortest path from the inward-facing surface to the outward-facing surface and is free of angled surface transitions along the shortest path between the inward-facing surface and the outward-facing surface. The fluid intake hole is wider at the outward-facing surface than at the inward-facing surface. Other features and advantages of the present gas turbine combustion duct will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
Further aspects of the subject matter of the present disclosure are provided by the following clauses:
1. A gas turbine combustion duct, comprising: a duct body having an upstream end and a downstream end, the duct body including a duct wall defining a plenum for routing a flow of combustion products from upstream in a combustor through the gas turbine combustion duct downstream to a turbine section of a gas turbine, the duct wall having an inward-facing surface adjacent to the plenum, an outward-facing surface opposite the inward-facing surface, and a duct wall thickness between the inward-facing surface and the outward-facing surface; and a fluid intake hole extending from the outward-facing surface to the inward-facing surface through the duct wall thickness for receiving a fluid flow from outside the plenum into the plenum, the fluid intake hole being laterally circumscribed about its entire periphery between the outward-facing surface and the inward-facing surface by a lateral-facing surface, wherein: the lateral-facing surface includes a curved surface portion along a shortest path from the inward-facing surface to the outward-facing surface, the lateral-facing surface is free of angled surface transitions along the shortest path between the inward-facing surface and the outward-facing surface, and the fluid intake hole is wider at the outward-facing surface than at the inward-facing surface.
2. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the gas turbine combustion duct is selected from the group consisting of a transition piece, a combustion liner, and a unibody combustor.
3. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the gas turbine combustion duct is a transition piece, the plenum is disposed for routing a flow of combustion products from a combustor liner through the gas turbine transition piece to a gas turbine first stage nozzle.
4. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the fluid intake hole is either a dilution hole or a mixing hole.
5. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the lateral-facing surface includes a frustoconical topology immediately adjacent to the inward-facing surface.
6. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the inward-facing surface and the lateral-facing surface meet at an angled joint.
7. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the inward-facing surface and the lateral-facing surface meet at a radiused joint.
8. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the lateral-facing surface is disposed within 2 degrees of perpendicular from the inward-facing surface adjacent to a joint between the inward-facing surface and the lateral-facing surface.
9. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the lateral-facing surface is disposed at an acute angle of at least 5 degrees from perpendicular from the inward-facing surface adjacent to a joint between the inward-facing surface and the lateral-facing surface.
10.The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the outward-facing surface and the lateral-facing surface meet at an angled joint.
11. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the outward-facing surface and the lateral-facing surface meet at a radiused joint.
12. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the lateral-facing surface curves along the entirety of the shortest path from the inward-facing surface to the outward-facing surface.
13. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein: the duct wall includes a boss portion, the boss portion being immediately adjacent to and surrounding the fluid intake hole; the boss portion including the lateral-facing surface and being disposed between the fluid intake hole and a sheet portion of the duct wall, the sheet portion constituting a majority of the duct wall; the boss portion including a transition from the lateral-facing surface to the outward-facing surface at a zenith of the boss portion having a maximum thickness of the duct wall in the boss portion; and the duct wall thickness at the boss portion being greater than the duct wall thickness at the sheet portion.
14. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the zenith of the boss portion is a flat outward-facing surface.
15. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the zenith of the boss portion is an apex curved surface.
16. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein, in defining the fluid intake hole, the boss portion transitions from the zenith of the boss portion to the sheet portion of the duct wall with a curved transition surface free of angled surface transitions.
17. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the boss portion and the sheet portion are a continuous and unitary structure free of joints between the boss portion and the sheet portion.
18. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the boss portion is attached to the sheet portion with a weld joint.
19. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the boss portion is mechanically attached to the sheet portion.
20. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the maximum thickness of the duct wall in the boss portion is at least 150% of the duct wall thickness at the sheet portion.
21. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the sheet portion of the duct wall is formed of NIMONIC 263, and the boss portion is formed of HASTELOY 230.
22. The gas turbine combustion duct of any preceding clause, wherein the boss portion at the inward-facing surface of the duct wall is flush with the inward-facing surface of the sheet portion of the duct wall such that the plenum is free of intrusion of the boss portion into the plenum.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present subject matter will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to represent the same parts.
Provided are exemplary gas turbine combustion ducts and methods for forming gas turbine combustion ducts. Embodiments of the present disclosure, in comparison to gas turbine combustion ducts and methods for forming gas turbine combustion ducts not utilizing one or more features disclosed herein, decrease costs, increase manufacturing control, increase product lifetime, decrease product degradation, decrease or eliminate crack occurrence, or combinations thereof.
As the hot combustion products pass through the turbine section 18, the hot combustion products force one or more turbine blades to rotate a shaft 22 along an axis of the gas turbine 10. As illustrated, the shaft 22 may be connected to various components of gas turbine 10, including a compressor 24. The compressor 24 also includes blades that may be coupled to the shaft 22. As the shaft 22 rotates, the blades within the compressor 24 also rotate, thereby compressing air from an air intake 26 through the compressor 24 and into the fuel nozzles 12 and/or the combustor 16. The shaft 22 may also be connected to a load 28, which may be a vehicle or a stationary load, such as an electrical generator in a power plant, or a propeller on an aircraft, for example. As will be understood, the load 28 may include any suitable device capable of being powered by the rotational output of gas turbine 10.
In operation, air enters the gas turbine 10 through the air intake 26 and may be pressurized in the compressor 24. The compressed air may then be mixed with gas for combustion within combustor 16. For example, the fuel nozzles 12 may inject a fuel-air mixture into the combustor 16 in a suitable ratio for optimal combustion, emissions, fuel consumption, and power output. The combustion generates hot pressurized exhaust gases (combustion products), which then drive one or more blades within the turbine section 18 to rotate the shaft 22 and, thus, the compressor 24 and the load 28. The rotation of the turbine blades causes a rotation of shaft 22, thereby causing blades within the compressor 24 to draw in and pressurize the air received by the intake 26.
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In defining the fluid intake hole 204, the boss portion 800 may transition from the zenith 806 of the boss portion 800 to the sheet portion 802 of the duct wall 302 with a flat transition surface 810 (
The boss portion 800 and the sheet portion 802 may be a continuous and unitary structure free of joints between the boss portion 800 and the sheet portion 802, the boss portion 800 may be attached to the sheet portion 802 with a weld joint, or the boss portion 800 may be mechanically attached to the sheet portion 802.
The maximum thickness 310 of the duct wall 302 in the boss portion 800 may be at least 110% of the duct wall thickness 310 at the sheet portion 802, alternatively at least 120%, alternatively at least 130%, alternatively at least 140%, alternatively at least 150%, alternatively at least 175%, alternatively at least 200%, alternatively at least 250%, alternatively at least 300%.
The sheet portion 802 may be formed from any suitable material, including, but not limited to, nickel-based superalloys, cobalt-based superalloys, NIMONIC 263, or combinations thereof. As used herein, “NIMONIC 263” refers to an alloy including a composition, by weight, of 19-21% cobalt, 19-21% chromium, 5.6-6.1% molybdenum, 1.9-2.4% titanium, up to 1% iron, up to 1% aluminum, up to 0.5% silicon, up to 0.5% copper, up to 0.1% carbon, up to 0.01% boron, up to 0.01% sulfur, and a balance of nickel.
The boss portion 800 may be formed from any suitable material, including, but not limited to, nickel-based superalloys, cobalt-based superalloys, steels, HASTELOY 230, or combinations thereof. As used herein, “HASTELOY 230” refers to an alloy including a nominal composition, by weight, of 22% chromium, 14% tungsten, about 2% molybdenum, up to 3% iron, up to 5% cobalt, 0.5% manganese, 0.4% silicon, 0.3% aluminum, 0.10% carbon, 0.02% lanthanum, up to 0.015% boron, and a balance of nickel.
In one embodiment, the boss portion 800 at the inward-facing surface 306 of the duct wall 302 is flush with the inward-facing surface 306 of the sheet portion 802 of the duct wall 302 such that the plenum 304 is free of intrusion of the boss portion 800 into the plenum 304.
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While the gas turbine combustion ducts 200 with the present fluid intake holes 204 have been described with reference to preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made, and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this technology, but that the present disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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P.437651 | Apr 2021 | PL | national |