Patent Application
20150000291
The present disclosure generally relates to gas turbine engine heat exchangers, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to fuel/air heat exchangers.
Providing the ability to retain heat within a combustor and transfer cooled cooling air external to the combustor remains an area of interest. Some existing systems have various shortcomings relative to certain applications. Accordingly, there remains a need for further contributions in this area of technology.
One embodiment of the present disclosure is a unique heat exchanger used within a combustor of a gas turbine engine. Other embodiments include apparatuses, systems, devices, hardware, methods, and combinations for exchanging heat between a working fluid in the combustor with a fuel provided to the combustor. Further embodiments, forms, features, aspects, benefits, and advantages of the present application shall become apparent from the description and figures provided herewith.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications in the described embodiments, and any further applications of the principles of the disclosure as described herein are contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the disclosure relates.
With reference to
The gas turbine engine 50 can take a variety of forms in various embodiments. Though depicted as an axial flow single spool engine, in some forms the gas turbine engine 50 can have multiple spools and/or can be a centrifugal or mixed centrifugal/axial flow engine. In some forms the engine 50 can be a turboprop, turbofan, or turboshaft engine. Furthermore, the engine can be an adaptive cycle and/or variable cycle engine. Other variations are also contemplated.
Turning now to
The combustor 54 can take any variety of configurations and generally includes an inner combustion portion 60 in which a fuel and working fluid are mixed and combusted, and an exterior portion 64 in which generally no combustion occurs. The combustor is configured to receive working fluid through passage 59 and deliver working fluid to passage 61. The passage 59 can be a compressor passage and the passage 61 can be a turbine passage.
The inner combustion portion 60 can take on any variety of configurations, one non-limiting embodiment of which is shown below in
The exterior portion 64 extends between the inner combustion portion 60 and one or more structures that define the exterior portion 64. The exterior portion 64 may not be the same size and shape at all axial/circumferential locations relative to the inner combustion portion 60. In fact, the exterior portion may not entirely surround the inner combustion portion 60. The exterior portion 64 can be defined by various structures of the gas turbine engine. For example, the exterior portion 64 can be defined by a casing, compressor discharge such as through a diffuser, for example, a turbine inlet end, etc. In general it will understood that the exterior portion 64 includes a boundary for a flow path for working fluid that is located outside of the inner combustion portion 60 but that nonetheless is a flow path for fluid that is eventually expelled such as through the turbine 56.
Fuel can be delivered to the inner combustion portion 60 through a variety of manners including via an injector, nozzle, etc. in any of various states, such as liquid, vapor, mixed, etc. The schematic embodiment disclosed in
In one embodiment a working fluid that is flowed within the heat exchanger 58, and which gives up heat to the fuel flowing within or from the fuel passage 62, is carried away from the combustor via cooling passage 69. The cooling passage 69 can take a variety of shapes and sizes and can include any number of turns/bends/etc. within and prior to exiting the combustor 54. One non-limiting embodiment of the cooling passage 69 is described below in
The combustor 54 depicted in
The cooling passage 69 is configured to extend between an area in thermal communication with fuel delivered internal to the combustor 54 to one or more areas outside of the combustor 54. In the illustrated embodiment, the cooling passage 69 extends from an area in thermal communication with the vaporizer 80, to an inner part of the inner casing 76 before cooling fluid is split to flow aft to the turbine 56 and forward to the compressor 52. In other embodiments the cooling passage 69 can extend along an outer portion of the inner casing 76. In still other embodiments, the cooling passage 69 can extend across the exterior portion 64 in other locations besides the area depicted in the illustrated embodiment. For example, the cooling passage 69 can extend across the portion 64 on a side opposite the inner combustion portion 60 depicted in the figure. In other alternative and/or additional embodiments the cooling passage 69 can extend near one of the passages 59, 61. Any variety of other locations, configurations, orientations, etc. of the cooling passage 69 as it exits the combustor 54 are contemplated herein. As seen in the illustrated embodiment, the cooling passage 69 extends across the outer combustion portion 64 as it extends downstream and away from the area that it is in thermal communication with the fuel (in the illustrated embodiment, the vaporizer 80 serves as part of the heat exchange between the fuel and working fluid in the cooling passage 69). In one form the cooling passage 69 is a closed off flow path separate from the outer combustion portion 64.
The cooling passage 69 includes an inlet 82 structured to receive working fluid from the passage 59 which is in the form of a compressor discharge through a diffuser in the embodiment of
In the illustrated embodiment cooled cooling air is routed from the cooling passage 69 to both the compressor 52 and the turbine. In other embodiments the cooling passage 69 can route cooled cooling air to either, or both, of the compressor and turbine. In addition, the cooling air that is routed within the cooling passage 69 can be pulled from working fluid that would be provided to the inner combustion portion 60 and/or from the working fluid that would be routed to the outer combustion portion 64.
While the disclosure has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the disclosures are desired to be protected. It should be understood that while the use of words such as preferable, preferably, preferred or more preferred utilized in the description above indicate that the feature so described may be more desirable, it nonetheless may not be necessary and embodiments lacking the same may be contemplated as within the scope of the disclosure, the scope being defined by the claims that follow. In reading the claims, it is intended that when words such as “a,” “an,” “at least one,” or “at least one portion” are used there is no intention to limit the claim to only one item unless specifically stated to the contrary in the claim. When the language “at least a portion” and/or “a portion” is used the item can include a portion and/or the entire item unless specifically stated to the contrary.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/768,441 filed Feb. 23, 2013, the contents of which are hereby incorporated in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61768441 | Feb 2013 | US |
