Patent Application
20240141836
This disclosure relates generally to a gas turbine engine and, more particularly, to a heat exchanger for the gas turbine engine.
A gas turbine engine may include a heat exchanger such as a heater for heating various fluids such as fuel. A typical heater is a standalone device arranged outside of a core of the gas turbine engine and mounted to an engine case via mounting brackets. While known heaters have various advantages, there is still room in the art for improvement. There is a need in the art, for example, for a heater with a reduced impact on gas turbine engine size, weight and/or cost.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an assembly is provided for a gas turbine engine. This engine assembly includes a vane array and a heat exchanger integrated with the vane array. The vane array includes an inner platform, an outer platform and a plurality of vanes. The inner platform extends circumferentially about a centerline and forms an inner peripheral boundary of a flowpath through the vane array. The outer platform extends circumferentially about the centerline and forms an outer peripheral boundary of the flowpath through the vane array. The vanes extend across the flowpath between the inner platform and the outer platform. The vanes include a first vane and a second vane. The heat exchanger includes a first vane passage and a second vane passage fluidly coupled with and downstream of the first vane passage. The first vane passage extends through the first vane. The second vane passage extends through the second vane.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, another assembly is provided for a gas turbine engine. This engine assembly includes an inner wall, an outer wall, a first vane, a second vane and a fluid circuit. The inner wall extends circumferentially about a centerline and forms an inner peripheral boundary of a flowpath. The outer wall extends circumferentially about the inner wall and forms an outer peripheral boundary of the flowpath. The first vane extends across the flowpath between the inner wall and the outer wall. The first vane includes a first vane passage. The second vane extends across the flowpath between the inner wall and the outer wall. The second vane includes a second vane passage. The fuel circuit is configured to flow fuel sequentially through the first vane passage and the second vane passage.
According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, another assembly is provided for a gas turbine engine. This engine assembly includes a vane array, a heat exchanger and a fuel circuit. The vane array includes an inner platform, an outer platform and a plurality of vanes. The inner platform extends circumferentially about a centerline and forms an inner peripheral boundary of a flowpath through the vane array. The outer platform extends circumferentially about the centerline and forms an outer peripheral boundary of the flowpath through the vane array. The vanes extends across the flowpath between the inner platform and the outer platform. The heat exchanger is integrated with the vane array. The heat exchanger includes a first plenum, a second plenum and a plurality of vane passages fluidly coupled in parallel between the first plenum and the second plenum. Each of the vane passages extends through a respective one of the vanes. The fuel circuit is configured to direct fuel from the first plenum, through the vane passages, to the second plenum.
The first vane may be configured to exchange heat energy between compressed air flowing through the flowpath and the fuel flowing through the first vane passage. The second vane may be configured to exchange additional heat energy between the compressed air flowing through the flowpath and the fuel flowing through the second vane passage.
The first vane may be axially offset from the second vane along the centerline.
The first plenum may be formed by and/or radially outboard of the outer platform. In addition or alternatively, the second plenum may be formed by and/or radially inboard of the inner platform.
The first plenum may be formed by and/or radially inboard of the inner platform. In addition or alternatively, the second plenum may be formed by and/or radially outboard of the outer platform.
The vane array may also include a plurality of second vanes extending across the flowpath between the inner platform and the outer platform. The heat exchanger may also include a third plenum and a plurality of second vane passages fluidly coupled in parallel between the second plenum and the third plenum. Each of the second vane passages may extend through a respective one of the second vanes. The fuel circuit may also be configured to direct the fuel from the second plenum, through the second vane passage, to the third plenum.
The engine assembly may also include a fuel source, a fuel injector and a fuel circuit extending from the fuel source, sequentially through the first vane passage and the second vane passage, to the fuel injector.
The fuel source may be configured as or otherwise include a hydrogen fuel source.
The engine assembly may also include a fuel circuit configured to flow fuel sequentially through the first vane passage and the second vane passage. The first vane may be configured to transfer heat energy from compressed air flowing through the flowpath into the fuel flowing through the first vane passage. The second vane may be configured to transfer additional heat energy from the compressed air flowing through the flowpath into the fuel flowing through the second vane passage.
The fuel may be or otherwise include hydrogen fuel.
The heat exchanger may also include an inter-passage plenum formed by the inner platform. The inter-passage plenum may fluidly couple the first vane passage to the second vane passage.
The heat exchanger may also include an inlet plenum formed by the outer platform. The first vane passage may fluidly couple the inlet plenum to the second vane passage.
The heat exchanger may also include an outlet plenum formed by the outer platform. The second vane passage may fluidly couple the first vane passage to the outlet plenum.
The heat exchanger may also include an inlet manifold and an inter-passage manifold. The first vane may be one of a plurality of first vanes. The first vane passage may be one of a plurality of first vane passages. Each of the first vane passages may extend through a respective one of the first vanes. The first vane passages may be fluidly coupled in parallel between the inlet manifold and the inter-passage manifold.
The heat exchanger may also include an inlet manifold and an inter-passage manifold. The first vane passage may be one of a plurality of first vane passages. Each of the first vane passages may extend through the first vane. The first vane passages may be fluidly coupled in parallel between the inlet manifold and the inter-passage manifold.
The heat exchanger may also include an inter-passage manifold and an outlet manifold. The second vane may be one of a plurality of second vanes. The second vane passage may be one of a plurality of second vane passages. Each of the second vane passages may extend through a respective one of the second vanes. The second vane passages may be fluidly coupled in parallel between the inter-passage manifold and the outlet manifold.
The heat exchanger may also include an inter-passage manifold and an outlet manifold. The second vane passage may be one of a plurality of second vane passages. Each of the second vane passages may extend through the second vane. The second vane passages may be fluidly coupled in parallel between the inter-passage manifold and the outlet manifold.
The first vane may be longitudinally offset from the second vane along the flowpath.
The first vane may be upstream of the second vane along the flowpath.
The vane array may be configured as a double vane array.
The engine assembly may also include a compressor section of the gas turbine engine. The vane array may be arranged within the compressor section.
The present disclosure may include any one or more of the individual features disclosed above and/or below alone or in any combination thereof.
The foregoing features and the operation of the invention will become more apparent in light of the following description and the accompanying drawings.
The mechanical load 22 may be configured as or otherwise include at least (or only) one driven rotor 26. This driven rotor 26 may be a bladed propulsor rotor for an aircraft propulsion system. The driven rotor 26, for example, may be a propeller rotor where the gas turbine engine 20 is configured as a turboprop gas turbine engine. The driven rotor 26 may alternatively be a helicopter rotor (e.g., a main rotor) where the gas turbine engine 20 is configured as a turboshaft gas turbine engine. The present disclosure, however, is not limited to turboprop and turboshaft gas turbine engine applications. The gas turbine engine 20, for example, may alternatively be configured as a turbofan gas turbine engine and the bladed rotor may be a fan rotor. In another example, the gas turbine engine 20 may be configured as a turbojet gas turbine engine and the bladed rotor may be a compressor rotor. Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited to aircraft propulsion system applications. The driven rotor 26, for example, may alternatively be a generator rotor where the gas turbine engine 20 is included in a power generation system for an aircraft or non-aircraft application; e.g., an auxiliary power unit (APU) or an industrial powerplant.
The engine core 24 of
The engine sections 34-36B are arranged sequentially along a (e.g., annular) core flowpath 38 and within an engine housing 40. This core flowpath 38 extends longitudinally within the engine core 24 from an upstream airflow inlet 42 into the engine core 24 to a downstream airflow exhaust 44 from the engine core 24. Here, the airflow inlet 42 is also an inlet into the gas turbine engine 20 and the exhaust 44 is also an exhaust from the gas turbine engine 20; however, the present disclosure is not limited to such an exemplary arrangement. The engine housing 40 of
The compressor section 34, the HPT section 36A and the LPT section 36B each include one or more bladed rotors 48-50. Each of these bladed rotors 48-50 includes a plurality of rotor blades arranged circumferentially around and connected to one or more respective rotor disks. The rotor blades, for example, may be formed integral with or mechanically fastened, welded, brazed, adhered and/or otherwise attached to the respective rotor disk(s).
The compressor rotor 48 is connected to and driven by the HPT rotor 49 through a high speed shaft 52. At least (or only) the compressor rotor 48, the HPT rotor 49 and the high speed shaft 52 may collectively form a high speed rotating structure that is rotatable about the rotational axis 30. The driven rotor 26 of
During gas turbine engine operation, air enters the engine core 24 through the airflow inlet 42 and enters the core flowpath 38. The air within the core flowpath 38 may be referred to as “core air”. This core air is compressed by the compressor rotor 48 and directed into a (e.g., annular) combustion chamber 58 of a (e.g., annular) combustor 60 in the combustor section 35. Fuel is injected into the combustion chamber 58 through one or more fuel injectors 62 and mixed with the compressed core air to provide a fuel-air mixture. This fuel-air mixture is ignited and combustion products thereof flow through and sequentially cause the HPT rotor 49 and the LPT rotor 50 to rotate. The rotation of the HPT rotor 49 drives rotation of the compressor rotor 48 and, thus, compression of the air received from the airflow inlet 42. The rotation of the LPT rotor 50 drives rotation of the driven rotor 26.
The gas turbine engine 20 includes a fuel system 64 to provide the fuel to the one or more fuel injectors 62. The fuel provided to the fuel injectors 62 may be a non-hydrocarbon fuel such as, but not limited to, hydrogen fuel (e.g., H2). This hydrogen fuel may be injected into the combustion chamber 58 as a gaseous fuel of hydrogen gas, or as a mixed phase fuel including both gaseous and liquid hydrogen, to facilitate combustion. However, gaseous hydrogen has a significantly lower density than liquid hydrogen. Therefore, to increase fuel storage capacity while reducing storage volume, the hydrogen fuel may be stored in a completely or substantially liquid phase. To facilitate the foregoing, the fuel system 64 of
The fuel source 66 is configured to provide the fuel to the fuel circuit 68. The fuel source 66 is also configured to contain and hold a quantity of the fuel prior to, during and/or after gas turbine engine operation. The fuel source 66 of
The fuel circuit 68 is configured to direct the fuel from the fuel source 66 to the fuel injectors 62. The fuel circuit 68, for example, provides a fuel flowpath that extends from an outlet of the fuel source 66 to an inlet of each fuel injector 62. The fuel circuit 68 is also configured to raise a temperature of the fuel as the fuel is directed from the fuel source 66 to the fuel injectors 62. The fuel circuit 68 of
Referring to
The inner platform 80 of
The outer platform 82 of
Referring to
Referring to
The first vanes 84 may be arranged at (e.g., on, adjacent or proximate) the upstream ends 94 and 104 of the flowpath walls 88 and 98. The second vanes 86 may be arranged at the downstream ends 96 and 106 of the flowpath walls 88 and 98. The first vanes 84 and the second vanes 86 may thereby be staged longitudinally along the core flowpath 38 and/or axially along the axial centerline 28. The first vanes 84 of
The heat exchanger 74 of
The inlet manifold 120 may be configured with the outer platform 82. The inlet manifold 120 of
The inlet plenum 138 extends radially within the inlet manifold 120 between and to the inlet manifold inner wall 130 and the inlet manifold outer wall 132. The inlet plenum 138 extends axially within the inlet manifold 120 between and to the inlet manifold endwall 134 and the manifold divider wall 136. The inlet plenum 138 further extends circumferentially within the inlet manifold 120 about (e.g., completely around) the axial centerline 28. The inlet plenum 138 of
The outlet manifold 122 of
The outlet plenum 148 extends radially within the outlet manifold 122 between and to the outlet manifold inner wall 142 and the outlet manifold outer wall 144. The outlet plenum 148 extends axially within the outlet manifold 122 between and to the outlet manifold endwall 146 and the manifold divider wall 136. The outlet plenum 148 further extends circumferentially within the outlet manifold 122 about (e.g., completely around) the axial centerline 28. The outlet plenum 148 of
Referring to
The inner plenum 158 extends radially within the inner manifold 124 between and to the inner manifold outer wall 152 and the inner manifold inner wall 154. The inner plenum 158 may extend axially within the inner manifold 124 between and to the inner manifold endwall 156 and the inner manifold outer wall 152. The inner plenum 158 further extends circumferentially within the inner manifold 124 about (e.g., completely around) the axial centerline 28.
Each of the first vane passages 126 may be formed by a respective one of the first vanes 84. Each first vane passage 126 of
Referring to
During heat exchanger operation, the inlet plenum 138 of
Various members of the heat exchanger 74 may provide a conductive path between the compressed core air flowing through the stator vane array 76 and the fuel flowing through the heat exchanger 74. One or more or all of the heat exchanger members 130, 152, 160 and/or 166 of
In some embodiments, referring to
In some embodiments, referring to
In some embodiments, each of the plenums 138, 148, 158 may be annular and extend circumferentially around the axial centerline 28. In other embodiments, referring to
The fuel is described above as a non-hydrocarbon fuel such as hydrogen fuel. It is contemplated, however, the fuel system 64 may alternatively heat and then provide various other fuels, including hydrocarbon fuel, to the fuel injectors 62.
While various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of the disclosure. For example, the present disclosure as described herein includes several aspects and embodiments that include particular features. Although these features may be described individually, it is within the scope of the present disclosure that some or all of these features may be combined with any one of the aspects and remain within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.
