Patent Application
20080184694
The invention relates to a gas turbine having contrarotating high pressure (HP) and low pressure (LP) turbines, i.e. turbines in which the or each HP turbine wheel rotates in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the moving wheels of the LP turbine. The field of application of the invention is more particularly that of aeroengines.
The invention is not limited to turbines having two spools, one HP and the other LP. It may also be applied to turbines having more than two spools, where the terms high pressure (HP) turbine and low pressure (LP) turbine then apply to two turbines of two consecutive spools in the flow direction of the stream through the gas turbine.
The use of contrarotating HP and LP turbines is advantageous in that the need for deflecting the outlet stream from the HP turbine is smaller, so aerodynamic losses due to the inlet nozzle of the LP turbine are reduced. The performance of the turbine function is thus improved.
For reasons of structural strength, an intermediate casing or “inter-turbine” casing can be interposed between the HP and LP turbines that are themselves housed in their respective casings. The intermediate casing has inner and outer walls defining the flow section for the stream between the HP and LP turbines, together with arms extending between the inner and outer walls.
One such configuration is shown very diagrammatically in
As shown very diagrammatically in
The invention proposes providing a configuration for contrarotating HP and LP turbines together with an inter-turbine casing that enables aerodynamic performance to be optimized, and that also enables weight and cost to be optimized.
This object is achieved by a gas turbine comprising:
a high pressure (HP) turbine; a low pressure (LP) turbine with a plurality of moving wheels alternating with nozzles, the moving wheels of the LP turbine rotating in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the moving wheel of the HP turbine; and an inter-turbine casing having inner and outer casing walls defining a stream passage between the HP and LP turbines with arms extending across the passage between the inner and outer casing walls,
the turbine not having a nozzle or a device with the function of deflecting the stream between the outlet from the HP turbine and the first moving wheel of the LP turbine.
Thus, while omitting the nozzle for the first stage of the LP turbine, the inter-turbine casing is given a role that is structural only, to the exclusion of any stream-deflecting role. The absence of stream-deflecting at the first stage of the LP turbine does indeed lead to a certain amount of deterioration in load distribution over the LP turbine compared with prior art configurations, however this degradation is compensated by the savings associated with reducing the number of blades. In the inter-turbine casing, the arms do not perform any stream-deflecting function, so they can be present in limited number, merely being sufficient to perform the structural function of the casing. Furthermore, non-deflecting arms of this type generate smaller pressure losses than do arms having a deflecting shape, so secondary losses are greatly reduced as are losses due to the shape of the profile. In addition, the moving wheel of the first stage of the LP turbine that receives a non-deflected stream has a smaller amount of deflection to impart to the stream and can therefore have a smaller number of blades. This is in addition to completely omitting the inlet nozzle for the LP turbine.
Reducing the number of blades also gives rise to significant reductions in terms of weight and cost.
Preferably, in order to have a good performance budget, the HP turbine is designed to deliver a gyrating stream to the inter-turbine casing, with the general direction of the stream exiting the HP turbine forming an angle of not less than 20° relative to the axial direction of the turbine, for example, and at least for those operating points where best performance is looked for.
The invention also provides a gas turbine engine fitted with a turbine as defined above.
The invention can be better understood on reading the following description given by way of non-limiting indication and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The invention is particularly applicable to gas turbine aeroengines. Such an engine, as shown very diagrammatically in
Configurations in accordance with the invention of an assembly comprising an HP turbine, an inter-turbine casing, and an LP turbine are shown in highly diagrammatic manner in
In these examples, the HP turbine 40 comprises a single turbine stage with a turbine inlet nozzle 42 receiving a primary gas stream coming from the combustion chamber (not shown) and a moving wheel 46 with the gas stream delivered by the HP turbine exiting immediately downstream therefrom. The nozzle 42 comprises stationary vanes 43 that extend across the space defined by the inner and outer platforms 44 and 45, which space forms the inlet flow section for the gas stream into the turbine. The moving wheel 46 comprises blades 47 that move in rotation in a space that is surrounded by an outer turbine ring 48. The moving wheel 46 is movable in rotation about the axis 49 of the turbine and it is coupled to a turbine shaft (not shown).
The LP turbine comprises a plurality of turbine stages. The first stage, or the furthest-upstream stage, comprises a moving wheel 561 that is not preceded by an inlet nozzle for the LP turbine, whereas each following stage comprises a nozzle 522, . . . , 52n together with a moving wheel 562, . . . , 56n, where n is an integer greater than two, and is preferably not less than three. In the example of
The inter-turbine casing 60 that performs a structural function only is inserted between the HP and LP turbines. The casing 60 comprises inner and outer casing structures 61 and 63 that support inner and outer walls 62 and 64 defining between them the passage 66 for the gas stream between the HP and LP turbines. Structural arms 68 extend across the stream throughout the width of the passage 66 between the walls 62 and 64 and are connected thereto. The arms 68 are faired to minimize aerodynamic losses in the passage 66, but they are not shaped to perform a stream deflecting function as in the example of
With a configuration in accordance with the invention, the upstream moving wheel 561 of the LP turbine is lightly loaded. It can therefore be made with a limited number of blades. To compensate the light loading on the wheel 561, it is possible to provide greater loading on the wheels 562 and 563 in comparison with a conventional configuration in which there is a nozzle upstream from the first moving wheel of the LP turbine.
Advantageously, in order to have a good performance budget from the wheel 561, it is desirable to impose a relatively large amount of gyration about the axis 49 on the gas stream coming from the HP turbine. Preferably, the angle between the general direction of the gas stream coming from the HP turbine and the axis 49, as imparted by the moving wheel 46, should not be less than 30°, e.g. lying in the range 20° to 45°.
In spite of the absence of an inlet nozzle for the LP turbine, and thus while in the presence of loading unbalance between the moving wheels of the LP turbine, the saving in terms of weight and cost for the number of blades makes it possible to obtain a performance budget that is positive overall in comparison with the prior art.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07 53105 | Feb 2007 | FR | national |
