Patent Application
20170016398
The invention relates to an autonomous hydraulic device for the emergency start-up of a turboshaft engine. The invention also relates to an architecture of a propulsion system of a multi-engine helicopter—in particular a twin-engine or three-engine helicopter—which is equipped with at least one such device for emergency start-up. The invention also relates to a helicopter comprising a propulsion system having such an architecture.
A twin-engine or three-engine helicopter has, in a known manner, a propulsion system comprising two or three turboshaft engines, each turboshaft engine comprising a gas generator and a free turbine which is set into rotation by the gas generator and is rigidly connected to an output shaft. The output shaft of each free turbine is suitable for putting into motion a power transmission gearbox, which itself drives the rotor of the helicopter which is equipped with blades having a variable pitch.
It is known that the turboshaft engines of the helicopter operate in regimes which are dependent on the flight conditions of the helicopter. Throughout the following text, a helicopter is said to be in a cruising flight situation when it is progressing in normal conditions, during all the phases of the flight, apart from transient phases of take-off, ascent, landing or hovering flight. Throughout the following text, a helicopter is said to be in a critical flight situation when it is necessary for it to have the total installed power available, i.e. in the transient phases of take-off, ascent, landing and in a regime in which one of the turboshaft engines is malfunctioning, referred to by the abbreviation OEI (one engine inoperative).
It is known that when the helicopter is in the cruising flight situation, the turboshaft engines operate at low power levels, which are less than the maximum continuous power thereof. These low power levels lead to a specific consumption (hereafter referred to as Cs) which is defined as the ratio between the hourly consumption of fuel by the combustion chamber of the turboshaft engine and the mechanical power supplied by this turboshaft engine, which is greater than approximately 30% of the Cs of the maximum take-off power, and thus an overconsumption of fuel in cruising flight.
Furthermore, the turboshaft engines of a helicopter are designed to be oversized so that they can keep the helicopter in flight in the event of a failure of one of the engines. This flight situation corresponds to the OEI regime described above. This flight situation occurs following the loss of an engine and translates into the fact that each engine in operation supplies a power well above the rated power thereof in order to allow the helicopter to cope with a perilous situation and then be able to continue the flight.
Secondly, the turboshaft engines are also oversized in order to be able to ensure flight over the entire flight envelope specified by the aircraft manufacturer and in particular flight at high altitudes and in hot weather. These flight points, which are very contradictory, in particular when the helicopter has a mass which is close to the maximum take-off mass thereof, are only encountered in specific cases of use.
These oversized turboshaft engines are disadvantageous in terms of mass and fuel consumption. In order to reduce this consumption in cruising flight, it is envisaged to stop one of the turboshaft engines in flight and to place said engine in a regime, referred to as standby. The active engine(s) thus operates at higher power levels to supply all the necessary power, and thus at more favourable Cs levels.
In FR1151717 and FR1359766, the applicants have proposed methods of optimising the specific consumption of the turboshaft engines of a helicopter by means of the possibility of placing at least one turboshaft engine in a stabilised power regime, referred to as a continuous regime, and at least one turboshaft engine in a specific standby regime, from which it can exit in an urgent or normal manner as required. An exit from the standby regime is referred to as normal when a change in flight situation necessitates the activation of the standby turboshaft engine, for example when the helicopter is going to pass from a cruising flight situation to a landing phase. A normal exit of this type from standby is carried out over a period of 10 s to 1 min. An exit from the standby regime is referred to as urgent when a failure or a deficit of power of the active engine intervenes or the flight conditions suddenly become difficult. An urgent exit of this type from standby is carried out over a period of less than 10 s.
The exit from a standby regime of a turboshaft engine and the passage from an economical flight phase to a conventional flight phase is obtained for example by means of a pack for the restart of the turboshaft engine which is associated with a device for storing energy such as an electrochemical store of the Li-ion battery type or an electrostatic storage of the overcapacity type, which makes it possible to supply to the turboshaft engine the energy required for restarting and quickly reaching a rated operating regime.
Such a pack for the emergency restart of the turboshaft engine in standby has the disadvantage of substantially increasing the total weight of the turboshaft engine. The benefit in terms of fuel consumption which is obtained by placing the turboshaft engine in standby is thus partly lost by the excess weight brought about by the restart device and the associated energy storage device, in particular when each turboshaft engine is equipped with an emergency restart device of this type.
Furthermore, these electrical engineering components can be dependent on the electrical architecture of the helicopter on which they are mounted.
The inventors have thus sought to reconcile problems which are incompatible a priori, namely the possibility of placing the helicopter in the economical flight phase, i.e. of placing at least one turboshaft engine in standby without generating too great an excess weight of the assembly of the propulsion system, but whilst also allowing an emergency exit from the standby regime.
In other words, the inventors have sought to propose a new device for the emergency restart of a turboshaft engine and a new architecture of the propulsion system of a twin-engine or three-engine helicopter.
The invention aims to provide a device for the quick start-up of a turboshaft engine which overcomes the disadvantages of the previous solutions.
The invention also aims to provide a propulsion system of a multi-engine helicopter.
The invention also aims to provide a propulsion system of a multi-engine helicopter which allows the turboshaft engine to be placed in standby and allows the quick restart thereof.
The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment of the invention, a propulsion system which has a mass and a volume which are not prohibitive to being carried in a helicopter.
The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment of the invention, a propulsion system which has a lower cost than the architectures from the prior art which have the same performance.
The invention also aims to provide a method for the quick start-up of a turboshaft engine.
For this purpose, the invention relates to a device for the emergency start-up of a turboshaft engine of a helicopter, characterised in that it comprises:
A device for the start-up of a turboshaft engine according to the invention thus provides a hydraulic device—which is preferably completely independent of the hydraulic network of the helicopter on which such a turboshaft engine is intended to be mounted—to ensure the start-up of the turboshaft engine.
A turboshaft engine comprises, in a known manner, a gas generator and a free turbine which is powered by the gas generator and connected to a power transmission gearbox. Preferably, a device for start-up according to the invention provides that the gas generator of the turboshaft engine is set into rotation by the hydraulic motor which is suitable for transforming the hydraulic power of the pressurised liquid with which the engine is supplied into mechanical power for driving the gas generator.
Liquid is supplied to the hydraulic motor by means of the cooperation of a hydropneumatic store and a valve which has controlled quick opening.
A start-up device of this type is thus independent of the power supply network of the helicopter and does not require bulky storage batteries. The proposed solution thus makes it possible to ensure a quick start-up of a turboshaft engine, in particular a turboshaft engine which is placed in a standby regime, without causing problems in terms of bulk, mass and cost.
Furthermore, a device according to the invention is simple to use and can be tested on a rig before the integration thereof in a helicopter.
The assembly formed by the recovery reservoir and the purge valve allows the liquid to be expelled from the hydraulic circuit once the pressure of the liquid in this circuit exceeds a predetermined threshold, and allows this expelled liquid to be recovered in the recovery reservoir. The purge valve defines the predetermined threshold above which the liquid is expelled from the hydraulic circuit.
Advantageously and according to the invention, the hydropneumatic store is selected from the group comprising a bladder-type store, a membrane-type store and a piston-type store.
Such a store comprises for example an enclosure made of metal or composite materials, a pressure sensor which makes it possible to ensure the availability of the store, a safety valve, a gas reservoir of the nitrogen, helium or argon type, and a reservoir of oil which is used as a liquid for supplying the hydraulic circuit.
Advantageously and according to the invention, the hydraulic motor comprises a propshaft which is mechanically connected to a shaft, referred to as a gearbox shaft, of an accessory gearbox of said turboshaft engine by meshing means comprising at least one free wheel which is supported by said propshaft.
An accessory gearbox of a turboshaft engine makes it possible to drive the auxiliary systems which are required for the operation of the gas generator of the turboshaft engine and of equipment of the helicopter, such as the air-conditioning devices. According to this variant, the hydraulic motor is directly integrated in this accessory gearbox, and this makes it possible firstly to facilitate the installation and interconnection thereof with the gas generator of the turboshaft engine, and secondly, to supply, if necessary, some of the power required to drive the auxiliary systems and/or power the equipment of the helicopter.
The presence of the free wheel makes it possible to avoid the hydraulic motor from being spontaneously driven by the accessory gearbox when the gas generator supplies mechanical power.
Advantageously and according to this variant, said meshing means further comprise:
A device according to this variant allows reversible operation of the device. In particular, it not only makes it possible to ensure a start-up of the turboshaft engine by the hydraulic motor, but also to reload the hydropneumatic store using the hydraulic motor as a hydraulic pump. For this purpose, an intermediate stage comprises a connection pinion which is suitable for being displaced from a position in which it is not coupled either to the propshaft or to the gearbox shaft (the hydraulic motor thus operates as a motor and supplies mechanical power to drive the shaft of the accessory gearbox) to a position in which it is coupled together with the propshaft and the gearbox shaft (the hydraulic motor thus acts as a hydraulic pump, and the shaft of the accessory gearbox sets into rotation the propshaft by means of the intermediate shaft. This intermediate shaft, which is arranged between the gearbox shaft and the propshaft, reverses the direction of rotation of the propshaft with respect to the first position, thus imparting a hydraulic pump function on the hydraulic motor).
When the hydraulic motor is used as a hydraulic pump to ensure the reloading of the hydropneumatic store, it is useful to provide a device for controlling the purge valve to prevent the non-return operation thereof.
The invention also relates to a propulsion system of a multi-engine helicopter comprising turboshaft engines which are connected to a power transmission gearbox, characterised in that it comprises:
A device for the start-up of a turboshaft engine according to the invention is intended in particular to be integrated in a propulsion system of a multi-engine helicopter comprising at least one turboshaft engine which is capable of being placed in standby. The hydraulic start-up device makes it possible to ensure the emergency restart of the turboshaft engine in standby when required.
A hybrid turboshaft engine is a turboshaft engine which is designed to be able to be placed, on command and voluntarily, in at least one predetermined standby regime, which it can exit in a normal or quick manner (also referred to as an urgent manner). A turboshaft engine can only be in standby during a stabilised flight of the helicopter, i.e. when there is no failure of a turboshaft engine of the helicopter, during a cruising flight situation, when said helicopter is progressing in normal conditions. The exit from the standby regime consists in passing the turboshaft engine into the acceleration mode of the gas generator by means of a drive which is compatible with the exit mode imposed by the conditions (normal exit from standby or quick exit from standby (also referred to as emergency exit).
Advantageously, a propulsion system according to a variant of the invention comprises two hybrid turboshaft engines and two emergency restart devices according to the invention, each hybrid turboshaft engine being associated with a restart device.
According to this variant, the system has a separate hydraulic supply for each hydraulic motor for restarting each hybrid turboshaft engine.
Advantageously, a system according to another variant of the invention comprises two hybrid turboshaft engines and a single restart device according to the invention which comprises two hydraulic motors which are connected to each hybrid turboshaft engine, respectively, said hydraulic valve being a latching valve which is controlled to orient the fluid towards said hydraulic motor of the hybrid turboshaft engine to be restarted.
According to this variant, the latching valve is controlled to orient the liquid of the hydraulic circuit towards the hybrid turboshaft engine which has to be restarted.
The invention also relates to a helicopter comprising a propulsion system according to the invention.
The invention also relates to a method for the emergency start-up of a turboshaft engine of a helicopter, characterised in that it comprises:
The invention also relates to a device for the start-up of a turboshaft engine, a propulsion system of a multi-engine helicopter, a helicopter which is equipped with a propulsion system, and a method for the start-up of a turboshaft engine, characterised in combination by all or some of the features mentioned above or below.
Other aims, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following description which is provided purely on a non-limiting basis and relates to the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the drawings, the scales and the proportions are not respected for the sake of illustration and clarity.
Such a device comprises a hydraulic motor 7 which is mechanically connected to the turboshaft engine 6 by means of a free wheel 8. This hydraulic motor 7 can be a motor having axial or radial pistons. The function thereof is to transform the hydraulic power that it receives into mechanical power, thus making it possible to bring about the start-up of the turboshaft engine.
This hydraulic motor 7 is preferably mounted on the turboshaft engine 6 by means of an accessory gearbox, which is not shown in
The device further comprises a hydropneumatic store 9 which is connected to the hydraulic motor 7 by means of a hydraulic circuit 10 for supplying pressurised liquid to this hydraulic motor 7. This hydropneumatic store 9 is, according to the embodiment in
The supply of the hydraulic motor 7 is dependent on a hydraulic valve 11 which has controlled quick opening and is arranged on the hydraulic circuit 10 between the store 9 and the hydraulic motor 7.
This hydraulic valve 11 is controlled by a control device 12, which is preferably the control computer of the turboshaft engine 6, which further makes it possible to define the operating regime of the turboshaft engine.
When the valve 11 is controlled in opening, the oil from the oil compartment 18 of the store 9 is ejected towards the hydraulic motor 7 so that said motor transforms the hydraulic power of the oil which is received into mechanical power at the output.
The start-up device also comprises a reservoir 14 for recovering liquid which is connected to the hydraulic motor 7 by means of a purge valve 15. This valve is set in such a way that the oil is ejected from the circuit 10 once the pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold.
The start-up device from
According to the embodiment in
The standby regime is for example one of the following operating regimes:
The start-up device comprises, in addition to the elements described in connection with
The controlled valve 11 is, according to this embodiment, a three-way valve which is suitable for allowing, on command, either the supply of the hydraulic motor 17 which is connected to the turboshaft engine 16, or the supply of the hydraulic motor 7 of the turboshaft engine 6. The command is dependent on the turboshaft engine in standby which has to exit the standby regime thereof in an emergency.
The operating principle of the start-up device of this architecture is, for each turboshaft engine 6, 16, identical to that described in connection with
The propulsion system further comprises, for each engine 6, 16, a separate purge valve 15, 15′ which is associated with this engine. Each purge valve 15, 15′ has a dual function.
Firstly, when the associated engine is inactive, it makes it possible to keep the oil inside said engine. The purge valve thus makes it possible to avoid the engine starting empty.
Secondly, when one of the two engines starts, the oil from the return line of the engine in operation must be prevented from supplying the other engine (which would otherwise also start rotating). The purge valve thus makes it possible in this situation to act as a non-return device for isolating the other engine.
Furthermore, according to the embodiment from
This mechanical connection is formed by meshing means which comprise a first meshing stage formed by a propshaft 40, which is the output shaft of the hydraulic motor 7, a main pinion 41 which is supported by the propshaft 40 and mounted on the free wheel 8, and a pumping pinion 42.
The meshing means further comprise a second meshing stage formed by a gearbox shaft 60, a main pinion 61 which is supported by the gearbox shaft 60 and meshed with the main pinion 41 from the first meshing stage, and a pumping pinion 62 which is supported by the gearbox shaft 60.
The meshing means lastly comprise an intermediate meshing stage which is formed by an intermediate shaft 50 supporting a connection pinion 52.
The connection pinion 52 is configured to have two positions, an engaged position which is shown by
In the engaged position in
In the disengaged position in
The displacement of the pinion 52 from the disengaged position into the engaged position can be ensured by a hydraulic, pneumatic or electric actuator, or by any equivalent means.
The principle of using a device for the start-up of a turboshaft engine within a twin-engine architecture as shown in
The docking speed corresponds to the standby speed of the gas generator divided by the ratio of reduction in speeds between the shaft of the gas generator and the input of the accessory gearbox of the turboshaft engine on which the hydraulic starter is mounted.
A device according to the invention thus makes it possible to quickly restart a turboshaft engine in standby which has recourse only to members which are inexpensive, are simple to use and install, can be tested on rigs and make it possible to reload the hydropneumatic store.
The invention is not limited to only the described embodiments. In particular, the propulsion system can comprise three turboshaft engines for equipping a three-engine helicopter, and a person skilled in the art can easily determine, based on the teachings of the present text, how to adapt the described embodiments to a multi-engine, in particular three-engine, propulsion system.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1452643 | Mar 2014 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR2015/050696 | 3/20/2015 | WO | 00 |
