Patent Application
20120186260
The present subject matter relates generally to gas turbines and, more particularly, to an impingement sleeve for a transition piece of a gas turbine combustor.
Gas turbines typically include a compressor section, a combustion section, and a turbine section. The compressor section pressurizes air flowing into the turbine. The pressurized air discharged from the compressor section flows into the combustion section, which may be characterized by a plurality of combustors disposed around an annular array about the axis of the engine. Each of the plurality of combustors includes a combustion liner, which defines the combustion chamber of the combustor. As such, air entering each combustor is mixed with fuel and combusted within the combustion liner. Hot gases of combustion flow from the combustion liner through a transition piece to the turbine section of the gas turbine to drive the turbine and generate power.
The transition piece of a gas turbine may be configured as a double walled component. In particular, the transition piece may include an impingement sleeve and an inner duct disposed radially inwardly from the impingement sleeve. The inner duct is generally configured to transport the flow of hot gases from the combustion chamber to a first stage nozzle of the turbine section. The impingement sleeve is generally configured to provide impingement cooling for the inner duct. For example, the impingement sleeve may define a plurality cooling holes configured to receive the pressurized air discharged from the compressor section.
It is often the case that the geometry or shape of the inner duct necessitates that the impingement sleeve be formed from two or more sections configured to be assembled around the inner duct. Typically, the sections of the impingement sleeve are welded to one another. However, the process of welding the impingement sleeve sections together is often a difficult task. Moreover, by welding the sections to one another, the disassembly of the impingement sleeve in the field in order to perform inspections and/or repairs can be quite challenging and very time consuming.
Accordingly, an impingement sleeve that can be easily assembled and disassembled would be welcomed in the art.
Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In one aspect, the present subject matter discloses an impingement sleeve for a transition piece of a gas turbine. The impingement sleeve generally includes a first casing configured to surround a portion of an inner duct of the transition piece and a second casing configured to surround a portion of the inner duct. Additionally, the impingement sleeve may include a substantially flat joint defined between the first and second casings. The substantially flat joint may include a plurality of fasteners configured to attach the first casing to the second casing.
In another aspect, the present subject matter discloses an impingement sleeve for a transition piece of a gas turbine. The impingement sleeve generally includes a first casing configured to surround a portion of an inner duct of the transition piece and a second casing configured to surround a portion of the inner duct. Additionally, the impingement sleeve may include a joint defined between the first and second casings. The joint may include a plurality of fasteners configured to attach the first casing to the second casing. Further, at least one channel may be mounted to an inner surface of at least one of the first casing and the second casing. The channel may generally include a plurality of threaded nuts secured thereto.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which:
Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Referring to the drawings,
Referring to
The combustor 20 may also include an internal flow sleeve 28 and a combustion liner 30 substantially concentrically arranged within the flow sleeve 28. The combustion liner 30 may generally define a substantially cylindrical combustion chamber 32, wherein fuel and air are injected and combusted to produce hot gases of combustion. Additionally, both the flow sleeve 28 and the combustion liner 30 may extend, at their downstream ends, to a double walled transition piece 34, including an impingement sleeve 36 and an inner duct 38 disposed radially inwardly from the impingement sleeve 36. In particular, the combustion liner 30 may be coupled at its downstream end to the inner duct 38 such that the combustion liner 30 and the inner duct 38 generally define a flowpath for the hot gases of combustion flowing from each combustor 20 to the turbine section 16 of the gas turbine 10 (
Further, as shown in
Referring now to
The disclosed impingement sleeve 102 may generally be configured to be positioned radially outwardly from the inner duct 104 of the transition piece 100. For example, the impingement sleeve 102 may be disposed relative to the inner duct 104 such that a radial space or gap 110 is defined between the impingement sleeve 102 and the inner duct 104. As such, the pressurized air discharged from the compressor section 12 of the gas turbine 10 (
As shown in the illustrated embodiment, the impingement sleeve 102 includes a first casing component 106 and a second casing component 108. The first and second casing components 106, 108 may generally define a shape or profile corresponding to the shape or profile of the portion of the inner duct 104 around which the casing components 106, 108 are configured to be disposed (e.g., the first and second side portions 118, 120 of the inner duct 104). However, it should be appreciated that the shape or profile of the first and second casing components 106, 108 may also be varied from the shape or profile of the inner duct 104 to take into account effective cooling configurations and the available packaging within the gas turbine 10.
In general, the first and second casing components 106, 108 may be configured to be attached to another such that, once assembled, the casing components 106, 108 generally encase the inner duct 104. Thus, as shown, an attachment joint 140 may generally be formed at the interfaces of the first and second casing components 106, 108, such as between the top ends 126 of the casing components 106, 108 and between the bottom ends 128 of the casing components 126, 128. It should be appreciated that the casing components 106, 108 may generally have any suitable configuration designed to form any suitable joint known in the art. However, in several embodiments of the present subject matter, the casing components 106, 108 may be configured to overlap one another such that the attachment joints 140 defined between the casing components 106, 108 are configured as lap joints.
For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the first casing component 106 may include a first mounting flange 122 disposed at a top end 126 of the casing component 106 and a second mounting flange 124 disposed at a bottom end 128 of the casing component 106. Similarly, the second casing component 108 may include a first mounting shoulder 130 disposed at a top end 126 of the casing component 108 and a second mounting shoulder 132 disposed at a bottom end 128 of the casing component 108. The flanges 122, 124 and shoulders 130, 132 of the casing components 106, 108 may generally be configured such that, when the first and second casing components 106, 108 are assembled around the inner duct 104, the first shoulder 130 is aligned with and overlaps the first flange 122 and the second shoulder 132 is aligned with and overlaps the second flange 124 so as to define the attachment joints 140. The flanges 122, 124 and shoulders 130, 132 may then be attached to one another such that the first and second casing components 106, 108 generally form an encasing configuration about the inner duct 104.
In several embodiments, to facilitate the overlapping configuration of the casing components 106, 108, the second casing component 108 may include a slight bend at the attachment joints 140 having a height generally equal to the width 143 (
Additionally, in several embodiments of the present subject matter, the attachment joints 140 may generally be configured as substantially flat joints. By “substantially flat”, it is meant that the shape or profile of the portions of the casing components 106, 108 forming the attachment joints 140 may generally correspond to the overall shape or profile of the impingement sleeve 102 in an area generally adjacent to the joints 140. For example, the flanges 122, 124 and the shoulders 130, 132 may generally be configured to form an extension of the shape or profile of the first and second casing components 106, 108, respectively, at each attachment joint 140. Thus, as shown in
It should be appreciated that, in embodiments in which the attachment joints 140 are configured as substantially flat joints, the corresponding profiles of the flanges 122, 124 and shoulders 130, 132 may generally vary depending on the location at which the attachment joints 140 are defined along the outer perimeter of the impingement sleeve 102. For example, in an alternative embodiment, the first and second casing components 106, 108 may be configured such that the attachment joints 140 are defined along the sides 141 of the impingement sleeve 102. In such an embodiment, the flanges 122, 124 and shoulders 130, 132 may generally define a straight or curved profile extending substantially tangentially and/or parallel to the profile of the sides 141 of the first and second casing component 106, 108.
Referring still to
In general, the disclosed fasteners 138 may comprise any suitable fasteners known in the art. For instance, in several embodiments, the fasteners 138 may comprise a plurality of threaded fasteners, such as threaded bolts, screws and the like. In alternative embodiments, the fasteners 138 may comprise rivets, pins, clips, bolts, brackets, rods and any other suitable mechanical fasteners and/or attachment mechanisms. Additionally, the fasteners 138 may be configured to be secured within the openings 134, 136 using any suitable means. For example, the fasteners 138 may be secured within the openings 134, 136 using nuts, retaining pins, retaining rods, adhesives, and the like. However, in a particular embodiment of the present subject matter, each of the fasteners 138 may be secured within the openings 134, 136 using a floating nut 144.
As is generally understood, a floating nut 144 may comprise a threaded nut 146 which is movably disposed within a cage, frame or other retainer 148. For example, as shown in
In several embodiments, a plurality of floating nuts 144 may be mounted within the impingement sleeve 102 such that, when the first and second casing components 106, 108 are positioned around the inner duct 104, one floating nut 144 is generally aligned with each pair of aligned flange and shoulder openings 134, 136. For instance, as shown in
Additionally, in one embodiment, each of the floating nuts 144 may be separately mounted onto an inner surface of the impingement sleeve 102, such as the inner surfaces 154 of the flanges 122, 124. For example, the retainer 148 of each floating nut 144 may be directly attached to the inner surfaces 154 of the flanges 122, 124 (e.g., by welding or otherwise fastening the retainer 148 to the inner surfaces 154). Alternatively, the floating nuts 144 may be grouped or ganged into a common carriage or channel 158, 160 for attachment to the inner surfaces 154 of the mounting flanges 122, 124. For instance, as shown in the illustrated embodiment, first and second elongated channels 158, 160 may generally be secured to the inner surfaces 154 of the first and second flanges 122, 124, respectively, such as by welding or otherwise fastening the elongated channels 158, 160 onto the inner surfaces 154.
In several embodiments, each elongated channel 158, 160 may generally be configured to define a shape or profile corresponding to the shape or profile of the portion of the impingement sleeve 102 to which it is attached. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, the first elongated channel 158 may generally extend lengthwise between the upstream and downstream ends 162, 164 (
It should be appreciated that, in alternative embodiments, the elongated channels 158, 160 need not be configured to extend fully between the upstream and downstream ends 162, 164, 166, 168 of the first and second flanges 122, 124. For example, the elongated channels 158, 160 may only extend partially between the upstream and downstream ends 162, 164, 166, 168. In other embodiments, two or more elongated channels 158, 160 may be secured between the upstream and downstream ends 162, 164, 166, 168 of each flange 122, 124.
Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5-6, each elongated channel 158, 160 may generally include a plurality of floating nuts 144 mounted to the base 180 of each channel 158, 160. For example, in one embodiment, the retainers 148 of the floating nuts 144 may be welded or otherwise fastened to each base 180. Additionally, it should be appreciated that the spacing of the floating nuts 144 along each channel 158, 160 may generally correspond to the spacing of the flange and shoulder openings 134, 136 defined in the flanges 122, 124 and the shoulders 130, 132, respectively. Thus, when the elongated channels 158, 160 are secured to the inner surfaces 154, 156 of one of the casing components 106, 108 and the casing components 106, 108 are positioned around the inner duct 104, one floating nut 144 may generally be disposed in alignment with each pair of aligned flange and shoulder openings 134, 136.
It should be appreciated that, in further embodiments, a plurality of threaded members, such as threaded nuts 146, may be secured to the elongated channels 158, 160 as an alternative to the floating nuts 144. Additionally, as particularly shown in
It should also be appreciated that, as an alternative to using fasteners 138 and floating nuts 144 (or threaded nuts 146), various other suitable attachment methods may be utilized to weldlessly attach to the first and second flanges 122, 124 to the first and second shoulders 130, 132. For example, the flanges 122, 124 and the shoulders 130, 132 may be crimped together or attached together using an adhesive or other suitable bonding material.
The first and second casing components 106, 108 may also include corresponding pairs of lips 170, 172 extending radially outwardly from the casing components 106, 108 at their upstream ends 162, 166. In general, the radially extending lips 170, 172 may be configured such that, when the lips 170 of the first casing component 106 are secured to the lips 172 of the second casing component 108, a seal 174 (
It should also be appreciated that the lips 170 of the first casing component 106 may generally be configured to be attached to the lips 172 of the second casing component 108 using any suitable means. For instance, in the illustrated embodiment, the lips 170, 172 may define openings 178 configured to receive suitable fasteners 179 (e.g., bolts, screws, rivets, pins, other mechanical fasteners and the like) for attaching the lips 170, 172 to one another. Alternatively, various other suitable attachment methods may be utilized to attach to the lips 170, 172 to one another, such as by crimping the lips 170, 172 together or by attaching the lips 170, 172 together using an adhesive or other bonding material.
It should be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that, in addition to the configurations described herein, various other impingement sleeve configurations may be utilized within the scope of the present subject matter. For example, the one or more shoulders 130, 132 may be disposed on the first casing component 106 while one or more flanges 122, 124 may be disposed on the second casing component 108. Additionally, as noted above, the flanges 122, 124 need not be disposed radially inwardly of the shoulders 130, 132. Specifically, in several embodiments, the shoulders 130, 132 may be disposed radially inwardly of the flanges 122, 124. In another embodiment, the first shoulder 130 may be configured to be disposed radially inwardly of the first flange 122 while the second shoulder 132 may be configured to be disposed radially outwardly of the second flange 124.
Moreover, it should be appreciated that the first and second casing components 106, 108 need not be configured such that the attachment joints 140 defined at the flanges 122, 124 and the shoulders 130, 132 are formed at the top and bottom ends 26, 128 of the impingement sleeve 102. Rather, the casing components 106, 108 may be configured such that the attachment joints 140 are formed at any location along the outer perimeter of the impingement sleeve 102, such as on the sides 141 or corners of the impingement sleeve 102. Further, in another embodiment, the impingement sleeve 102 may include more than two casing components. For instance, the impingement sleeve 102 may include three or more casing components, with the casing components being configured to be attached to one another so as to encase the inner duct 104.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
