Patent Grant
9759089
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to coating components and, more specifically, to transportable modular coating systems and methods for coating turbine components.
In gas turbine engines, such as aircraft engines for example, air is drawn into the front of the engine, compressed by a shaft-mounted rotary-type compressor, and mixed with fuel. The mixture is burned, and the hot exhaust gases are passed through a turbine mounted on a shaft. The flow of gas turns the turbine, which turns the shaft and drives the compressor and fan. The hot exhaust gases flow from the back of the engine, driving it and the aircraft forward.
During operation of gas turbine engines, the temperatures of combustion gases may exceed 3,000° F., considerably higher than the melting temperatures of the metal parts of the engine which are in contact with these gases. Operation of these engines at gas temperatures that are above the metal part melting temperatures may depend in part one or more protective coatings and/or on supplying a cooling air to the outer surfaces of the metal parts through various methods. The metal parts of these engines that are particularly subject to high temperatures, and thus require particular attention with respect to cooling, are the metal parts forming combustors and parts located aft of the combustor.
For example metal temperatures can be maintained below melting levels by using one or more coatings, such as thermal barrier coatings (TBCs), applied via a coating process (e.g., a thermal spray process). However, the thermal spray process may require large rooms to hold all necessary thermal spray equipment and help contain the operation within a closed environment. This may be similarly true for other components such as generator features or other to-be-coated substrates. As a result, coating process may be performed in a finite number of locations using fixed equipment. This may also limit the ability to quickly and conveniently deploy coating cells to different facilities such that coatings can be applied to components such as turbine components in the field in a more standardized fashion.
Accordingly, alternative transportable modular coating systems and methods would be welcome in the art.
In one embodiment, a transportable modular coating system is disclosed. The transportable modular coating system includes a first transportable coating module comprising at least one first removable wall, and, a second transportable coating module comprising at least one second removable wall, wherein the first and second transportable coating modules are joinable along the first and second removable walls such that the first and second transportable coating modules join to form a single coating cell when the first and second removable walls are removed. The transportable modular coating system further includes a plurality of coating components fixed within the first and second transportable coating modules that combine to create a coating operation when the first and second transportable coating modules are joined to form the single coating cell. The transportable coating module even further includes a transportable control module that comprises a control system that operably connects to the plurality of coating components to operably control the coating operation when the first and second transportable coating modules are joined together.
In another embodiment, a method for forming a transportable modular coating system is disclosed. The method includes providing one of a plurality of first transportable coating modules each comprising at least one first removable wall, wherein a same first portion of a plurality of coating components are fixed within each of the plurality of first transportable coating modules, and, providing one of a plurality of second transportable coating modules each of comprising at least one second removable wall, wherein each are individually joinable to any one of the plurality of first transportable coating modules along the first and second removable walls, and wherein a same second portion of the plurality of coating components are fixed within each of the plurality of second transportable coating modules. The method further includes removing the first and second removable walls from the provided first and second coating modules and joining the provided first and second coating modules to form a single coating cell, wherein the first and second portions of the plurality of coating components combine to create a coating operation. The method further includes providing one of a plurality of transportable control modules each comprising a control system, and, operably connecting the control system to the plurality of coating components to operably control the coating operation.
These and additional features provided by the embodiments discussed herein will be more fully understood in view of the following detailed description, in conjunction with the drawings.
The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplary in nature and not intended to limit the inventions defined by the claims. The following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments can be understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which:
One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present invention, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.
Transportable modular coating systems disclosed herein provide at least first and second transportable coating modules and a transportable control module to allow for a modular and transportable coating system that may provide greater flexibility in coating locations while promoting uniformity and consistency in coating operations. Each of the first and second transportable coating modules and the transportable control module are individually selected from a plurality of respective modules that can each comprise the same respective portion of coating components and potentially even be standardized in configurations or layouts. This may allow for a “plug and play” system where any one of the plurality of first transportable coating modules can be individually combined and joined with any one of the plurality of second transportable coating modules to form a coating operation, which, in turn, can further be connected to any one of the plurality of transportable control modules for control thereof. Thus, any three modules may be selected from their respective groups, shipped to a single site and combined together to form a coating operation. These and other features of the transportable modular coating systems and methods will be described in more detail herein.
Referring now to
Referring now additionally to
Referring now to
As best illustrated in
For example, in some embodiments the first removable wall 12 may comprise the long side wall as illustrated in
Each of the first transportable coating modules 11 comprises a first portion 31 of a plurality of coating components 30. The plurality of coating components 30 are those components required for a coating operation (e.g., the necessary components to coat a turbine component, generator features or other substrates as should be appreciated herein). The plurality of coating components 30 may thereby be divided into a first portion 31 and a second portion 32 that are fixed within the each of the first transportable coating modules 11 and second transportable coating modules 21 respectively. By providing the same first portion 31 to each of the first transportable coating modules 11, each of said first transportable coating modules 11 may be swapped in and out when forming a given single coating cell 8 for the transportable modular coating system 5.
Referring now to
As best illustrated in
For example, in some embodiments the second removable wall 22 may comprise the long side wall as illustrated in
As best illustrated in
Each of the second transportable coating modules 21 comprises a second portion 32 of a plurality of coating components 30 as discussed above. The second portion 32 of the plurality of coating components 30 (i.e., the balance of the coating components 30 not accounted for in the first portion 31) may thereby be fixed within the each of the second transportable coating modules 21. By providing the same second portion 32 to each of the second transportable coating modules 21, each of said second transportable coating modules 21 may be swapped in and out when forming a given single coating cell 8 for the transportable modular coating system 5.
As best illustrated in
The plurality of components 30 may, for example, include coating spray equipment 34 and a component stand 35. The coating spray equipment 34 comprises the main spray components required to produce a coating spray as should be appreciated to those skilled in the art. For example, the coating spray equipment 34 may generally comprise a HVOF system, plasma system, other thermal spray system or the like. The coating spray equipment 34 may facilitate any coating to be applied to a component. For example, the coating spray equipment 34 may facilitate the coating of a turbine component such as with a thermal barrier coating, bondcoat, environmental barrier coating, or the like. The component stand 35 comprises any stand that at least supports the component during the coating operation. For example, the component stand 35 may comprise a table with support features for handling one or more types of components (e.g., turbine components including buckets, blades, shrouds, nozzles, liners or any other turbine component that is coated), may comprise a rotatable turntable, or may comprise any other support structure that can hold one or more components during coating.
In some embodiments, such as that illustrated in
In some embodiments, the plurality of coating components 30 may further comprise a robotic system 36 that controls movement of at least one of the coating spray equipment 34 and the component stand 35. The robotic system 36 may comprise any robotic apparatus providing multiple degrees of freedom (e.g., 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.) to rotate and move the coating spray equipment 34 (e.g., the spray gun or nozzle) and/or the component stand 35 (e.g., moving the component itself). The robotic system 36 may thereby facilitate the coating of the component by moving one or both elements to ensure uniform and/or complete coating coverage. For example, in some embodiments the robotic system 36 may comprise a commercially available Fanuc Robot System or the like.
Similar to the coating spray equipment 34 and the component stand 35, the robotic system may be fixed in one of the first or second transportable coating modules 11 and 21 proximate to their own first or second removable wall 12 and 22. Such embodiments may provide the robotic system 36 increased freedom in motion by placing it further from the walls of the single coating cell 8. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the plurality of coating components 30 may comprise multiple robotic systems 36, such as one for the coating spray equipment 34 and one for the component stand 35.
In some embodiments, the plurality of coating components 30 may further comprise a gas leak detection system 37. The gas leak detection system 37 may comprise one or more sensors disposed in one or both of the first and second transportable coating modules 11 and 21 to detect gas leaks from the coating operations (e.g., oxygen, hydrogen, etc.). In even some embodiments, a sensor of the gas leak detection system 37 may be disposed within the transportable control module 51.
In even some embodiments, the plurality of coating components 30 may comprise one or more additional auxiliary components 39. The one or more auxiliary components 39 may comprise any other elements that may be utilized before, during or after the coating operation or otherwise help facilitate the process. For the example, the one or more additional auxiliary components 39 may comprise power supplies, fuses or other electrical junctions to help distribute and manage power within the transportable modular coating system 5. Alternatively or additionally, the one or more additional auxiliary components 39 may comprise one or more plenums to contain one or more gasses for the coating operation. In even some embodiments, the one or more auxiliary components 39 may comprise a storage unit for housing service tools and/or replacements parts that may be used to help maintain the other plurality of coating components 30. It should be appreciated that the one or more auxiliary components 39 may thereby comprise any further components that may help facilitate the coating operation.
While specific components have been presented herein, and discussed with respect to particular locations within the single coating cell 8, it should be appreciated that these specific embodiments are exemplary and non-limiting. The plurality of coating components 30 may comprise additional and/or alternative components that may be placed in the same of different configurations as long as the same first portion 31 and the same second portion 32 are used in each of the first and second transportable coating modules 11 and 21 respectively to facilitate the same, transportable modular coating system 5 on deployment.
Referring now to
For example, each of the transportable coating modules 51 may comprise a standard commercialized shipping container design as discussed above. In some embodiments, transportable control module 51 may comprise the same outer dimensions (e.g., the same standard commercialized shipping container design) as one of or both of the first and second transportable coating modules 11 and 21. Such embodiments may ensure ease of transportation of each module (i.e., both the first and second transportable coating modules 11 and 21 and the transportable control module 51) by promoting convenient and commercially common shipping parameters to facilitate transportation using standard equipment (e.g., trucks, trains, boats, etc.). In some embodiments, each of the transportable control modules 51 may comprise any other standardized container such that all transportable control modules 51 comprise the same type of container.
In some embodiments, the transportable control module 51 may gain visual access to the single coating cell 8 through a variety of mechanisms. As used herein, “visual access” refers to being able to visually observe the coating operation within the single coating cell 8 from the transportable control module 51. In some embodiments, the transportable control module 51 and or both of the first and second transportable coating modules 11 and 21 can comprise one or more windows 33 that align with one another when all modules 11, 21 and 51 are joined together. In other embodiments, the one or both of the first and second transportable coating modules 11 and 21 can comprise one or more cameras 38 that are linked to the control system 52 (e.g., via monitors) in the transportable control module 51.
The transportable control module 51 further comprises the control system 52 that can operably connect to the plurality of coating components 30 to operably control the coating operation. The operable connection 53 may comprise any type of communication link that facilitates the monitoring, diagnostics and/or control of one or more of the plurality of coating components 30 to coat one or more components (e.g., turbine components). The control system 52 can thereby comprise any suitable system for controlling one or more of the coating components 30 such as one or more computers or the like.
In some embodiments, the transportable modular coating system 5 may further comprise a supplemental transportable coating module selected from a plurality of supplemental transportable coating modules. The supplemental transportable coating module may comprise the same shape and dimensions as the first and/or second transportable coating modules 11 and 21 such as the same standard commercialized shipping container designs. The supplemental transportable coating module may comprise one or more supplemental coating components for the coating operation and may itself be joinable to at least one of the first and second transportable coating modules 11 and 21.
For example, the one or more supplemental coating components may comprise a coating waste extraction system to remove waste coating from the single coating cell 8 during the coating operation. Such components may thereby include, for example, a vacuum system and piping to collect waste coating from the single coating cell 8 into a storage bin. Joining the supplemental transportable coating module may thereby comprise fluidly connecting the coating waste extraction system to the enclosed single coating cell 8.
In some embodiments, the supplemental transportable coating module may additionally or alternatively comprise any other supplemental coating components such as one or more of the auxiliary components 39 as discussed herein, or any other component needed to facilitate the coating operation within the single coating cell 8 (e.g., coating feedstock, gas supplies, power supplies, etc.).
Referring now additionally to
As discussed herein, each of the first transportable coating modules 11 comprise a first removable wall 12 and the same first portion 31 of a plurality of coating components 30 fixed therein. Likewise, each of the second transportable coating modules 21 comprise a second removable wall 22 and the same second portion 32 of the plurality of coating components 30 fixed. Each of the second transportable coating modules 21 is individually joinable to any one of the first transportable coating modules 11 along the first and second removable walls 12 and 22 respectively.
The method 100 further comprises removing the first and second removable walls 12 and 22 from the respectively provided first and second transportable coating modules 11 and 21 in step 110. The method 100 then further comprises joining the provided first and second coating modules 11 and 21 to form a single coating cell in step 120.
The method 100 further comprises providing one 51 of a plurality of transportable control modules 50 each comprising a control system 52 in step 103. Finally, but not necessarily as the last sequential step, the method 100 comprises operably connecting the control system 52 to the plurality of coating components 30 in step 130. In some embodiments, such as that illustrated in
In some embodiments, providing the first transportable coating module 11 in step 101, the second transportable coating module 21 in step 102, and the transportable control module 51 in step 103 may comprise shipping said modules 11, 21 and 51 to a common location (e.g., service site).
In even some embodiments, the method 100 may further comprise providing one of a plurality of supplemental transportable coating modules, wherein each comprises one or more supplemental coating components for the coating operation as should be appreciated herein. In such embodiments, the method 100 may then comprise joining the provided supplemental transportable coating module to at least one of the first transportable coating module and the second transportable module.
It should be appreciated that while
It should now be appreciated that transportable modular coating systems may be provided by selecting any one of a plurality of first transportable coating modules, any one of a plurality of second transportable coating modules, and any one of a plurality of transportable control modules. Each of the plurality of modules can comprise similar (and potentially identical or standardized) features and layouts as every other module within its own group. Therefore, transportable modular coating systems may conveniently set up at a plurality of locations to provide multiple coating systems having more uniform components and layouts. Moreover, the near or complete standardization of each module within its own group can facilitate greater convenience and predictability by be able to swap a provided module with any other module from its own group.
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3958740 | Dixon | May 1976 | A |
| 4532886 | Bouchard | Aug 1985 | A |
| 4562791 | Porter | Jan 1986 | A |
| 4872419 | Blankemeyer et al. | Oct 1989 | A |
| 5803971 | Menchetti et al. | Sep 1998 | A |
| 5853215 | Lowery | Dec 1998 | A |
| 6132509 | Kuschnereit | Oct 2000 | A |
| 6616969 | Pfaendtner et al. | Sep 2003 | B2 |
| 7975935 | Matheis, Jr. | Jul 2011 | B2 |
| 8033244 | Minamida | Oct 2011 | B2 |
| 8061752 | Ohnstad et al. | Nov 2011 | B2 |
| 8500838 | Pike | Aug 2013 | B2 |
| 20050184016 | Silverman | Aug 2005 | A1 |
| 20090253360 | Tafoya | Oct 2009 | A1 |
| 20110166708 | Herre | Jul 2011 | A1 |
| 20110209321 | Kilibarda et al. | Sep 2011 | A1 |
| 20110256305 | Jacques et al. | Oct 2011 | A1 |
| 20130078385 | Hendricks, Sr. | Mar 2013 | A1 |
| 20130122206 | Ahmed et al. | May 2013 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160160336 A1 | Jun 2016 | US |
