Patent Application
20250083831
This disclosure relates generally to an aircraft and, more particularly, to a fuel delivery system for an aircraft engine.
As government emissions standards tighten, interest in alternative fuels for gas turbine engines continues to grow. There is interest, for example, in fueling a gas turbine engine with hydrogen fuel rather than a traditional hydrocarbon fuel such as kerosine to reduce greenhouse emissions. Various systems and methods are known in the art for fueling a gas turbine engine with hydrogen fuel. While these known systems and methods have various advantages, there is still room in the art for improvement.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an assembly is provided for an aircraft. This aircraft assembly includes a hydrogen containment vessel, a hydrogen storage vessel, a hydrogen supply channel, a cavity purge channel and a plenum purge channel. The hydrogen containment vessel includes a containment vessel wall. The hydrogen storage vessel includes a storage vessel wall and a storage cavity. The hydrogen storage vessel is disposed within the hydrogen containment vessel. A containment plenum is disposed between the storage vessel wall and the containment vessel wall. The hydrogen supply channel is fluidly coupled with the storage cavity. The cavity purge channel is fluidly coupled with the storage cavity. The plenum purge channel is fluidly coupled with the containment plenum.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, another assembly is provided for an aircraft. This aircraft assembly includes a hydrogen containment vessel, a hydrogen storage vessel, a hydrogen supply circuit, a plenum purge circuit and a flushing circuit. The hydrogen containment vessel includes a containment vessel wall. The hydrogen storage vessel includes a storage vessel wall and a storage cavity. The hydrogen storage vessel is disposed within the hydrogen containment vessel. A containment plenum extends between the storage vessel wall and the containment vessel wall. The hydrogen supply circuit is fluidly coupled with the storage cavity. The plenum purge circuit is fluidly coupled with the containment plenum. The flushing circuit is fluidly coupled with the containment plenum. The flushing circuit is configured to direct fluid into the containment plenum to flush out hydrogen fuel, which has leaked from the hydrogen storage vessel into the containment plenum, through the plenum purge circuit.
According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of operation is provided. This operating method includes: supplying hydrogen fuel to a fuel injector of an aircraft engine from a storage vessel; purging leaked hydrogen fuel from a containment plenum surrounding the storage vessel to ambient; and purging stored hydrogen fuel from an internal storage cavity of the storage vessel to ambient when a parameter of the leaked hydrogen fuel is above a threshold.
The operating method also includes directing air into the containment plenum to flush the leaked hydrogen fuel out of the containment plenum.
The air may be directed into the containment plenum using an electric fan.
The aircraft assembly may also include a cavity purge circuit fluidly coupled with the storage cavity. The cavity purge circuit may be configured to selectively purge the hydrogen fuel out of the hydrogen storage vessel.
The aircraft assembly may also include an aircraft engine, which aircraft engine may include a fuel injector. The fuel injector may be fluidly coupled with the storage cavity through the hydrogen supply channel.
The hydrogen supply channel may project through the containment vessel wall.
The cavity purge channel may project through the containment vessel wall.
The aircraft assembly may also include a cavity purge circuit configured to selectively fluidly couple the storage cavity to an external environment. The cavity purge circuit may include the cavity purge channel.
The cavity purge circuit may also include a cavity purge valve fluidly coupled to the storage cavity by the cavity purge channel.
The aircraft assembly may also include a plenum purge circuit configured to selectively fluidly couple the containment plenum to an external environment. The plenum purge circuit may include the plenum purge channel.
The plenum purge circuit may also include a plenum purge valve fluidly coupled to the containment plenum by the plenum purge channel.
The aircraft assembly may also include a plenum purge circuit and a cavity purge circuit. The plenum purge circuit may be configured to purge leaked hydrogen fuel from the containment plenum. The plenum purge circuit may include the plenum purge channel. The cavity purge circuit may be configured to purge stored hydrogen fuel from the storage cavity when a parameter of the leaked hydrogen fuel is greater than a threshold, the cavity purge circuit comprising the cavity purge channel.
The aircraft assembly may also include a flushing circuit fluidly coupled with the containment plenum. The flushing circuit may be configured to direct air into the containment plenum to flush out leaked hydrogen fuel through the plenum purge channel.
The flushing circuit may include an air pump.
The flushing circuit may include a valve.
The aircraft assembly may also include an air source selectively fluidly coupled to the containment plenum through the flushing circuit.
The air source may be an external environment.
The aircraft assembly may also include an aircraft engine, which aircraft engine may include a fuel injector and a flowpath. The fuel injector may be fluidly coupled with the storage cavity through the hydrogen supply channel. The air source may be or otherwise include a bleed from the flowpath.
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 12 may be configured as or otherwise include a rotor 18 mechanically driven and/or otherwise powered by the aircraft engine 14. This driven rotor 18 may be a bladed propulsor rotor 20 (e.g., an air mover) where the aircraft system 10 is (or is part of) the aircraft propulsion system. The propulsor rotor 20 includes a plurality of rotor blades arranged circumferentially around and connected to at least (or only) one rotor base (e.g., a disk or a hub). The propulsor rotor 20 may be an open (e.g., un-ducted) propulsor rotor or a ducted propulsor rotor. Examples of the open propulsor rotor include a propeller rotor for a turboprop propulsion system, a rotorcraft rotor (e.g., a main helicopter rotor) for a turboshaft propulsion system, a propfan rotor for a propfan propulsion system, and a pusher fan rotor for a pusher fan propulsion system. An example of the ducted propulsor rotor is a fan rotor for a turbofan propulsion system. The present disclosure, however, is not limited to the foregoing exemplary propulsor rotor arrangements. Moreover, the driven rotor 18 may alternatively be a generator rotor of an electric power generator where the aircraft system 10 is (or is part of) the aircraft power system; e.g., an auxiliary power unit (APU) for the aircraft.
The aircraft engine 14 is configured as an internal combustion (IC) engine. The aircraft engine 14 of
A core 24 of the gas turbine engine 22 of
Each of the engine sections 32, 34A and 34B includes one or more respective bladed rotors 42-44. Each of these engine rotors 42-44 includes a plurality of rotor blades (e.g., airfoils, vanes, etc.) arranged circumferentially around and connected to at least (or only) one rotor base (e.g., a disk, a hub, etc.). The rotor blades, for example, may be formed integral with or mechanically fastened, welded, brazed and/or otherwise attached to the respective rotor base(s).
The compressor rotors 42 are coupled to and rotatable with the HPT rotor 43. The compressor rotors 42 of
During operation of the gas turbine engine 22, air may be directed across the driven rotor 18 (e.g., the propulsor rotor 20) and into the engine core 24 through the core inlet 38. This air entering the core flowpath 36 may be referred to as core air. The core air is compressed by the compressor rotors 42 and directed into a combustion chamber 54 (e.g., an annular combustion chamber) within a combustor 56 (e.g., an annular combustor) of the combustor section 33. Fuel is injected into the combustion chamber 54 by one or more fuel injectors 58 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 43 and the LPT rotor 44 to rotate. The rotation of the HPT rotor 43 drives rotation of the compressor rotors 42 and, thus, the compression of the air received from the core inlet 38. The rotation of the LPT rotor 44 drives rotation of the driven rotor 18. Where the driven rotor 18 is configured as the propulsor rotor 20, the rotation of that propulsor rotor 20 may propel additional air (e.g., outside air, bypass air, etc.) outside of the engine core 24 to provide aircraft thrust and/or lift. Where the driven rotor 18 is configured as the generator rotor, the rotation of that generator rotor may facilitate generation of electricity.
Referring to
The aircraft engine 14 of the present disclosure is configured as a non-hydrocarbon engine/a hydrocarbon free engine. The aircraft engine 14, more particularly, is configured as a hydrogen fueled engine. The fuel injected into the combustion chamber 54 by the fuel injectors 58 is (or substantially includes) hydrogen (H2) fuel; e.g., H2 gas. Hydrogen fuel, however, is readily flammable/combustible when in the presence of oxygen and an ignition source; e.g., a flame, a spark, a relatively hot object, etc. Special care therefore is provided for storing the hydrogen fuel onboard the aircraft. The fuel reservoir 64 of
The hydrogen storage vessel 68 may form a primary fuel storage container for the aircraft engine 14 onboard the aircraft. The hydrogen storage vessel 68 may be configured as a tank, a cylinder, a pressure vessel, a bladder or any other type of fuel storage container. The hydrogen storage vessel 68 of
The hydrogen containment vessel 70 may form a fuel containment boundary for (e.g., an outer shell around) the hydrogen storage vessel 68. The hydrogen containment vessel 70 may be configured as a tank, a cylinder, a pressure vessel, a bladder or any other type of fuel containment container. The hydrogen containment vessel 70 of
The hydrogen storage vessel 68 of
The storage vessel wall 72 of
The leaked hydrogen fuel may be purged/vented from the hydrogen containment vessel 70 and the containment plenum 82 using a plenum purge circuit 84. The plenum purge circuit 84 of
To further facilitate purging the leaked hydrogen fuel from the containment plenum 82, the fuel reservoir 64 may be configured with an optional plenum flushing circuit 94. The flushing circuit 94 of
Under certain conditions, a quantity of the hydrogen fuel leaked from the hydrogen storage vessel 68 into the containment plenum 82 may be relatively small. Under such conditions, the plenum purge circuit 84 may adequately purge the leaked hydrogen fuel and facilitate safe continued operation of the fuel delivery system 16. Under other conditions, however, the quantity of the hydrogen fuel leaked from the hydrogen storage vessel 68 into the containment plenum 82 may be relatively large. A cavity purge circuit 104 may thereby be provided to facilitate purging the storage cavity 74 of some or all of its stored hydrogen fuel. The cavity purge circuit 104 of
In some embodiments, a sensor 112 may be provided to measure a parameter of the leaked hydrogen fuel. The sensor 112 of
In some embodiments, the plenum purge circuit 84 and its plenum purge channel 86 may be fluidly coupled to the containment plenum 82 at or about a gravitational bottom (e.g., lowest point) of the hydrogen containment vessel 70. With this arrangement, the plenum purge circuit 84 may also be used to purge/drain water (e.g., condensation) from the containment plenum 82. In other embodiments, the plenum purge circuit 84 and its plenum purge channel 86 may be fluidly coupled to the containment plenum 82 at or about a gravitational top (e.g., highest point) of the hydrogen containment vessel 70; e.g., where there is a separate water drain for the containment plenum 82. With this arrangement, an inlet to the plenum purge circuit 84 may be located closer to a bulk mass of the leaked hydrogen fuel, if any, within the containment plenum 82 since the leaked hydrogen fuel (e.g., hydrogen gas) is less dense/lighter than air.
In some embodiments, the plenum purge circuit 84 and its plenum purge valve 88 may be selectively opened and closed based on presence, if any, of the leaked hydrogen fuel within the containment plenum 82. In other embodiments, the plenum purge circuit 84 and its plenum purge valve 88 (if still included) may (e.g., always) be open during normal operation to continually purge/vent the leaked hydrogen fuel, if any, from the containment plenum 82.
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.
