Rotary kinetic fluid motors or pumps – With passage in blade – vane – shaft or rotary distributor...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-04
2001-05-22
Verdier, Christopher (Department: 3745)
Rotary kinetic fluid motors or pumps
With passage in blade, vane, shaft or rotary distributor...
C415S116000, C415S117000, C415S110000, C415S113000, C415S176000, C415S178000, C415S180000, C416S095000, C416S09600A, C416S09700R, C416S19800R, C416S20100A, C060S039780
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234746
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cooling system for cooling rotary components of a turbine and particularly relates to a cooling system for imparting cooling flow in the same general circumferential direction of the rotary component to be cooled.
In turbomachinery, for example, a turbine and compressor combination, various rotating parts of the machinery must be cooled. To accomplish this, compressor discharge air is typically bled from the compressor. Continued demand for increased machine performance has resulted in increasing coolant supply temperatures and reduced bleed or parasitic flow allocated for cooling hardware. That is, machine performance degrades as increasing proportions of compressor discharge air are applied for cooling purposes. A particular problem arises in cooling rotating parts, for example, the flange connection between the compressor and turbine rotor. As a result of increased heat applied to the cooling medium in reaching the surface velocity of the rotating component, reduced cooling effect occurs and the requirement for parasitic cooling flow increases. Accordingly, there is a demonstrable need for a turbomachinery cooling system wherein the work necessary to cool the rotating components is substantially reduced, resulting in decreased parasitic cooling flow.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, air is bled from the compressor discharge and supplied to a plurality of generally axially extending bleed air passages. The passages, for example, may lie within the inner barrel on the compressor side of the flange connections between the turbine and compressor rotors. Preferably, the bleed air is supplied to a plenum on the upstream side of the passages such that the passages flow the compressor discharge bleed air into a downstream cavity surrounding the rotor flanges. The generally axially flowing bleed compressor discharge air in the passages is turned in a generally circumferential direction, i.e., generally tangential to the direction of rotation of the rotary component, e.g., the rotor flanges. The air is turned by locating one or more vanes at the exit of the passages for flowing cooling air into the cavity in a generally tangential direction and in the same direction of rotation of the rotary component. By injecting the cooling air tangentially with rotation, minimal work is performed by the turbomachinery in flowing the cooling air tangentially of the rotating component, thereby affording a lower cooling temperature. The lower temperature results from less windage heat up of the cooling air in approaching the tangential surface velocity of the rotating component. Reduced windage also provides a performance benefit and less transfer of work from the rotor to the coolant.
Leakage flow from the bleed air plenum between the stationary component surrounding the rotary component is provided through a leakage seal. The seal may be in the form of a labyrinth seal, brush seal, combination labyrinth or brush seals or other types of seals. The leakage seal provides a pressure differential across the bleed air supply plenum and the cavity, affording increased velocity of the cooling air flowing from the vanes into the cavity in the general direction of rotation of the rotary component. Consequently, by providing as effective a leakage seal as possible, a lower coolant temperature is achieved with corresponding reduction in the magnitude of the parasitic flow extracted from the compressor discharge flow path necessary for cooling purposes.
In a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided in turbomachinery having a turbine, a compressor, a component rotatable about an axis and in a cavity, and a fixed component about the rotatable component and the cavity, a cooling system, comprising a bleed air passageway for diverting a portion of compressor discharge air for cooling the rotating component, a plurality of discrete, generally axially extending passages in communication with the bleed passageway for flowing the bleed air into the cavity and vanes in the passages for turning the bleed air flowing into the cavity in a generally circumferential direction and in the general direction of rotation of the rotatable component to cool the rotatable component.
In a further preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided in turbomachinery having a turbine, a compressor, a component rotatable about an axis, and a fixed component about the rotatable component, a method of cooling the rotatable component, comprising the steps of bleeding compressor discharge air into a passageway, flowing portions of the bleed air into a plurality of generally axially extending passages in communication with the air portion bled from the compressor discharge air and turning the bleed air portions flowing in the passages in a generally circumferential direction for discharge onto the rotatable component and in the same general direction as the rotation of the rotary component to cool the rotary component.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3565545 (1971-02-01), Bobo et al.
patent: 3826084 (1974-07-01), Branstrom et al.
patent: 4882902 (1989-11-01), Reigel et al.
patent: 5189874 (1993-03-01), Kreitmeier
patent: 2018362 (1979-10-01), None
Butkiewicz Jeffrey John
Schroder Mark Stewart
General Electric Co.
Nixon & Vanderhye
Verdier Christopher
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