Power plants – Combustion products used as motive fluid – Combined with regulation of power output feature
Patent
1994-01-24
1996-01-02
Thorpe, Timothy S.
Power plants
Combustion products used as motive fluid
Combined with regulation of power output feature
60756, F02C 314
Patent
active
054797748
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a combustion chamber assembly in a gas turbine engine.
2. Description of Related Art
One configuration of combustor chamber assembly includes an annular combustion chamber with a number of airspray burners arranged within it. Each burner introduces a mixture of fuel and air into the combustion chamber. The fuel droplets or vapour extend into the chamber as a plume. At a point downstream of the burner the plumes produced by adjacent burners overlap and create pockets particularly rich in fuel. In such regions combustion of the fuel is incomplete and soot particles are formed. This is an undesirable effect for both the engine and its operating environment. It is an object of the present invention to provide means for suppressing the formation of soot by promoting complete combustion of the fuel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention therefore provides a method and apparatus for directing a jet of air into the plume overlap region to disperse fuel-rich mixture therein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference, by way of example only, to an arrangement illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectioned view of an annular combustion chamber assembly and plenum region separated by an annular heat shield
FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the annular heat shield wherein the heat shield includes a plurality of abutting segments, with only a portion of the abutting segments illustrated
FIG. 3 shows a cross sectional view of an annular combustion chamber assembly along line 3--3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An annular combustion chamber assembly as in FIG. 1 comprises an annular inner casing 1 and a concentric outer casing 2. At their upstream ends the inner casing 1 and the outer casing 2 converge to form the head of the chamber in the shape of an annular cowl 3. The cowl is formed with a plurality of openings 4 at its foremost point. In operation, openings 4 create a source of high pressure air because they receive a flow of air from the high pressure compressor. The cowl 3 has a plurality of further openings circumferentially distributed in the outer wall.
An annular end wall 30 includes bulkhead 6 extending between the inner casing 1 and the outer casing 2, downstream of the cowl 3. The bulkhead 6 and the cowl 3 define a plenum region 7 in the head of the chamber. Downstream, the bulkhead 6, inner casing 1 and outer casing 2 define a combustion chamber 8. The downstream face of the bulkhead 6 is protected from the high temperatures generated in the combustion chamber 8 during operation by an annular heat shield 9 which is secured to the bulkhead 6.
In one embodiment (FIG. 1), heatshield 9 comprises a single continuous ring with a plurality of raised ridges 10 extending from the upstream face and contacting with the downstream face of the bulkhead 6. A network of passages 11 is thus defined between the bulkhead 6 and the heat shield 9. The bulkhead defines a plurality of metering holes 12 which communicate between the plenum region 7 and the network of passages 11. The raised ridges define a plurality of openings 32 at the radially inner and outer edges of the heat shield annulus 9, such that the passages 11 communicate with the combustion chamber 8. In an alternative configuration (FIG. 2) the heat shield 9 comprises a plurality of sector-shaped segments 13, as in FIG. 2. The abutting edges of adjacent segments are aligned radially with respect to the longitudinal axis 22 of the engine. This configuration would also provide raised ridges 10 on the upstream faces of the segments 13 and hence a network of passages 11 between the bulkhead 6 and the heat shield 9.
The bulkhead 6 also defines a plurality of first entry apertures 14 distributed at regular intervals around the annulus. The heat shield 9 defines a plurality of slightly larger first exit apertures 15, positioned to line up with first entry apertures defined by th
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Burnell Anthony D.
Price Peter D.
Rolls-Royce plc
Thorpe Timothy S.
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