Image conduit for fuel nozzle assemblies
AssigneeDelavan Inc.
InventorBruce D. Paradise
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fuel nozzle for a gas turbine engine includes a feed arm including a fuel passage for issuing a spray of fuel. A nozzle assembly is fixed at an upstream end of the feed arm having a fuel inlet in fluid communication with the fuel passage. A fiber optic cable is configured to collect burner radiation for a pyrometer input and has a first end centered within an optical connector of the nozzle assembly and a second end exposed from the spray outlet. The fiber optic cable fitted within the feed arm and nozzle assembly has a permanent bend radius preformed in the fiber optic cable. The bend radius can be equal to or greater than the minimum bend radii for the fiber optic cable to serve as a wave guide in wavelengths for monitoring combustion.
Claims9
A method of constructing a fiber optic cable for a fuel nozzle, the steps comprising:
- inserting seven wave guides into a metal sheath with alumina powder spaced apart from the other wave guides;
- drawing the metal sheath through a round reduction die to compress the alumina powder and fibers together;
- annealing the metal sheath;
- and
- forming at least one bend of a predetermined radius in the metal sheath by heating the metal sheath and applying a bending force,
- wherein the bend radius is formed so as not to exceed the minimum bend radius of the wave guides with respect to wavelengths for monitoring combustion,
- wherein each waveguide is 0.017 inches in diameter such that the metal sheath has a minimum bend radius of three times the diameter of one of the wave guides.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.