Method and system for bowed rotor start mitigation using rotor cooling
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsTod Robert Steen, Amid Ansari, Anthony Paul Greenwood
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method of cooling a rotatable member enclosed within a casing are provided. The gas compressor includes a rotor, a plurality of stages of compression extending along said rotor from an inlet stage configured to receive a flow of relatively low pressure gas to an outlet stage configured to discharge a flow of relatively high pressure gas, a casing at least partially surrounding said plurality of stages, and a conduit extending radially inwardly from said casing to an area proximate said rotor.
Claims17
A gas compressor comprising:
- a rotor;
- a plurality of stages of compression extending along said rotor from an inlet stage configured to receive a flow of relatively low pressure gas to an outlet stage configured to discharge a flow of relatively high pressure gas;
- a casing at least partially surrounding said plurality of stages;
- and
- a conduit extending radially inwardly from said casing to an area proximate said rotor, wherein said conduit is configured to channel a flow of cooling fluid from said casing to the area proximate said rotor after shutdown of the gas compressor.
A gas turbine engine comprising:
- a multistage compressor comprising a rotor and a plurality of stages of compression extending along the rotor from an inlet stage configured to receive a flow of relatively low pressure gas to an outlet stage configured to discharge a flow of relatively high pressure gas
- a turbine rotor coupled to said multistage compressor using a high pressure shaft;
- a casing at least partially surrounding said multistage compressor and said turbine;
- and
- a conduit extending radially inwardly from said casing to an area proximate at least one of said compressor rotor and said turbine rotor wherein said conduit is configured to channel a flow of cooling fluid from said casing to the area proximate at least one of said compressor rotor and said turbine rotor after shutdown of the gas turbine engine.
A method of cooling a rotatable member enclosed within a casing, the rotatable member including a rotor aligned along an axis of rotation, said method comprising:
- forming an aperture through the casing;
- coupling a conduit to a radially inner surface of the casing aligned with the aperture and extending proximate to the rotor;
- coupling a fitting to an outer surface of the casing aligned with the aperture and the conduit;
- coupling a source of a flow of cooling fluid to the fitting;
- and
- channeling the flow of cooling fluid from the source to proximate the rotor through the conduit, wherein channeling the flow of cooling fluid comprises channeling the flow of cooling fluid when the rotor is stationary.
A method of forming a rotatable member enclosed within a casing of a gas turbine engine, the rotatable member including a rotor aligned along an axis of rotation, wherein an aperture is formed through the casing, said method comprising:
- coupling a source of a flow of cooling fluid to the fitting;
- and
- channeling the flow of cooling fluid from the source to proximate the rotor through the conduit after shutdown of the gas turbine engine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.