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US 10,989,117 B2Granted
Hybrid expander cycle with pre-compression cooling and turbo-generator
AssigneeRaytheon Technologies Corporation
InventorGary D. Roberge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gas turbine engine system includes a gas turbine engine and a fuel turbine system. The gas turbine engine includes an air inlet, compressor, combustor, turbine, and heat exchange system. The heat exchange system is configured to transfer thermal energy from an inlet air flow or exhaust air flow to a fuel to produce a gaseous fuel that is used to drive a fuel turbine and fuel pump and used for combustion in the gas turbine engine. The fuel turbine is in fluid communication with the heat exchange system and the combustor and configured to extract energy from expansion of the gaseous fuel. The fuel pump is configured to be driven by the fuel turbine and is in fluid communication with the heat exchanger system.
Claims20
A method of operating a gas turbine engine system, the method comprising:
- receiving an inlet air flow in an air inlet;
- cooling the inlet air flow via an inlet heat exchange system to produce a cooled inlet air flow, wherein the cooling process comprises transferring thermal energy to a fuel;
- compressing the cooled inlet air flow in a compressor to produce a compressed air flow;
- sensing a temperature and/or a pressure of the fuel exiting the inlet heat exchange system;
- selectively directing the fuel to one of a multi-stage fuel turbine and an exhaust heat exchange system based on the sensed temperature and/or the sensed pressure, wherein the fuel is directed to the multi-stage fuel turbine via a first fuel line connecting the inlet heat exchange system to the multi-stage fuel turbine, the first fuel line having a first valve, and the fuel is directed to the exhaust heat exchange system via a second fuel line connecting the inlet heat exchange system to the exhaust heat exchange system, the second fuel line having a second valve, wherein the exhaust heat exchange system is configured to transfer thermal energy from an exhaust gas of the gas turbine engine to the fuel, and wherein the first fuel line bypasses the exhaust heat exchange system;
- extracting energy from expansion of the fuel received from the one of the inlet heat exchange system and the exhaust heat exchange system through the multi-stage fuel turbine, wherein the fuel is in a gaseous fuel state at a first pressure prior to expansion in the multi-stage fuel turbine and expansion of the gaseous fuel causes the gaseous fuel to have a second pressure less than the first pressure and greater than a pressure of the compressed air flow;
- combusting a mixture of the gaseous fuel from an outlet of the multi-stage fuel turbine and the compressed air flow in a combustor of the gas turbine engine, wherein the combustor is in fluid communication with the multi-stage fuel turbine;
- and
- pumping the liquid fuel to the inlet heat exchange system via a fuel pump driven by the multi-stage fuel turbine.
6 more elements
A fuel turbine system for a gas turbine engine, the fuel turbine system comprising:
- a heat exchange system configured to transfer heat to a liquid fuel to produce a gaseous fuel, wherein the heat exchange system comprises:
- an inlet heat exchange system configured to transfer thermal energy from an inlet air of the gas turbine engine to the liquid fuel;
- an exhaust heat exchange system connected to the inlet heat exchange system via a first fuel line with a first valve, the exhaust heat exchange system configured to transfer thermal energy from an exhaust gas of the gas turbine engine to the fuel received from the inlet heat exchange system via the first fuel line;
- and
- a second fuel line with a second valve, the second fuel line connecting the inlet heat exchange system to the fuel turbine to supply the fuel exiting the inlet heat exchange system to the fuel turbine for expansion in the fuel turbine, wherein the second fuel line bypasses the exhaust heat exchange system;
- a fuel turbine interchangeably in fluid communication with each of the inlet heat exchange system and the exhaust heat exchange system and configured to extract energy from expansion of the fuel received from the inlet heat exchange system and the exhaust heat exchange system, wherein the fuel received from the inlet heat exchange system and the exhaust heat exchange system is in a gaseous state;
- and
- a fuel pump in fluid communication with the heat exchange system and configured to deliver the liquid fuel to the heat exchange system, wherein the fuel pump is mechanically coupled to the fuel turbine and configured to be driven by the fuel turbine.
5 more elements
A gas turbine engine system comprising:
- a gas turbine engine comprising:
- an air inlet configured to receive an inlet air flow;
- a compressor configured to compress the inlet air flow to produce a compressed air flow;
- a combustor configured to combust a mixture of the compressed air flow and a gaseous fuel at a first pressure to produce a combustion gas flow;
- a turbine configured to extract energy from expansion of the combustion gas flow to produce an exhaust gas flow;
- and
- a heat exchange system comprising an inlet heat exchange system and an exhaust heat exchange system, the heat exchange system configured to transfer thermal energy from an air flow to a fuel to produce the gaseous fuel at a second pressure greater than the first pressure, wherein the air flow is selected from the group consisting of the inlet air flow and the exhaust gas flow;
- a sensor configured to sense a temperature and/or a pressure of the fuel exiting the inlet heat exchange system;
- and
- a fuel turbine system comprising:
- a fuel turbine in fluid communication with the heat exchange system and the combustor, wherein the fuel turbine is configured to extract energy from expansion of the gaseous fuel at the second pressure to produce the gaseous fuel at the first pressure;
- and
- a fuel pump configured to be driven by the fuel turbine, wherein the fuel pump is in fluid communication with the heat exchanger system;
- a first fuel line with a first valve, the first fuel line connecting the inlet heat exchange system to the fuel turbine to drive the fuel turbine, wherein the first fuel line bypasses the exhaust heat exchange system;
- and
- a second fuel line with a second valve, the second fuel line connecting the inlet heat exchange system to the exhaust heat exchange system.
13 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.