# US 11,078,846 B2 · Fuel delivery system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,078,846 B2 - Document ID: US11078846B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/049,459 - Filed: 2018-07-30 - Published: 2020-01-30 - Granted: 2021-08-03 - Earliest claimed: 2018-07-30 - Assignees: Hamilton Sunstrand Corporation - Applicants: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation - Inventors: Morgan O'Rorke; Erick Ramos - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11078846B2 ## CPC - F02C 7/22: Fuel supply systems - B01D 19/0031: {by filtration} - F02K 9/48: driven by a gas turbine fed by propellant combustion gases {or fed by vaporized propellants or other gases} - B01D 46/00: Filters or filtering processes specially modified for separating dispersed particles from gases or vapours (filtering elements B01D24/00-B01D35/00; filtering material B01D39/00; their regeneration outside the filters B01D41/00) - B01D 2257/104: Oxygen - B64D 37/34: Conditioning fuel, e.g. heating (during filling B64D37/18) - F01D 15/08: Adaptations for driving, or combinations with, pumps - F05D 2270/11: to prolong engine life - F23K 2900/05082: Removing gaseous substances from liquid fuel line, e.g. oxygen - F02C: GAS-TURBINE PLANTS; AIR INTAKES FOR JET-PROPULSION PLANTS; CONTROLLING FUEL SUPPLY IN AIR-BREATHING JET-PROPULSION PLANTS (construction of turbines F01D; jet-propulsion plants F02K; construction of compressors or fans F04; generating combustion products of high pressure or high velocity F23R; using gas turbines in compression refrigeration plants F25B11/00) - B01D: SEPARATION (separating solids from solids by wet methods B03B, B03D; by pneumatic jigs or tables B03B; by other dry methods B07; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high-voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges, vortex apparatus B04; presses per se for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material B30B9/02; treatment of water C02F, e.g. softening by ion-exchange C02F1/42; {arrangements of air intake cleaners in gas turbine plants F02C7/05} ; arrangements or mounting of filters in air-conditioning, air-humidification or ventilation F24F13/28) - F02K: JET-PROPULSION PLANTS (features of jet-propulsion plants common to gas-turbine plants, air intakes or fuel supply control of air-breathing jet-propulsion plants F02C7/00, F02C9/00) - B64D: EQUIPMENT FOR FITTING IN OR TO AIRCRAFT; FLIGHT SUITS; PARACHUTES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF POWER PLANTS OR PROPULSION TRANSMISSIONS IN AIRCRAFT - F01D: NON-POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT MACHINES OR ENGINES, e.g. STEAM TURBINES (machines or engines for liquids F03; non-positive displacement pumps F04D) - F05D: INDEXING SCHEME FOR ASPECTS RELATING TO NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES OR ENGINES, GAS-TURBINES OR JET-PROPULSION PLANTS - F23K: FEEDING FUEL TO COMBUSTION APPARATUS (fuel feeders specially adapted for fluidised bed combustion apparatus F23C10/22) ## Abstract A fuel delivery system includes a turbine, a pump, and an oxygen removal unit. The turbine is adapted to receive and expel fuel at different pressures. The pump is in fluid communication with, and mechanically coupled to, the turbine, and is configured to expel and receive the fuel at about the respective different pressures. The turbine is configured to convert pressure energy of the fuel to kinetic energy to drive the pump. The oxygen removal unit is in fluid communication with at least one of the turbine and the pump, and is configured to remove oxygen from the fuel. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A fuel delivery system comprising: a turbine adapted to receive fuel at a first high pressure and expel the fuel at a first low pressure; a pump in fluid communication with and mechanically coupled to the turbine, and configured to expel the fuel at a second high pressure and receive the fuel at a second low pressure, wherein the turbine is configured to convert pressure energy of the fuel to kinetic energy to drive the pump, and the first and second low pressures are both lower than either of the first and second high pressures; and an oxygen removal unit in fluid communication with at least one of the turbine and the pump and configured to remove oxygen from the fuel, wherein the first and second high pressures are higher than an efficient operating pressure of the oxygen removal unit, and wherein the oxygen removal unit is located between the turbine and the pump for receiving the fuel from the turbine and expelling the fuel to the pump. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The fuel delivery system set forth in claim 1, wherein the turbine is adapted to receive fuel in an oxygenated condition and expel the fuel in the oxygenated condition to the oxygen removal unit, and the pump is adapted to receive the fuel in a deoxygenated condition and expel the fuel in the deoxygenated condition. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The fuel delivery system set forth in claim 2, further comprising: a turbine inlet conduit in fluid communication with the turbine, and adapted to flow the fuel in the oxygenated condition; a turbine outlet conduit extending between and in fluid communication with the turbine and the oxygen removal unit, and adapted to flow the fuel in the oxygenated condition; a pump inlet conduit extending between and in fluid communication with the oxygen removal unit and the pump, and adapted to flow the fuel in the deoxygenated condition; and a pump outlet conduit in fluid communication with the pump, and adapted to flow the fuel in the deoxygenated condition. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The fuel delivery system set forth in claim 1, wherein the oxygen removal unit comprises a membrane. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The fuel delivery system set forth in claim 1, wherein the fuel delivery system is a jet fuel delivery system. ### Claim 6 A fuel delivery system comprising: a turbine adapted to receive fuel at a first high pressure and expel the fuel at a first low pressure; a pump in fluid communication with and mechanically coupled to the turbine, and configured to expel the fuel at a second high pressure and receive the fuel at a second low pressure, wherein the turbine is configured to convert pressure energy of the fuel to kinetic energy to drive the pump, and the first and second low pressures are both lower than either of the first and second high pressures; an oxygen removal unit in fluid communication with at least one of the turbine and the pump and configured to remove oxygen from the fuel, wherein the first and second high pressures are higher than an efficient operating pressure of the oxygen removal unit; and a fuel filter in fluid communication between the turbine and the pump, wherein the fuel filter receives the fuel at the second high pressure from the pump and expels the fuel at a third high pressure closer to the first high pressure than the second high pressure, and wherein the oxygen removal unit receives the fuel at the first low pressure. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The fuel delivery system set forth in claim 6, wherein the first low pressure equals the second low pressure. ### Claim 8 A fuel delivery system comprising: a turbine configured to receive fuel at a first high pressure and expel the fuel at a first low pressure; a pump coupled to and in fluid communication with the turbine and configured to receive the fuel at a second low pressure and expel the fuel at a second high pressure, wherein the turbine is adapted to convert pressure energy of the fuel to kinetic energy to drive the pump; and a fuel conditioning unit disposed between and in fluid communication with the turbine and the pump, wherein the fuel conditioning unit is configured to operate more efficiently at one of a high pressure range and a low pressure range than the other of the high pressure range and the low pressure range, wherein the high pressure range includes of the first and second high pressures and the low pressure range includes the first and second low pressures, wherein the fuel delivery system is a jet fuel delivery system, and wherein the fuel conditioning unit is an oxygen removal unit constructed to remove oxygen from the fuel. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The fuel delivery system set forth in claim 8, wherein the oxygen removal unit operates more efficiently at the low pressure range than the high pressure range. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The fuel delivery system set forth in claim 9, wherein the oxygen removal unit is disposed upstream from the pump and downstream from the turbine. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The fuel delivery system set forth in claim 10, wherein the fuel delivery system is an aviation fuel delivery system and the oxygen removal unit is configured to reduce coking. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The fuel delivery system set forth in claim 11, wherein the first low pressure and the second low pressure are less than 150 psia.