Cooling for detonation engines
AssigneeRtx Corporation
InventorsJoseph Turney, Christopher Britton Greene, Peter A T Cocks, Andrzej Ernest Kuczek, James M. Donohue
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A combustor for a detonation engine includes a radially outer wall extending along an axis; a radially inner wall extending along the axis, wherein the radially inner wall is positioned at least partially within the radially outer wall to define an annular detonation chamber having an inlet for fuel and oxidant and an outlet; a cooling flow passage defined along at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall and comprising at least two axially spaced cooling flow passage sections, whereby a different cooling rate can be implemented in the at least two axially spaced cooling flow passage sections.
Claims17
A combustor for a detonation engine, the combustor comprising:
- a radially outer wall extending along an axis;
- a radially inner wall extending along the axis, wherein the radially inner wall is positioned at least partially within the radially outer wall to define an annular detonation chamber having an inlet for fuel and oxidant and an outlet;
- a cooling flow passage defined along at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall and comprising at least two axially spaced cooling flow passage sections defined along an axial portion of one wall of the at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall, whereby a different cooling rate can be implemented in the at least two axially spaced cooling flow passage sections, wherein the at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall is defined in axially or radially spaced wall sections, and the spaced wall sections contain a portion of the at least two axially spaced cooling flow passage sections, and wherein the axially or radially spaced wall sections meet at wall edges, and further comprising interlocking structure defined along the wall edges whereby the axially or radially spaced wall sections are held in proper position relative to each other during assembly.
A method for making a wall structure for a detonation engine, wherein the detonation engine comprises a radially outer wall extending along an axis;
- and a radially inner wall extending along the axis, wherein the radially inner wall is positioned at least partially within the radially outer wall to define a detonation chamber having an inlet for fuel and oxidant and an outlet, the method comprising the steps of:
- manufacturing at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall in wall sections, wherein each wall section contains a section of a cooling flow passage;
- and
- assembling the wall sections to form the at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall, wherein the manufacturing further comprises manufacturing an interlocking structure along edges of the wall sections, and wherein the assembling further comprises engaging the interlocking structure at the edges of the wall sections.
A combustor for a detonation engine, the combustor comprising:
- a radially outer wall extending along an axis;
- a radially inner wall extending along the axis, wherein the radially inner wall is positioned at least partially within the radially outer wall to define an annular detonation chamber having an inlet for fuel and oxidant and an outlet;
- a cooling flow passage defined along at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall and comprising at least two axially spaced cooling flow passage sections defined along an axial portion of one wall of the at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall, whereby a different cooling rate can be implemented in the at least two axially spaced cooling flow passage sections, and further comprising separate cooling fluid supply to the at least two axially spaced cooling flow passage sections whereby flow to the at least two axially spaced cooling flow passage sections can be metered at different rates to the at least two axially spaced cooling flow passage sections.
A method for cooling a rotating detonation engine, comprising the steps of:
- initiating a detonation wave in an annular detonation chamber of the rotating detonation engine comprising a radially outer wall extending along an axis and a radially inner wall extending along the axis, wherein the radially inner wall is positioned at least partially within the radially outer wall to define the annular detonation chamber having an inlet for fuel and oxidant and an outlet;
- and
- cooling a first portion of at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall with a first cooling flow passage section, and cooling a second portion of the at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall at a different cooling rate with a second cooling flow passage section, wherein the first cooling flow passage section and the second cooling flow passage section are defined axially spaced along an axial portion of one wall of the at least one of the radially outer wall and the radially inner wall, wherein the cooling comprises feeding different cooling fluids to the first cooling flow passage section and the second cooling passage section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.