Increased water heat absorption capacity for steam injected turbine engine
AssigneeRtx Corporation
InventorsNeil J. Terwilliger, Joseph B. Staubach
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A turbine engine assembly includes a core engine that generates an exhaust gas flow, a condenser where water is extracted from the exhaust gas flow, an evaporator where heat is input into the water that is extracted by the condenser into a first steam flow, a steam turbine where the first steam flow is expanded and cooled, and a superheater where additional heat is input into the first steam flow that is exhausted from the steam turbine to generate a second steam flow. The second steam flow is injected into a core flow path of the core engine.
Claims17
A turbine engine assembly comprising:
- a core engine generating an exhaust gas flow communicated through an exhaust gas flow path;
- a condenser where water is extracted from the exhaust gas flow;
- an evaporator disposed within an exhaust gas flow path where heat is input into the water extracted by the condenser, without superheat to generate a first steam flow;
- a steam turbine where the first steam flow is expanded and cooled;
- and
- a superheater disposed within the exhaust gas flow path such that a flow of exhaust gas through the superheater is parallel to a flow of exhaust gas flow through the evaporator, wherein all of the first steam flow exhausted from the steam turbine is heated in the superheater to generate a second steam flow, wherein the second steam flow is injected into a core flow path of the core engine.
An aircraft propulsion system comprising:
- a core engine assembly including a compressor where an inlet airflow is compressed and communicated to a combustor where a compressed core flow is mixed with fuel and ignited to generate an exhaust gas flow that is expanded through a turbine section to generate shaft power;
- a hydrogen based fuel system for supplying a hydrogen based fuel to the combustor;
- a condenser disposed in communication with the exhaust gas flow within an exhaust gas flow path where water from the exhaust gas flow is recovered;
- an evaporator disposed within the exhaust gas flow path where heat from the exhaust gas flow is input into the water extracted by the condenser to generate a first steam flow;
- a steam turbine where the first steam flow is expanded and cooled;
- and
- a superheater disposed parallel to the evaporator within the exhaust gas flow path such that exhaust gas flow through each of the superheater and evaporator are parallel to each other and an engine longitudinal axis, wherein additional heat from the exhaust gas flow is input into all of the first steam flow exhausted from the steam turbine by the superheater to generate a second steam flow, wherein the second steam flow is injected into a core flow path of the core engine.
A method of operating an aircraft propulsion system comprising:
- transforming a water flow into a first steam flow with a first heat input in an evaporator disposed within an exhaust gas flow path;
- expanding the first steam flow to generate shaft power in a steam turbine;
- reheating the entire first steam flow exhausted from the steam turbine with a second heat input within a superheater disposed parallel to the evaporator within the exhaust gas flow path such that both the superheater and the evaporator are exposed to the exhaust flow at a common axial position, wherein the second heat input generates a second steam flow;
- and
- injecting the second steam flow into a core engine core flow path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.