Compressor cooling system for a turbofan engine
AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorsDaniel Alecu, David Menheere
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cooling system for a compressor casing of an turbofan engine includes a cooling conduit extending between an inlet in fluid communication with a bypass duct of the turbofan engine and an outlet in fluid communication with an outer surface of the compressor casing. A shroud of the compressor is mounted to the compressor casing. A protrusion is disposed about an opening to the inlet and protrudes radially outwardly into the bypass duct A valve in selective fluid communication with the inlet of the cooling conduit is operable to selectively inject a flow of high pressure air from a high pressure air source towards the inlet of the cooling conduit to modulate a flow of bypass air entering the cooling conduit.
Claims20
A turbofan engine for an aircraft, comprising:
- a compressor section including a compressor casing and a centrifugal compressor, an annular main gas path extending axially through a core casing of the turbofan engine within the compressor section, the centrifugal compressor including an impeller that rotates within a shroud surrounding blades of the impeller, the shroud being secured to the compressor casing, a tip clearance defined between blades of the impeller and the shroud;
- a bypass duct disposed radially outward of the core casing and defining a bypass gas path extending therethrough;
- a cooling conduit extending between an inlet in the bypass duct and an outlet adjacent to the compressor casing, a protrusion disposed about an opening to the inlet and protruding radially outwardly into the bypass duct, the cooling conduit including a manifold and a perforated screen adjacent the outlet;
- and
- a valve in selective fluid communication with the inlet of the cooling conduit, the valve fluidly coupled to a source of high pressure air and being controlled to move between a closed position and an open position, wherein in the open position during operation of the turbofan engine a flow of the high pressure air is injected adjacent the inlet of the cooling conduit in a direction tangential to the bypass gas path, and in the closed position during operation of the turbofan engine the high pressure air is substantially prevented from being injected into the cooling conduit or the bypass duct.
A cooling system for a compressor casing of a turbofan engine comprising a compressor, the cooling system comprising:
- a cooling conduit extending between an inlet in fluid communication with a bypass duct of the turbofan engine and an outlet in fluid communication with an outer surface of the compressor casing, a shroud of the compressor being mounted to the compressor casing, a protrusion disposed about an opening to the inlet and protruding radially outwardly into the bypass duct;
- and
- a valve in selective fluid communication with the inlet of the cooling conduit, the valve selectively injecting a flow of high pressure air from a high pressure air source towards the inlet of the cooling conduit to modulate a flow of bypass air entering the cooling conduit.
A method for operating a cooling system for a compressor casing in a turbofan aircraft engine, comprising:
- flowing bypass air through a bypass duct in the turbofan aircraft engine adjacent to an inlet of a cooling conduit fluidly coupling the bypass duct to a compressor casing of the turbofan aircraft engine;
- upon receipt of an indication of a change in an operating condition of the turbofan aircraft engine, activating a valve adjacent to the inlet of the cooling conduit to modulate a flow of high pressure air flowing adjacent to the inlet of the cooling conduit, the flow of high pressure air governing a flow of a portion of the bypass air into the cooling conduit via the inlet of the cooling conduit;
- subsequent to the activating the valve adjacent to the inlet of the cooling conduit, flowing the portion of the bypass air to a manifold at an outlet of the cooling conduit;
- and
- impinging the portion of the bypass air in the manifold against an outer surface of the compressor casing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.