PTMS thermal bus vapor cycle architecture
AssigneeRtx Corporation
InventorsOrin G. Avidane, Javier A. Cue, Nathan A. Snape
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power and thermal management system thermal bus vapor cycle architecture including a bypass duct formed between a gas turbine inner fan duct and a gas turbine outer fan duct; a condenser coil located within the bypass duct, the condenser coil being configured as an annulus disk shape heat exchanger; at least one evaporator coil fluidly coupled to the condenser coil and located within the bypass duct upstream of the condenser coil relative to a bypass air flow direction; a gearbox in operative communication with the gas turbine engine; and a variable speed compressor in operative communication with the gearbox, the variable speed compressor being fluidly coupled with the at least one evaporator coil and the condenser coil.
Claims15
A power and thermal management system thermal bus vapor cycle architecture comprising:
- a gas turbine engine having a fan proximate a forward portion and a low pressure turbine proximate an aft portion;
- an inner fan duct spanning between the fan and the lower pressure turbine;
- a gas turbine outer fan duct spanning between the fan and the low pressure turbine;
- a bypass duct formed between the inner fan duct and the outer fan duct, the bypass duct extending from the fan to the low pressure turbine, wherein a bypass air is configured to flow within the bypass duct from the fan aft toward the low pressure turbine;
- a condenser coil located within the bypass duct, the condenser coil being configured as a heat exchanger configured to contact the bypass air;
- at least one evaporator coil fluidly coupled to the condenser coil and located within the bypass duct upstream of the condenser coil relative to a bypass air flow direction, the at least one evaporator coil being configured as a heat exchanger configured to contact the bypass air;
- an expansion valve fluidly coupled between the condenser coil and the at least one evaporator coil;
- a gearbox in operative communication with the gas turbine engine;
- and
- a variable speed compressor in operative communication with the gearbox, the variable speed compressor being fluidly coupled with the at least one evaporator coil and the condenser coil.
A process for thermal management with a power and thermal management system thermal bus vapor cycle architecture comprising:
- forming a bypass duct between an inner fan duct and an outer fan duct in a gas turbine engine;
- locating a condenser coil within the bypass duct;
- configuring the condenser coil as a heat exchanger;
- fluidly coupling at least one evaporator coil to the condenser coil;
- locating the at least one evaporator coil within the bypass duct upstream of the condenser coil relative to a bypass air flow direction;
- configuring the at least one evaporator coil as a heat exchanger;
- fluidly coupling an expansion valve between the condenser coil and the at least one evaporator coil;
- coupling a gearbox in operative communication with the gas turbine engine;
- coupling a variable speed compressor in operative communication with the gearbox;
- and
- fluidly coupling the variable speed compressor with the at least one evaporator coil and the condenser coil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.