Turbine cooling circuit
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsChristopher Charles Glynn, Thomas Tracy Wallace, Ronald Arthur Dickman, Monty Lee Shelton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A turbine cooling circuit includes a flow sleeve having an aft end for adjoining the rim of a turbine disk. A seal rotor is spaced from the aft end adjacent a row of inlet holes. An inducer has an outlet disposed radially outwardly from the sleeve inlet holes. And, a seal stator surrounds the seal rotor to define a rotary seal disposed radially inwardly from the inducer outlet.
Claims34
A turbine cooling circuit comprising:
- a compressor for pressurizing air;
- a combustor disposed in flow communication with said compressor for mixing fuel with said air to generate combustion gases;
- a turbine disk disposed downstream from said combustor and joined to said compressor, and including a row of hollow turbine blades extending from a rim thereof;
- a flow sleeve having an aft end adjoining said disk rim, a first seal rotor spaced forwardly from said aft end, and a row of inlet holes disposed forwardly from said first seal rotor, and said sleeve being spaced from said disk to define an annular flowpath extending between said inlet holes and said disk rim for channeling said compressor air to said blades;
- an inducer having an inlet disposed in flow communication with said compressor, and an outlet disposed radially outwardly from said sleeve inlet holes in flow communication therewith;
- and
- a first seal stator sealingly joined to said inducer and surrounding said first seal rotor to define a first rotary seal therewith disposed radially inwardly of said inducer outlet.
A cooling circuit for channeling pressurized air from a compressor to hollow turbine blades mounted on a turbine disk comprising:
- a unitary flow sleeve having an aft end for adjoining said disk at a rim thereof, a first seal rotor spaced forwardly from said aft end, a row of inlet holes disposed forwardly from said first seal rotor, and a second seal rotor disposed forwardly of said inlet holes at an opposite forward end of said sleeve;
- an inducer having an outlet disposed radially outwardly from said sleeve inlet holes;
- and
- first and second seal stators sealingly joined to opposite sides of said inducer and surrounding said first and second seal rotors, respectively, to define corresponding first and second labyrinth seals therewith disposed radially inwardly from said inducer outlet.
A turbine cooling circuit 32 comprising:
- a compressor for pressurizing air;
- an inducer having an inlet disposed in flow communication with said compressor for receiving pressurized air therefrom, a row of inducer vanes disposed in flow communication with said inlet, and an outlet for discharging air swirled by said vanes;
- a flow sleeve including an aft end adjoining a rim of a turbine disk from which extends a row of hollow turbine blades, and further including a row of inlet holes disposed axially between first and second seal rotors;
- and
- first and second seal stators sealingly joined to opposite sides of said inducer, and surrounding said first and second seal rotors to define respective first and second rotary seals disposed radially inwardly from said inducer outlet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.