High Efficiency 2-Stage Fuel Pump and Control Scheme for Gas Turbines
AssigneeGoodrich Pump & Engine Control Systems, Inc.
InventorMihir C. Desai
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A two-stage system for delivering fuel to a gas turbine including a first stage variable pump for serving as a primary source of fuel, a second stage fixed pump for selectively supplementing the variable pump, a bypass valve connected to the fixed pump for loading and unloading the fixed pump and a regulator valve assembly connected to the variable pump and the bypass valve for controlling operation of the variable pump and the bypass valve. Preferably, the two-stage system also includes a control valve connected to the regulator valve assembly for setting a pressure differential across the regulator valve assembly and, thereby, loading and unloading the fixed pump.
Claims21
A two-stage system for delivering fuel to a gas turbine comprising:
- a variable pump for serving as a primary source of fuel to an outlet of the two-stage system;
- a fixed pump connected to the outlet for selectively supplementing the variable pump;
- a bypass valve connected to the fixed pump for loading and unloading the fixed pump as well as varying an incremental output of the fixed pump;
- and
- a regulator valve assembly connected to the variable pump and the bypass valve for controlling operation of the variable pump and the bypass valve.
A flow control system for a two-stage fuel pump comprising:
- (a) a regulator valve assembly in fluid communication with an output of fuel from a first stage, the regulator valve assembly including:
- i) a housing defining a plurality of ports;
- and
- ii) a spool slidably mounted in the housing for selectively blocking the ports;
- (b) a bypass valve operatively connected to the regulator valve assembly and a second stage for directing an output of the second stage;
- and
- (c) a control valve for varying a pressure differential across the regulator valve assembly to set a position of the spool and, thereby, control the bypass valve and the first stage.
A regulator valve assembly for use in a pump system having a first stage and a second stage, the regulator valve assembly comprising:
- a housing defining first, second and third inlets and first, second and third outlets;
- and
- a multi-part elongated spool slidably retained in the housing for selectively varying the flow through the inlets and outlets;
- wherein when only a first stage is providing output, i) the first inlet is in fluid communication with the first outlet to create a spill return flow to vary an output of the first stage and ii) the second inlet is in fluid communication with the second outlet and the third inlet is in fluid communication with the third outlet to set an output of the second stage at zero,
- wherein when the first and second stage are providing output, i) the first outlet is blocked to maximize an output of the first stage and ii) the first inlet is in fluid communication with the second outlet and the second inlet is in fluid communication with the third outlet to bring the second stage online.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.