Gas turbine engine buffer cooling system
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorsGabriel L. Suciu, loannis Alvanos
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gas turbine engine includes a heat exchanger, a bearing compartment, and a nozzle assembly in fluid communication with the bearing compartment. The heat exchanger exchanges heat with a bleed airflow to provide a conditioned airflow. The bearing compartment is in fluid communication with the heat exchanger. A first passageway communicates the conditioned airflow from the heat exchanger to the bearing compartment. A second passageway communicates the conditioned airflow from the bearing compartment to the nozzle assembly.
Claims19
A gas turbine engine, comprising:
- a heat exchanger that exchanges heat with a bleed airflow to provide a conditioned airflow;
- a bearing compartment in fluid communication with said heat exchanger, wherein a first passageway communicates said conditioned airflow to said bearing compartment;
- and
- a nozzle assembly in fluid communication with said bearing compartment, wherein a second passageway communicates said conditioned airflow from said bearing compartment to said nozzle assembly.
A gas turbine engine, comprising:
- a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section circumferentially disposed about an engine centerline axis;
- a buffer cooling system that establishes a buffer cooled cooling air path that conditions a part of at least one of said compressor section and said turbine section, wherein said buffer cooling system includes a heat exchanger, a passageway and a nozzle assembly, and said buffer cooled cooling air path extends from said heat exchanger, through said passageway, and then through said nozzle assembly to condition hardware of at least one of said compressor section and said turbine section.
A method of conditioning a portion of a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- removing heat from a bleed airflow to render a conditioned airflow;
- communicating the conditioned airflow through at least a portion of a bearing compartment of the gas turbine engine;
- and
- feeding the conditioned airflow from the bearing compartment through a nozzle assembly to a downstream location of the gas turbine engine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.