Combustor arrangement including flow control vanes

In a can annular gas turbine engine having a gas delivery structure for delivering gases from a plurality of combustors to an annular chamber that extends circumferentially and is oriented concentric to a gas turbine engine axis for delivering the gas flow to a first row of blades, a gas flow path formed by a duct arrangement between a respective combustor and the annular chamber for conveying gases in a downstream direction from each combustor to the first row of turbine blades, a combustor arrangement comprising:

• a combustor having an inner cylinder surrounding a combustion zone of the combustor, the inner cylinder defining a longitudinal axis of the combustor that is oriented in a radially inward and circumferentially angled direction toward the annular chamber;
• a cone section having an inlet end receiving the gas flow from the inner cylinder, wherein the cone section defines a decreasing flow area in the downstream direction;
• a flow sleeve surrounding the inner cylinder;
• an annular space defined between the inner cylinder and the flow sleeve and defining an air flow path having an annular air inlet defined along the inner cylinder radially inward of a junction between the inner cylinder and the cone section;
• and
• a plurality of guide vanes located in circumferentially spaced relation to each other in the annular space, spanning between the flow sleeve and the inner cylinder, the guide vanes each having a length dimension defined between a radially inner leading edge and a radially outer trailing edge, wherein the leading edge of at least one guide vane is located radially inward along the longitudinal axis relative to the leading edge of at least one other of the guide vanes.

In a can annular gas turbine engine having a gas delivery structure for delivering gases from a plurality of combustors to an annular chamber that extends circumferentially and is oriented concentric to a gas turbine engine axis for delivering the gas flow to a first row of blades, a gas flow path formed by a duct arrangement between a respective combustor and the annular chamber for conveying gases in a downstream direction from each combustor to the first row of turbine blades, a combustor arrangement comprising:

• a combustor having an inner cylinder surrounding a combustion zone of the combustor, the inner cylinder defining a longitudinal axis of the combustor that is oriented in a radially inward and circumferentially angled direction toward the annular chamber;
• a cone section having an inlet end receiving the gas flow from the inner cylinder, wherein the cone section defines a decreasing flow area in the downstream direction;
• a flow sleeve surrounding the inner cylinder;
• an annular space defined between the inner cylinder and the flow sleeve and defining an air flow path having an annular air inlet defined along the inner cylinder radially inward of a junction between the inner cylinder and the cone section;
• a plurality of guide vanes located in circumferentially spaced relation to each other in the annular space, spanning between the flow sleeve and the inner cylinder, the guide vanes each having a length dimension defined between a radially inner leading edge and a radially outer trailing edge, each guide vane includes a circumferentially angled flow directing portion;
• and
• wherein air flowing into the annular space has a circumferential swirl flow direction around a circumference of the inner cylinder, and a first pair of guide vanes are circumferentially spaced apart a distance that is less than a circumferential spacing between a second pair of guide vanes adjacent to the first pair of guide vanes, the first pair of guide vanes being located in an upstream direction of the swirl flow relative to the second pair of guide vanes.