Gas turbine engine with fuel-cooled turbine
AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorsDaniel VAN DEN ENDE, David MENHEERE, Timothy REDFORD
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The gas turbine engine includes a combustion section including an annular swirl combustor having a combustor inlet, and a compressor section including a centrifugal compressor with an impeller, the impeller compressing and swirling an airflow and discharging the compressed and swirled airflow from the impeller outlet into the combustor inlet. The turbine section includes a radial turbine having a turbine fuel inlet and a turbine fuel outlet, the radial turbine receiving a flow of fuel at the turbine fuel inlet and discharging the flow of fuel from the turbine fuel outlet of the radial turbine into the combustor inlet.
Claims17
A gas turbine engine, comprising:
- a combustion section including an annular swirl combustor having a combustor inlet;
- a compressor section including a centrifugal compressor with an impeller, the impeller having a plurality of impeller vanes and an impeller outlet disposed upstream of the combustor, the impeller compressing and swirling an airflow and discharging the compressed and swirled airflow from the impeller outlet into the combustor inlet;
- and
- a turbine section including a radial turbine having a turbine fuel inlet and a turbine fuel outlet, the radial turbine receiving a flow of fuel at the turbine fuel inlet and discharging the flow of fuel from the turbine fuel outlet of the radial turbine into the combustor inlet.
A method for combusting fuel in a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- compressing and swirling an airflow;
- directing the compressed and swirled airflow towards an annular swirl combustor;
- supplying a flow of fuel to a rotating radial turbine;
- slinging the flow of fuel into the annular swirl combustor using the rotating radial turbine;
- and
- combusting the mixture of compressed and swirled airflow and the flow of fuel slung into the annular swirl combustor.
A method for cooling a rotating radial turbine in a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- supplying a flow of fuel to the rotating radial turbine;
- directing the flow of fuel through a turbine cooling path;
- and
- slinging the flow of fuel into an annular swirl combustor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.