Engine assembly and method of operation
AssigneeRolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG
InventorPeter SCHOBER
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A power plant assembly, including a turbine for driving at least one rotor shaft; a combustion chamber for generating drive energy for the turbine; at least one electric machine which is coupled to the rotor shaft and can be operated both in a generator mode and in a motor mode; and at least one energy storage system which is connected to the electric machine and can store energy generated by the electric machine when the electric machine is in generator mode. A set of control electronics of the power plant assembly is configured to operate the combustion chamber using a lean fuel-air mixture and, for this purpose, to selectively operate the at least one electric machine in generator mode or in motor mode, depending on the power to be applied by the power plant assembly.
Claims14
A power plant assembly, with
- a turbine for driving at least one rotor shaft,
- a combustion chamber for generating the driving energy for the turbine,
- at least one electric machine, which is coupled to the rotor shaft and can be operated both in a generator mode and in a motor mode, and
- at least one energy storage system, which is connected to the electric machine and can store energy generated by the electric machine in the generator mode of the electric machine,
- wherein
- control electronics which are configured to operate the combustion chamber with a lean fuel-air mixture and, for this purpose, to operate the at least one electric machine selectively in the generator mode or in the motor mode, depending on the power to be produced by the power plant assembly.
The power plant assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the combustion chamber comprises an injection system having a plurality of fuel nozzles for injecting the lean fuel-air mixture, wherein all the fuel nozzles for the combustion chamber are connected to a fuel distributor which delivers a uniform quantity of fuel to all the fuel nozzles at all times.
A power plant assembly, with
- a turbine for driving at least one rotor shaft,
- a combustion chamber for generating the driving energy for the turbine,
- at least one electric machine, which is coupled to the rotor shaft and can be operated in a generator mode, and
- at least one energy storage system, which is connected to the electric machine and can store energy generated by the electric machine in the generator mode of the electric machine,
- wherein
- at least one further electric machine is provided for generating a thrust, and control electronics are provided which are configured to operate the combustion chamber with a lean fuel-air mixture and, for this purpose, to operate the at least one electric machine coupled to the rotor shaft and the at least one further electric machine to generate the thrust as a function of the power to be produced by the power plant assembly.
A method for operating a power plant, wherein
- the power plant comprises a turbine which drives at least one rotor shaft,
- the combustion chamber of the power plant is provided for generating the driving energy for the turbine,
- at least one electric machine of the power plant is coupled to the rotor shaft and can be operated both in a generator mode and in a motor mode, and
- at least one energy storage system is provided, which is connected to the electric machine and can store energy generated by the electric machine in the generator mode of the electric machine
- wherein
- the combustion chamber is operated with a lean fuel-air mixture and, for this purpose, the at least one electric machine is operated selectively in the generator mode or in the motor mode, depending on the power to be produced by the power plant assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.