Engine system
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorMichael C. WILLMOT
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An engine system comprises a fuel system arranged to supply fuel to the combustor of a gas turbine engine. A fuel store stores the fuel as a cryogenic liquid and includes a primary pump arranged to pump the cryogenic liquid to a secondary pumping arrangement via a fuel outlet. The secondary pumping arrangement substantially increases the pressure of the cryogenic liquid to prevent boil off prior to delivery of thereof to a heating arrangement which vaporises the cryogenic liquid using waste heat from the gas turbine engine to produce fuel in the form of a supercritical fluid which is delivered to the combustor. The system allows fuels, such as hydrogen, methane and ammonia, to be efficiently stored, pumped, conditioned and delivered to the engine of the system.
Claims20
An engine system comprising a gas turbine engine and a fuel system, wherein the fuel system comprises
- a fuel store for storing a fuel as a cryogenic liquid fuel at a first pressure, the fuel store having a fuel outlet;
- a primary pump disposed within the fuel store and arranged to pump cryogenic liquid fuel stored within the fuel store to the fuel outlet;
- a secondary pumping arrangement having an input coupled to the fuel outlet by a first fuel conduit and an output coupled to a second fuel conduit, the secondary pumping arrangement being arranged to output cryogenic liquid fuel at a second pressure greater than the first pressure;
- and
- a heating arrangement having an input coupled to the output of the secondary pumping arrangement by the second fuel conduit and an output coupled to a third fuel conduit, the heating arrangement being arranged to vaporise cryogenic liquid fuel received at the input thereof utilising waste heat from the gas turbine engine and to output resulting supercritical fluid fuel to the third fuel conduit at the second pressure and thence to a combustor of the gas turbine engine.
A method of providing fuel to a combustor of a gas turbine engine, the method comprising the steps of
- (i) storing cryogenic liquid fuel within a fuel store at a first pressure;
- (ii) using a primary pump disposed within the fuel store to pump cryogenic liquid fuel out of the fuel store to a secondary pumping arrangement;
- (iii) using the secondary pumping arrangement to increase the pressure of the cryogenic liquid fuel to a second pressure greater than the first pressure and providing the cryogenic liquid fuel at the second pressure to a heating arrangement;
- (iv) heating the cryogenic liquid fuel to produce supercritical fluid fuel at the second pressure;
- and
- (v) providing the supercritical fluid fuel at the second pressure to the combustor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.