Brush seal support

A brush seal support structure for a brush seal positioned between a stationary turbomachine component and a rotatable turbomachine component for minimizing gas flow between the components, said support structure comprising:

• a. an annular brush seal including an annular upstream backing plate and an annular downstream backing plate spaced from and substantially parallel to the Upstream backing late, a plurality of bristles positioned between the upstream and downstream backing plates, wherein the bristles are disposed substantially parallel to each other and extend outwardly from between the backing plates at an inner radial end of the brush seal toward a land surface defined on a rotating component, and wherein the backing plates are joined by a bridging member at an outer radial end of the brush seal and each backing plate includes a substantially axially-outwardly-extending lit, wherein each lip is positioned at the radially outermost end of the respective backing plate, the downstream backing plate lip including an annular end face spaced in a downstream direction from the bristles;
• b. a non-rotatable brush seal support including a substantially axially-disposed brush seal contact surface spaced radially outwardly from the land surface, the support structure including a radially-inwardly-facing annular groove adjacent to the annular end face of the lip;
• and
• c. a retaining ring carried in the annular groove, the retaining ring having a substantially radially-extending surface for engagement with the end face of the downstream backing plate lip.