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AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsScott Mitchell Reback, Stephen Thomas Sebeika
Estimating the term…
A method details injecting water into a gas turbine engine to facilitate cleaning an inner surface of a combustor. The method comprises removing an axial fuel injector from the combustor, wherein the fuel injector includes a nozzle stem, and inserting a spray nozzle assembly into a fuel injector opening created within the combustor when the fuel injector was removed, wherein the spray nozzle assembly includes a popet nozzle that is coupled to a nozzle stem that is shaped substantially identically to the fuel injector nozzle stem removed from the combustor. The method also comprises coupling the spray nozzle assembly to the combustor such that the popet nozzle is inserted substantially concentrically into the combustor, and injecting water into the combustor through the spray nozzle assembly.
A spray nozzle assembly for injecting water into a gas turbine engine combustor, said spray nozzle assembly comprising:
A gas turbine engine combustor spray nozzle assembly, said spray nozzle comprising a nozzle stem, a mounting flange, and a popet nozzle, said nozzle stem coupled in flow communication to a cleaning fluid source configured to remove deposit build-up from an inner surface of the combustor, said a popet nozzle coupled to said nozzle stem having a portion protruding therefrom and retractable into said nozzle stem from an extended position to a retracted position, wherein a minority of a length of said popet nozzle extends within said nozzle stem when said popet nozzle is in said extended position, said mounting flange circumscribing said nozzle stem for mounting said spray nozzle assembly to the combustor such that said popet nozzle extends from an upstream end of the combustor substantially concentrically into the combustor to discharge water into the combustor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.