Methods and apparatus for controlling cooling air temperature in gas turbine engines
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorRobert Frederick Bergholz
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Abstract
A cooling system for a gas turbine engine including a compressor, a combustor and a high-pressure turbine, coupled together in serial flow arrangement. The cooling system includes a storage tank, a working fluid stored within the storage tank, and a manifold coupled to the channel that supplies cooling air to the high pressure turbine. The working fluid is discharged from the manifold into the turbine cooling air supply channel, thereby reducing the temperature of the compressed cooling airflow channeled to the high pressure turbine.
Claims14
A cooling system for a gas turbine engine including a compressor, a combustor, a high-pressure turbine, and a high-pressure turbine cooling air supply duct, coupled together in serial flow arrangement, said cooling system comprising:
- a storage tank;
- a working fluid stored within the storage tank;
- a manifold coupled in flow communication between the combustor and the high-pressure turbine, said cooling system configured to discharge the working fluid from said storage tank into the high-pressure turbine cooling air supply duct using said manifold to facilitate reducing an operating temperature of the compressed airflow channeled to the high pressure turbine and a return conduit comprising a first end coupled to an outlet of said manifold and a second end coupled to an inlet of said storage tank, said return conduit configured to channel an unused portion of said working fluid to the inlet of said storage tank.
A gas turbine engine assembly comprising:
- a core gas turbine engine comprising
- a compressor;
- a combustor downstream from said compressor;
- and
- a high-pressure turbine downstream from said combustor;
- and
- a cooling system comprising
- a storage tank;
- a working fluid stored within said storage tank;
- a manifold coupled to a duct that supplies cooling air to the high pressure turbine, discharging the fluid into the turbine cooling air supply duct, and thereby reducing the temperature of the compressed cooling airflow channeled to the high pressure turbine;
- and
- a return conduit comprising a first end coupled to an outlet of said manifold and a second end coupled to an inlet of said storage tank, said return conduit configured to channel an unused portion of said working fluid to the inlet of said storage tank.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.