Adaptive inertial particle separators and methods of use
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorTimothy J. Higgins
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for operating a gas turbine engine including a compressor is provided. The method includes defining a predetermined concentration, placing at least one sensor in an inlet of the gas turbine engine, detecting a sand and dust concentration value using the at least one sensor; and deploying a boot to facilitate preventing particles from entering the compressor when the sand and dust concentration value equals or exceeds the predetermined concentration. The boot includes a plurality of fluid exit slots such that clean air is facilitated to be adhered to a flow path surface downstream from the boot.
Claims18
A method for operating a gas turbine engine including a compressor, said method comprising:
- defining a predetermined concentration of at least one of sand and dust in an inlet of the gas turbine engine;
- detecting a concentration value of at least one of sand and dust in the gas turbine engine inlet using at least one sensor;
- and
- deploying an inflatable flow path boot positioned within a surface of the gas turbine engine inlet to facilitate preventing at least one of sand and dust particles from entering the compressor when the concentration value of the at least one of sand and dust equals or exceeds the predetermined concentration, and including a plurality of fluid exit slots disposed in the boot on a downstream side of the boot such that clean air is facilitated to be adhered to a flow path surface downstream from the boot.
An inertial particle separation system for a gas turbine engine, said system comprising:
- an inlet of said gas turbine engine including at least one sensor configured to determine a concentration of at least one of sand and dust in said inlet;
- an inflatable boot coupled to a surface defining a flow path through said inlet, said boot comprising a plurality of fluid exit slots on a downstream side of the boot, said slots configured to facilitate clean air to adhere to a flow path surface downstream from said boot;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- receive a signal from said at least one sensor, the signal representative of the concentration;
- compare the received signal to a value representative of a threshold of the concentration;
- and
- inflate or deflate the inflatable boot based on the comparison.
A dual mode particle inertial separation apparatus for a gas turbine engine, said apparatus comprising:
- an inertial particle separator comprising an entry channel and a flow path, said inertial particle separator facilitating effective removal of at least one of sand particles and debris from a flow of fluid in said entry channel during a first mode of operation of said inertial particle separator;
- and
- an inflatable boot coupled to a surface of said inertial particle separator and defining at least a portion of said flow path, said boot inflated is during a second mode of operation of said inertial particle separator to narrow a throat area of said entry channel by forcing the inflatable boot 50 towards an opposite surface of said inertial particle separator to facilitate increasing removal efficiency of the at least one of sand particles and debris from the flow of fluid in said entry channel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.