Combustor crossfire tube
AssigneeGeneral Eletric Company
InventorsCarolyn Ashley Antoniono, Patrick Benedict Melton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present application and the resultant patent provide a combustor for mixing a flow of air and a flow of fuel. The combustor may include an air path for the flow of air, a number of fuel injectors positioned in the air path for the flow of fuel, and a crossfire tube positioned within the air path upstream of the fuel injectors. The crossfire tube may include a number of purge holes positioned on a downstream side thereof to reduce a wake in the flow of air caused by the crossfire tube in the air path.
Claims20
A combustor for mixing a flow of air and a flow of fuel therein, the combustor comprising:
- a liner defining a combustion chamber therein;
- a flow sleeve positioned around the liner;
- an air path for directing the flow of air, the air path defined between the liner and the flow sleeve;
- a plurality of fuel injectors for directing the flow of fuel, the fuel injectors positioned within the air path;
- and
- a crossfire tube comprising an end portion positioned within the air path upstream of the fuel injectors;
- wherein the end portion of the crossfire tube comprises a solid wall extending along an upstream side thereof and a plurality of purge holes defined in a downstream side thereof, the purge holes configured to reduce a wake in the flow of air caused by the end portion of the crossfire tube in the air path.
A method of operating a pre-nozzle fuel injection system, the method comprising:
- flowing air through an air path defined between a liner and a flow sleeve of a combustor;
- flowing fuel through a plurality of fuel injectors positioned within the air path;
- creating a wake in the flow of air upstream of the fuel injectors with an end portion of a crossfire tube positioned within the air path, the end portion comprising a solid wall extending along an upstream side thereof and a plurality of purge holes defined in a downstream side thereof;
- flowing purge gas through the purge holes and into the crossfire tube;
- creating an area of boundary layer suction downstream of the end portion of the crossfire tube;
- and
- eliminating or reducing the wake upstream of the fuel injectors via the area of boundary layer suction.
A combustor for mixing a flow of air and a flow of fuel therein, the combustor comprising:
- a liner defining a combustion chamber therein;
- a flow sleeve positioned around the liner;
- an air path for directing the flow of air, the air path defined between the liner and the flow sleeve;
- a plurality of fuel injectors for directing the flow of fuel, the fuel injectors positioned within the air path;
- and
- a crossfire tube comprising an end portion positioned within the air path upstream of the fuel injectors;
- wherein the end portion of the crossfire tube comprises a solid wall extending along an upstream side thereof and one or more purge holes defined in a downstream side thereof, the one or more purge holes configured to allow a flow of purge gas to flow therethrough and into the crossfire tube to create an area of boundary layer suction downstream of the end portion of the crossfire tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.