Bearing chamber apparatus
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorsAida Alvarez, Yi Wang, Lee A Clark
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bearing chamber apparatus (2) comprising a bearing chamber (4) having one or more seals (7) which seal an interior (5) of the chamber from an exterior (24) of the chamber; and further comprising: a pump in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber; and a controllable valve (20) in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber and the outside atmosphere. The arrangement allows oil leakage from the bearing chamber to be prevented and also allows a minimum pressure to be maintained within the bearing chamber.
Claims15
A bearing chamber apparatus comprising a bearing chamber having one or more seals which seal an interior of the chamber from an exterior of the chamber;
- and further comprising:
- a pump in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber;
- and
- a controllable valve in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber and the outside atmosphere,
- wherein a vent pump is connected to a vent line, the vent line being in fluid communication with the interior of the bearing chamber, and wherein the valve is a bypass valve connected to the vent line which, when open, bypasses the vent pump.
A method of preventing oil leakage from a bearing chamber in a gas turbine engine, the bearing chamber having leakage paths between an interior of the chamber and an exterior of the chamber, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing one or more pumps in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber;
- providing a controllable valve in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber;
- operating the pump and the valve to maintain a positive pressure differential exceeding a predetermined value between the exterior and the interior of the chamber so that air is drawn into the bearing chamber through the leakage paths;
- providing a vent pump connected to a vent line, the vent line being in fluid communication with the interior of the bearing chamber, the valve being connected to the vent line so as to bypass the vent pump when open;
- and
- closing the valve when the pressure at the exterior of the bearing chamber is lower than a discharge pressure of the vent line, so that the vent pump operates to reduce the pressure within the bearing chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.