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US 9,316,397 B2Granted
System and method for sealing a fuel nozzle
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsJason Thurman Stewart, Christopher Paul Keener, Heath Michael Ostebee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system including a multi-tube fuel nozzle, including a first plate having a first plurality of openings, a plurality of tubes extending through the first plurality of openings in the first plate, wherein each tube of the plurality of tubes includes an air inlet, a fuel inlet, and a fuel-air mixture outlet, and a resilient metallic seal disposed along the first plate about the plurality of tubes.
Claims27
A system, comprising:
- a multi-tube fuel nozzle, comprising:
- a first plate having a first plurality of openings spaced apart from one another;
- a plurality of tubes extending through the first plurality of openings in the first plate, wherein each tube of the plurality of tubes comprises an air inlet, a fuel inlet, and a fuel-air mixture outlet;
- and
- a resilient metallic seal disposed along the first plate about the plurality of tubes, wherein the resilient metallic seal comprises at least one axially adjustable turn;
- and
- a housing having a wall surrounding the multi-tube fuel nozzle, wherein the resilient metallic seal is disposed between the wall and the first plate of the multi-tube fuel nozzle, and the at least one axially adjustable turn is configured to expand or contract in an axial direction in response to axial movement between the wall and the first plate of the multi-tube fuel nozzle.
4 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a multi-tube fuel nozzle, comprising:
- a plurality of fuel-air mixing tubes spaced apart from one another within a chamber, wherein each tube of the plurality of fuel-air mixing tubes comprises an air inlet, a fuel inlet in a sidewall of the tube, and a fuel-air mixture outlet;
- and
- a resilient metallic seal disposed along an outer perimeter about the plurality of fuel-air mixing tubes, wherein the resilient metallic seal comprises at least one axially adjustable turn that curves from a radially inward direction to a radially outward direction relative to an axis of the multi-tube fuel nozzle, and the at least one axially adjustable turn is configured to expand or contract in an axial direction in response to axial movement of the plurality of fuel-air mixing tubes.
1 more element
A method, comprising:
- sealing a multi-tube fuel nozzle to a surrounding structure via a resilient metallic seal having at least one axially adjustable turn that curves from a radially inward direction to a radially outward direction relative to an axis of the multi-tube fuel nozzle, wherein the multi-tube fuel nozzle comprises a plurality of tubes spaced apart from one another, each tube of the plurality of tubes having an air inlet, a fuel inlet in a sidewall of the tube, and a fuel-air mixture outlet;
- and
- expanding or contracting the at least one axially adjustable turn of the resilient metallic seal in an axial direction, while sealing, in response to thermal expansion or thermal contraction of the plurality of tubes or the surrounding structure in the axial direction.
A system, comprising:
- a multi-tube fuel nozzle, comprising:
- a first plate having a first plurality of openings;
- a plurality of tubes extending through the first plurality of openings in the first plate, wherein each tube of the plurality of tubes comprises an air inlet, a fuel inlet, and a fuel-air mixture outlet;
- and
- a resilient metallic seal disposed along the first plate about the plurality of tubes;
- and
- a first ring structure surrounding a first chamber having the plurality of tubes, wherein the first ring structure comprises a groove and a protrusion extending around the first chamber, and the resilient metallic seal is disposed in the groove between the first ring structure and the first plate.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.