Microchannel exhaust for cooling and/or purging gas turbine segment gaps
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsAaron Ezekiel Smith, David Wayne Weber
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gas turbine stator component includes a composite, segmented ring made up of an annular array of arcuate segments, each having end faces formed with respective seal slots, with radial gaps formed between opposed end faces of adjacent arcuate segments. A seal is located between each pair of opposed seal slots to thereby seal the gaps, and a channel is provided in each of said arcuate segments adapted to be supplied with cooling air, the channel connecting to a passage extending between the channel and a respective one of the seal slots or radial gaps, on a lower-pressure side of the seal.
Claims20
A segment for a ring-shaped, rotary machine stator component comprising:
- a segment body having an end face formed with a circumferentially-facing seal slot adapted to receive a seal extending between said segment body and a corresponding seal slot in an adjacent segment body;
- a channel provided in said segment body in proximity to said seal slot, supplied with cooling air, wherein said channel includes a radially inward wall and a radially outward wall, said radially inward wall and said radially outward wall are both radially outward of a radially inner surface of said segment that is exposed to a hot air path, and are both radially inward of said seal slot;
- and
- a passage extending from said channel into said seal slot.
An annular turbine component comprising:
- plural arcuate segments arranged to form a complete annular ring, each segment having end faces provided with seal slots;
- a seal extending between seal slots of adjacent segments sealing radially oriented gaps between the segments;
- a channel provided in each segment in proximity to at least one of said seal slots, and adapted to be supplied with cooling air, wherein said channel includes a radially inward wall and a radially outward wall, said radially inward wall and said radially outward wall are both radially outward of a radially inner surface of said arcuate segments that is exposed to a hot air path, and are both radially inward of said seal slot;
- and
- a passage extending from said channel and opening into said at least one of the seal slots or a respective, radially-oriented gap on a radially-inner, low-pressure side of the seal.
A gas turbine stator comprising:
- first and second axially adjacent, annular shrouds having opposed end faces provided with respective seal slots;
- wherein a circumferential, axially-extending gap is formed between said opposed end faces;
- a circumferential seal seated in said respective seal slots to thereby seal said axially-extending gap, said circumferential seal, in use, separates relatively higher and lower pressure areas on radially-outer and radially-inner sides of said circumferential seal, said radially-inner side is exposed to a hot gas path;
- a passage having an outlet open to at least one of the respective seal slots or to the circumferential seal, and
- one or more cooling channels provided within each of said first and second axially-adjacent, annular shrouds adapted to be supplied with cooling air and to feed the cooling air to the passage, said one or more cooling channels arranged to introduce cooling air, via the passage, into a respective one of said seal slots or axially-extending gaps in the relatively lower pressure area on said radially-inner side of said seal,
- wherein said one or more cooling channels includes a radially inward wall and a radially outward wall, said radially inward wall and said radially outward wall are both provided in between said seal slots and a radially inner surface of said annular shrouds in the radial direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.