Turbine interstage seal system

#The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas turbines, and more specifically, to interstage seals within gas turbines.

#In general, gas turbine engines combust a mixture of compressed air and fuel to produce hot combustion gases. The combustion gases may flow through one or more turbine stages to generate power for a load and/or compressor. A pressure drop may occur between stages, which may allow leakage flow of a fluid, such as combustion gases, through unintended paths. Seals may be disposed between the stages to reduce fluid leakage between the stages. Unfortunately, the shape of the seal may increase the spacing required between stages of the turbine. In addition, the shape of the seal may make access to internal components of the turbine more difficult. Furthermore, the seal may require additional components, such as spacers, to ensure proper axial and radial alignment of the seal.

#Certain embodiments commensurate in scope with the originally claimed invention are summarized below. These embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but rather these embodiments are intended only to provide a brief summary of possible forms of the invention. Indeed, the invention may encompass a variety of forms that may be similar to or different from the embodiments set forth below.

#These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic flow diagram of an embodiment of a gas turbine engine that may employ turbine seals in accordance with aspects of the present techniques;

#FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of the gas turbine engine of FIG. 1 taken along a longitudinal axis in accordance with aspects of the present techniques;

#One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.

#When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present invention, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.

#The present disclosure is directed to interstage turbine seal systems that may be employed to reduce fluid leakage between stages of a turbine. The interstage seal system includes features to seal an interstage gap without the use of additional components, such as spacer wheels. According to certain embodiments, the interstage seal system may be supported by the rotors of the turbine without a mid-rotor support. In addition, the interstage seal system may include multiple seating ends that reduce the likelihood or magnitude of radial displacement of the interstage seal system. Additionally, the interstage seal system may include a hook end that reduces the likelihood or magnitude of radial and axial displacement of the interstage seal system. Furthermore, the interstage seal system may reduce the spacing between the rotors of the turbine.