Air-entraining valve ventilation cooling assembly

Abstract

A bleed air shutter ventilation cooling assembly that blows air from an aircraft engine includes a fan intake inlet, a first end of the fan intake inlet being attached to a fan casing of the aircraft engine, a second end of the fan intake inlet opposite the first end being connected to a first line; and at least one valve attached to the aircraft engine via a pipeline. The air-entraining valve ventilation cooling assembly further comprises an air-entraining pipe, an inlet of the air-entraining pipe is formed in the air inlet of the fan or the first pipeline, the air-entraining pipe comprises at least one outlet, and the outlets are arranged to spray air to the corresponding valves. According to the air entraining valve ventilation cooling assembly, the air pressure at the air inlet of the fan can be relieved, the pressure fluctuation is balanced, and meanwhile the situation that the outer duct efficiency of an aircraft engine is affected due to the fact that outer duct air is additionally introduced is avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of aircraft cooling, and more specifically, to a bleed air valve ventilation cooling assembly. Background Technology

[0002] In civil aircraft systems, the engine bleed gas supply system typically draws high-temperature, high-pressure gas from the engine for downstream gas systems such as air conditioning and anti-icing systems. Engine bleed gas is controlled by bleed gas valves, which typically include high-pressure valves, medium-pressure one-way valves, and pressure regulating shut-off valves.

[0003] The engine nacelle contains multiple high-temperature heat sources, creating a complex and high-temperature thermal environment. The bleed air valves installed within the nacelle are situated within an environment surrounded by components such as the core casing, high-temperature bleed air piping, and anti-icing piping, all of which reach temperatures exceeding 500°C. However, the bleed air valves themselves are limited by the suitable operating temperatures of the gaskets in their regulators and the torque motor, with a surface temperature resistance of only around 200°C. Therefore, under the combined heat transfer within the nacelle, the surface temperature of the bleed air valves can exceed design requirements, significantly reducing their service life.

[0004] To address the aforementioned high-temperature environment issues, current aircraft incorporate a ventilation duct system that draws air from the engine's outer bypass duct, leading to an bleed air valve to form a ventilation and cooling system. However, this approach requires additional bleed air from the outer bypass duct, which reduces the efficiency of the engine's outer bypass duct.

[0005] Furthermore, since the exhaust gas from the engine is high-temperature and high-pressure gas, current air supply system designs require cooling of this exhaust gas, typically achieved through a heat exchanger. The cold-side gas from this heat exchanger is drawn from the engine fan's outer bypass duct, passes through the intake device, installation position compensation device, and fan air valve, enters the cold side of the heat exchanger, undergoes heat exchange, and is finally discharged outside the aircraft. When the cooling gas flow requirement is very small or zero, the control system closes the fan air valve. At this time, a resonant cavity is formed within the intake of the fan bleed air system. As airflow passes through the engine fan's outer bypass duct, strong pressure fluctuations occur within this resonant cavity. These pressure fluctuations significantly increase engine noise and cause the vibration level of structures or components to exceed safety settings. All of these factors affect the comfort and safety of the aircraft.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need to propose an improved ventilator-driven ventilation and cooling assembly that can solve the problems and defects existing in the prior art. Utility Model Content

[0007] The purpose of this invention is to provide a bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly that can perform bleed air cooling without affecting the efficiency of the engine's external bypass duct, while also mitigating pressure fluctuations at the fan intake.

[0008] According to this disclosure, a bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly is proposed, which bleeds air from an aircraft engine. The assembly includes: a fan inlet, a first end of which is attached to the fan casing of the aircraft engine, and a second end of the fan inlet opposite to the first end connected to a first pipeline; and at least one valve attached to the aircraft engine via the pipeline. The bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly further includes a bleed air pipe, the inlet of which is located at the fan inlet or the first pipeline. The bleed air pipe includes at least one outlet arranged to inject gas into the corresponding valve. Placing the inlet of the bleed air pipe at the fan inlet rather than the fan casing alleviates gas pressure at the fan inlet, balances pressure fluctuations, and avoids the additional introduction of bypass gas, which could affect the bypass efficiency of the aircraft engine.

[0009] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the bleed air tube includes at least one bleed air manifold, and the at least one bleed air manifold includes a corresponding outlet.

[0010] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly further includes at least one nozzle, which is mounted on a corresponding outlet in at least one of the at least one outlet, wherein the at least one nozzle is capable of rotational and translational movement relative to the bleed air pipe. This allows for flexible adjustment of the gas injection range and position according to the cooling requirements of the valve, thereby improving the cooling effect.

[0011] Preferably, each of at least one nozzle is funnel-shaped to maximize the range of cold air injection and avoid uneven cooling.

[0012] Preferably, each of at least one nozzle is configured as an array of multiple nozzle holes or a filter to prevent foreign objects from outside the aircraft engine from adhering to the surface of the cooled valve via the nozzles.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least one valve includes a first valve and a second valve, at least one bleed manifold includes a first bleed manifold and a second bleed manifold, at least one outlet includes a first outlet and a second outlet, and at least one nozzle includes a first nozzle and a second nozzle, wherein the first bleed manifold includes a first outlet and injects gas into the first valve via the first nozzle, and the second bleed manifold includes a second outlet and injects gas into the second valve via the second nozzle.

[0014] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the bleed tube is attached to the fan inlet at a second end. Alternatively, the bleed tube is attached to a first conduit at a second end near the fan inlet.

[0015] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the first valve is a high-pressure valve, and the second valve is a pressure regulating shut-off valve. Both valves transport high-temperature, high-pressure gases, which especially require cooling.

[0016] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the diameter of the air intake pipe is smaller than that of the first pipeline to avoid excessive drainage that would affect the delivery efficiency of the first pipeline.

[0017] This invention provides an air duct at the second end of the fan inlet, opposite to the first end of the fan casing attached to the aircraft engine. This air duct is used to ventilate and cool the valves that require cooling. Since the bleed air volume at the fan inlet is always greater than the required volume, adding an air duct at the fan inlet to divert the airflow does not increase the bleed air volume and does not affect the efficiency of the engine's outer bypass duct. Furthermore, because the air duct always diverts the airflow at the fan inlet, even when the aircraft's cooling gas flow requirement decreases and the fan air valve is closed, no resonance cavity will be generated within the fan inlet, thereby alleviating the pressure fluctuation problem within the fan inlet. Attached Figure Description

[0018] To gain a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference can be made to the following description of exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings are not intended to limit this disclosure to the specific embodiments depicted therein, and are not necessarily to scale. In the drawings:

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the ventilation and cooling assembly of the air intake valve according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] List of reference numerals

[0021] 100 Draft Air Valve Ventilation and Cooling Assembly

[0022] 200 aircraft engines

[0023] 201 Fan

[0024] 202 Fan housing

[0025] 203 Tail nozzle

[0026] 1. Airway

[0027] 11 First bleed manifold

[0028] 12 Second air intake manifold

[0029] 13 First Exit

[0030] 14 Second Exit

[0031] 15 First Nozzle

[0032] 16 Second nozzle

[0033] 17 Entrances

[0034] 2. Fan air inlet

[0035] 21 First End

[0036] 22 Second End

[0037] 31 First Emporium

[0038] 32 Second trapdoor

[0039] 33 Third valve

[0040] 34 Fan air valve

[0041] 4 First pipeline

[0042] 5 Second pipeline

[0043] 6. Third pipeline

[0044] 7. Precooler

[0045] 81 Bleeding air pressure monitoring sensor

[0046] 82 Bleeding air pressure sensor

[0047] 83 Bleed Air Temperature Sensor

[0048] 9 Controllers Detailed Implementation

[0049] The following description of specific embodiments of this utility model refers to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate particular embodiments in which the utility model can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describe various aspects of the utility model in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice it. Other embodiments and changes may be utilized without departing from the scope of the utility model. Therefore, the following description of specific embodiments should not be considered limiting. The scope of this utility model is defined only by the appended claims and the full scope of their equivalents. The same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings and specific embodiments to refer to the same or similar parts.

[0050] In this article, "upstream" and "downstream" are directional terms relative to the direction of airflow. For example, when component A is upstream of component B, it means that the airflow passes through component A before passing through component B; "outer" is a concept of the interior and exterior of the ducts and valves of the ventilator assembly, where the introduced airflow passes through the interior of the ducts and valves, and vice versa.

[0051] Figure 1 The bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the aircraft engine 200 to which it is connected are schematically shown. The bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly 100 generally includes a fan inlet 2 connected to the fan casing of the aircraft engine 200 to introduce cool air from the outer bypass duct; a first valve 31 fluidly connected to the rear of the high-pressure compressor of the aircraft engine 200 to introduce high-pressure, high-temperature gas from the inner bypass duct; a third valve 33 fluidly connected to the middle of the high-pressure compressor of the aircraft engine 200 to introduce medium-pressure gas from the inner bypass duct; a second valve 32 regulating the pressure of the gas from the first valve 31 and the third valve 33; a precooler 7 mixing the cool air from the fan inlet 2 and the high-temperature gas from the second valve 32; and a fan air valve 34 controlling the flow rate of the cool air from the fan inlet 2 to adjust the gas temperature in the precooler 7.

[0052] The bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly 100 uses a pipeline network to deliver gas. Specifically, a first pipeline 4 connects to the fan inlet 2, the fan air valve 34, and the precooler 7 to deliver cool air; a second pipeline 5 connects to the aircraft engine 200, the first valve 31, the second valve 32, and the precooler to deliver high-temperature, high-pressure gas; and a third pipeline 6 connects to the aircraft engine 200, the third valve 33, and the second pipeline 5 to deliver medium-pressure gas. Furthermore, the bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly 100 also includes a bleed air duct 1 for introducing external bypass duct cool air to at least cool the first valve 31 and the second valve 32.

[0053] When the aircraft engine 200 is running, gas such as air enters the aircraft engine 200 through the fan 201 and is then divided into two parts: the bypass airflow and the internal airflow. The bypass airflow is always low-pressure, low-temperature gas and is directly discharged into the atmosphere through the bypass duct. The internal airflow flows through the internal duct and is pressurized by the low-pressure compressor and the high-pressure compressor. It then mixes with fuel in the combustion chamber to produce high-temperature, high-pressure gas. The gas is depressurized and expanded by the high-pressure turbine and the low-pressure turbine, and finally discharged into the atmosphere through the tail nozzle 203. Therefore, the gas flow direction through the aircraft engine 200 is from the fan 201 to the tail nozzle 203.

[0054] When bleed air is applied to the aircraft engine 200, cool air from the outer bypass duct enters through the fan inlet 2, flows along the first pipeline 4 through the fan air valve 34, and reaches the precooler 7; high-temperature, high-pressure gas from the high-pressure compressor flows along the second pipeline 5 through the first valve 31 and the second valve 32 to reach the precooler 7; medium-pressure gas from the high-pressure compressor flows along the third pipeline 6 through the third valve 33, and as the second pipeline 5 and the third pipeline 6 merge, it mixes with the high-temperature, high-pressure gas and flows through the second valve 32 and continues to flow along the second pipeline 5 to reach the precooler 7. Thus, the upstream and downstream relationships of the components in the bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly 100 are clear.

[0055] refer to Figure 1 The fan inlet 2 has a first end 21 and a second end 22 downstream of the first end 21. The first end 21 is attached to the fan casing 202 of the aircraft engine 200 to introduce cool air, and the second end 22 is connected to the first pipeline 4 to output the introduced cool air. Optionally, a bellows is provided on the first pipeline 4 adjacent to the fan inlet 2.

[0056] A bleed air duct 1 is provided to introduce cool air, which is then sprayed onto valves requiring external cooling. These valves are typically fluidly connected to the aircraft engine 200 via pipelines, particularly to the sections of the aircraft engine 200 containing high-temperature gases. Specifically, the inlet 17 of the bleed air duct 1 is located on the fan inlet 2 or the first pipeline 4, preferably near the second end 22 of the fan inlet 2. In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the inlet 17 of the bleed air duct 1 is located at the second end 22 of the fan inlet 2. However, in alternative embodiments, it is conceivable to place the inlet 17 of the bleed air duct 1 at a position on the first pipeline 4 near the second end 22 of the fan inlet 2.

[0057] Since the fan inlet 2 is typically designed to taper from the first end 21 to the second end 22, and the flow rate of the introduced cold air needs frequent adjustment to regulate the gas temperature in the precooler 7, the amount of cooling introduced by the fan inlet 2 is often greater than the required cooling, resulting in unstable air pressure in the fan inlet 2 and the first pipeline 4. Therefore, diverting the cold air introduced by the fan inlet 2 can alleviate the gas pressure in the first pipeline 4, while preventing the fan inlet 2 from introducing more cold air from the fan 201 of the aircraft engine 200 due to diversion, thereby avoiding any impact on the bypass efficiency of the aircraft engine 200.

[0058] The outlet of the bleed air pipe 1 is located near the valves that require cooling, so that the introduced cold air is sprayed onto these valves. If multiple valves require cooling, multiple outlets are provided. Preferably, multiple bleed air manifolds can be provided to further distribute the cold air in the bleed air pipe 1 to each valve that requires cooling. In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the first valve 31 (a high-pressure valve in this preferred embodiment) and the second valve 32 (a pressure regulating pipe valve in this preferred embodiment) require cooling because they transport high-temperature and high-pressure gas. Therefore, a first bleed air manifold 11 is provided to spray cold air onto the first valve 31 via the first outlet 13, and a second bleed air manifold 12 is provided to spray cold air onto the second valve 32 via the second outlet 14.

[0059] Preferably, nozzles are provided at each outlet to optimize the cooling air injection effect, shown in this preferred embodiment as a first nozzle 15 at the first outlet 13 and a second nozzle 16 at the second outlet 14. These nozzles can be configured to rotate and translate relative to the bleed pipe 1, particularly relative to its corresponding bleed manifold, to allow adjustment of the nozzle position according to the cooling effect required by the valve, thereby adjusting the intensity and range of the injected gas. The nozzles (first nozzle 15 and second nozzle 16 in this preferred embodiment) are preferably funnel-shaped to maximize the cooling air injection range and avoid uneven cooling of different parts of the outer surface of the valves (first valve 31 and second valve 32 in this preferred embodiment). Additionally, multiple nozzles or filters arranged in an array can be provided on the nozzles (including but not limited to first nozzle 15 and second nozzle 16) to prevent foreign matter inhaled by the fan 201 of the aircraft engine 200 from being sprayed onto the valves via the bleed pipe 1, thus avoiding adverse effects on component performance.

[0060] In addition, the diameter of the bleed pipe 1 and its bleed manifolds (such as the first bleed manifold 11 and the second bleed manifold 12) is preferably smaller than the diameter of the first pipeline 4 to avoid diverting too much cooling capacity and affecting the bleed efficiency of the fan inlet 2 and the first pipeline 4.

[0061] In addition, the bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly 100 also includes a controller 9 and multiple sensors, such as a bleed air pressure monitoring sensor 81 located in the third pipeline 6 and downstream of the third valve 33, a bleed air pressure sensor 82 located in the second pipeline 5 between the second valve 32 and the precooler, and a bleed air temperature sensor 83 located downstream of the precooler 7. The controller 9 is communicatively connected to these sensors and the first valve 31 and the second valve 32 to control the opening degree of the first valve 31 and the second valve 32 based on the information from these sensors, thereby regulating the flow rate of the bleed air.

[0062] The bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly of this utility model has an bleed air pipe installed at the fan air inlet to bleed air and cool the valve that needs to be cooled. This arrangement shares the excess cooling capacity introduced by the fan air inlet, solves the problem of the valve ventilation and cooling device affecting the efficiency of the engine's outer bypass duct in the prior art, and also solves the problem of pressure fluctuation caused by the formation of vortices in the fan air inlet due to gas swirl when the aircraft does not need cooling capacity when the fan air valve is closed.

[0063] As used herein, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” or any other variation thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a method, article, or apparatus that includes a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements and may also include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to the method, article, or apparatus.

[0064] This utility model is not limited to the above embodiments, which are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art, under the guidance of this utility model, can make any possible changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims. Therefore, any modifications, equivalent changes, and alterations made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of this utility model, without departing from its scope of protection, fall within the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly, the bleed air valve ventilation and cooling assembly drawing air from an aircraft engine, comprising: A fan air intake, the first end of which is attached to the fan casing of the aircraft engine, and the second end of which is opposite to the first end is connected to a first pipeline; At least one valve, the at least one valve being fluidly connected to the aircraft engine via a pipeline; Its features are, It also includes an air intake pipe, the inlet of which is located at the fan air intake or the first pipeline. The air intake pipe includes at least one outlet, which is arranged to inject gas into the at least one valve.

2. The ventilated cooling assembly with an air duct according to claim 1, characterized in that, The air intake tube includes at least one air intake manifold, and the at least one air intake manifold includes a corresponding outlet of the at least one outlet.

3. The ventilated cooling assembly with an air intake valve according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, It also includes at least one nozzle, which is mounted on a corresponding one of the at least one outlet, wherein the at least one nozzle is capable of rotational and translational movement relative to the air intake tube.

4. The ventilated cooling assembly with an air intake valve according to claim 3, characterized in that, Each of the at least one nozzle is trumpet-shaped.

5. The ventilated cooling assembly with an air intake valve according to claim 3, characterized in that, Each of the at least one nozzle is configured as an array of multiple nozzle holes or a filter.

6. The ventilated cooling assembly with an air vent valve according to claim 3, characterized in that, The at least one valve includes a first valve and a second valve, the at least one bleed air manifold includes a first bleed air manifold and a second bleed air manifold, the at least one outlet includes a first outlet and a second outlet, and the at least one nozzle includes a first nozzle and a second nozzle, wherein... The first bleed manifold includes a first outlet, through which gas is injected into the first valve via a first nozzle. The second bleed manifold includes a second outlet, through which gas is injected into the second valve via a second nozzle.

7. The ventilated cooling assembly with an air vent valve according to claim 1, characterized in that, The air intake pipe is attached to the second end of the fan air intake.

8. The ventilated cooling assembly with an air intake valve according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second end of the air intake pipe, near the air inlet of the fan, is attached to the first pipeline.

9. The ventilated cooling assembly with an air intake valve according to claim 6, characterized in that, The first valve is a high-pressure valve, and the second valve is a pressure regulating shut-off valve.

10. The ventilated cooling assembly with an air intake valve according to claim 1, characterized in that, The diameter of the air intake pipe is smaller than the diameter of the first pipeline.

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