Annular Combustor Stiffening Plates and Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine combustors face challenges in reducing complexity, material consumption, and maintaining mechanical stiffness while ensuring efficient air distribution for cooling and combustion, with existing designs often requiring multiple components and complex configurations.
Innovation Solution
An annular combustor design featuring a single hood with stiffening plates and a combustor separating wall arrangement that provides structural stability, efficient air distribution, and easy maintenance access, utilizing a sealed annular housing with dedicated passages for fluid ingress and egress, and incorporating elongated effusion cooling holes for effective cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single hood is used to house all burners in an annular combustor, then device complexity is reduced and number of components is reduced, but mechanical stiffness may be insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The single hood is segmented by introducing stiffening ribs that divide the hollow space into multiple sections. This segmentation provides structural reinforcement while maintaining the integrated single-hood design, resolving the contradiction between component reduction and mechanical stiffness requirements.
2Loss of substance
If material consumption is reduced in the combustor, then cost is reduced, but mechanical strength and structural stability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The hood is designed as a thin-walled hollow structure with integrated stiffening ribs. This allows the use of minimal material while maintaining structural integrity through the rib reinforcement, achieving both material reduction and structural stability.
3Reliability
If the hood is designed as a sealed structure with dedicated passages, then fluid distribution control is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hood serves multiple functions simultaneously: it houses all burners, acts as a plenum for air distribution, provides structural support through stiffening ribs, and controls fluid flow through integrated dedicated passages. This multi-functionality achieves reliable fluid distribution without increasing overall device complexity.
4Temperature
If cooling passages are integrated into the hood structure, then cooling efficiency is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Cooling passages are integrated directly into the hood structure, allowing compressed fluid to be distributed efficiently to cooling locations. The passages are formed as integral features of the hood during manufacturing, achieving effective cooling while minimizing additional manufacturing steps.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design achieves a simplified, stable, and efficient combustor arrangement with reduced material usage, effective air distribution for cooling, and easy maintenance, while maintaining reliable combustion performance.
Implementation Method 1
The combustor arrangement further comprises a plurality of stiffening plates, each arranged within the annular housing
Implementation Method 2
a substantial demand of air may also be needed for cooling a burner tip or cooling a combustion chamber wall or liner
Implementation Method 3
The annular space is arranged to guide a compressed fluid
Implementation Method 4
incorporating elongated effusion cooling holes for effective cooling
Implementation Method 5
all reconfigurations of a combustor design that tries to meet the above defined boundary conditions should not negatively affect its primary function, a stable and reliable combustion
Data Source
AI summary
A combustor arrangement, the combustor arrangement being annular and being arranged about an axis, the axis defining an axial direction, having an annular housing to house a plurality of burners and an annular combustion chamber, the burners arranged circumferentially about the axis inside the annular housing, wherein an annular space is defined between the housing, the burners and the annular combustion chamber, the annular space arranged to guide a compressed fluid. A plurality of stiffening plates, each arranged within the annular housing, wherein two adjacent ones of the burners are separated by one of the stiffening plates. A combustor separating wall arrangement separates the annular space from the annular combustion chamber provides openings for the burners. The stiffening plates are arranged angled and connected to the combustor separating wall arrangement and two boundary walls of the housing, and further plates extend into the annular space.