Closed Loop Cooling System for Gas Turbine Compressor Vanes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engines face challenges in effectively managing thermal loads within the compressor stages, necessitating improved cooling methods to enhance thermal capacity and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A closed loop cooling system utilizing heat pipes and a heat exchanger is implemented, where heat is drawn from stationary vanes and transferred to a coolant, which is then cooled through a heat exchanger using bypass air flow, allowing for efficient heat rejection and circulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional cooling methods are used in gas turbine engines, then the engine can operate, but the thermal capacity of the compressor is insufficient and heat management efficiency is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces heat pipes as intermediary devices to transfer heat from the compressor vanes to the coolant. The heat pipes act as efficient thermal mediators that conduct heat away from critical components, enabling effective thermal management without directly cooling the vanes with coolant, thus resolving the contradiction between thermal capacity and heat management efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical cooling systems with a thermally-driven system using heat pipes and phase-change coolant. This substitution enables more efficient heat transfer mechanisms, improving both thermal capacity and heat management efficiency simultaneously
2Reliability
If heat is drawn from stationary vanes using heat pipes and routed through a heat exchanger, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cooling system into distinct functional modules: heat pipes for heat extraction from vanes, a heat exchanger for heat rejection, and a coolant circulation loop. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while maintaining overall system reliability, and the modular structure helps manage complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The coolant serves multiple functions: it absorbs heat from heat pipes, carries thermal energy to the heat exchanger, and releases heat to the environment. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, thereby improving cooling effectiveness while limiting the increase in system complexity
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
This method effectively increases the thermal capacity of the compressor, enabling better thermal management and cooling of critical engine components, thereby enhancing the overall performance and reliability of the gas turbine engine.
Implementation Method 1
drawing heat from at least one of the vanes with a heat pipe
Implementation Method 2
drawing heat from the at least one heat pipe by routing a liquid coolant by the at least one heat pipe
Implementation Method 3
routing the heated liquid coolant through a heat exchanger
Implementation Method 4
where the heat is rejected from the coolant to the bypass air to cool the coolant
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method of cooling a gas turbine engine including a core with a compressor section in which the compressor section includes a closed loop cooling circuit having a pump, at least one heat pipe extending from at least one of the stationary vanes, a heat exchanger located within the bypass air flow, and a coolant conduit passing fluidly coupled to the pump and heat exchanger and passing by the heat pipe. The pump pumps coolant through the coolant conduit to draw heat from the heat pipes into the coolant to form heated coolant, the heated coolant then passes through the heat exchanger, where the heat is rejected from the coolant to the bypass air to cool the coolant to form cooled coolant, which is then returned to the heat pipes.