Combustor Cooling Panel Flow Guide Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engine combustor sections face high thermal loads due to increased operating temperatures and pressure ratios, which can shorten the operational life of components and require effective cooling methods to manage heat transfer across the combustor liner's panels.
Innovation Solution
The combustor liner incorporates a flow guide and heat augmentors to direct compressed gas over the panel, enhancing heat transfer and cooling by increasing the surface area and directing the gas flow in a desired manner, utilizing a triangular cross-section flow guide that turns and drives crossflow through heat augmentors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If compressed gas is directed across the inner panel to provide heat transfer and cooling, then the panel temperature is reduced, but the device complexity increases due to the need for flow guides and heat augmentors
Solution Approach 1:
The inner panel incorporates effusion holes distributed across its surface, allowing compressed gas to pass through directly at multiple locations. This porous structure enables uniform cooling across the panel without requiring complex external cooling channels or attachments, reducing device complexity while maintaining effective temperature control.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling function is segmented into multiple discrete effusion holes distributed across the panel surface, allowing localized cooling at specific hot spots rather than requiring a monolithic cooling system. This segmentation enables simpler, more targeted cooling architecture.
2Productivity
If the surface area of the panel is increased to enhance heat transfer, then cooling efficiency improves, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The effusion holes create an effective increase in heat transfer surface area by allowing gas flow through the panel thickness, adding internal surface area for heat exchange without increasing the external panel dimensions. This maintains compact geometry while enhancing cooling efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Heat transfer is extended from a two-dimensional surface exchange to a three-dimensional volume-based exchange through the effusion holes, allowing compressed gas to contact the panel on both sides simultaneously. This dimensional transition increases effective heat transfer area without complicating the external panel structure.
3Power
If operating temperatures and pressure ratios are increased to improve engine performance, then power output increases, but thermal loads on combustor components increase shortening operational life
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system utilizes compressed gas already present in the combustor environment, directing it through effusion holes in the inner panel to cool itself. This self-service approach eliminates the need for separate cooling fluid systems, reducing complexity while maintaining reliability under high power operating conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The high-temperature compressed gas, which would otherwise be a harmful thermal load on the panel, is converted into a beneficial cooling medium by directing it through the effusion holes. The same gas that carries combustion energy also provides the heat transfer mechanism to protect the panel, transforming a harmful factor into a protective function.
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 configuration effectively reduces the temperature of the panel by facilitating heat transfer from the panel to the compressed gas, improving cooling efficiency and potentially extending the operational life of combustor components.
Implementation Method 1
direct compressed gas across the inner panel to provide heat transfer from the panel to the compressed gas, thus cooling the panel
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A panel (150) for use with a shell (152) as a combustor liner (130) in a combustor section (26) of a gas turbine engine (20) includes a panel body having an outer surface (200) defining a plurality of effusion holes (220) for receiving the compressed gas to also be received in the combustion chamber (128) of the combustor section (26). The panel (150) further includes a flow guide (204) extending from the outer surface (200) of the panel body and configured to receive the compressed gas from an impingement hole (208) of the shell (152) and to direct the compressed gas over the outer surface (200) of the panel body towards the plurality of effusion holes (220).