Gas Turbine Combustor Heat Shield and Flow Sleeve Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Combustor components in gas turbines frequently suffer from heat-related damage due to high interior temperatures during normal operations.
Innovation Solution
A combustor design featuring an annular liner, a flow sleeve, an air extraction port, and a heat shield with protrusions that form annular flow spaces to shield the liner from heat damage, allowing for efficient air removal and heat dissipation through mixing holes, with the heat shield acting as a sacrificial component for cost-effective maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a heat shield is introduced to protect the liner from heat damage, then the liner is protected from thermal damage, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heat shield is nested within the liner structure, with the flow sleeve positioned between the heat shield and the outer environment. This nested arrangement allows multiple protective and functional components to occupy the same spatial envelope, providing thermal protection while managing complexity through integrated design rather than separate additive components.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow sleeve serves multiple functions: it provides a structural framework, facilitates air extraction through ports, enables cooling flow passage, and supports the heat shield assembly. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each function, thereby managing overall device complexity while achieving thermal protection.
2Temperature
If air extraction ports are added to remove hot air, then heat dissipation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The air extraction ports are merged into the flow sleeve structure, combining the cooling function with the existing structural and flow management components. This integration allows hot air removal capability to be added without requiring a completely separate extraction system, thereby improving temperature management while limiting the increase in device complexity.
3Ease of repair
If the liner is protected as a sacrificial component, then maintenance costs are reduced, but the reliability of the protective function decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The protective system is segmented into modular components (heat shield, flow sleeve, liner) that can be independently maintained or replaced. The heat shield and flow sleeve can be removed and replaced as a unit without replacing the entire liner assembly, reducing maintenance costs while maintaining protective function reliability through systematic component replacement.
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 effectively reduces heat-related damage to combustor components by using a heat shield that can be frequently replaced, minimizing maintenance costs and time, while maintaining efficient combustion zone operation.
Implementation Method 1
a shield, having a third mixing hole defined therein at the second axial position, the shield being disposed to shield the liner
Implementation Method 2
a flow sleeve, having a second mixing hole defined therein at a second axial position, the flow sleeve surrounding the liner to form a first flow space
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
A combustor 1 within which a combustion zone 2 is defined is provided and includes an annular liner 10 having a first mixing hole 11 defined therein at a first axial position 14, a flow sleeve 20, having a second mixing hole 21 defined therein at a second axial position 24, the flow sleeve 20 surrounding the liner 10 to form a first flow space at an exterior of the liner 10, a port 40, coupled to the flow sleeve 20 at the second axial position 24, which is configured to remove air from the first flow space 30 via the second mixing hole 21, and a shield 50, having a third mixing hole 51 defined therein at the second axial position 24, the shield 50 being disposed to shield the liner 10 and to form a second flow space 60 within the liner 10, which is communicable with the combustion zone 2 via the third mixing hole 51 and with the first flow space 30 via the first mixing hole 11.