Cross-fire Tube Mounting Assembly for Gas Turbine Combustor
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cross-fire tubes in gas turbine combustor assemblies can interfere with airflow, adversely affecting combustion and turbine efficiency by disrupting the air flow to the combustor head end.
Innovation Solution
A combustor assembly design that includes a cross-fire tube positioned within a passage in the liner and a flow sleeve with a retention clip to secure the tube against the liner, ensuring fluid communication between adjacent combustors while minimizing airflow disruption, using a telescoping tube configuration and biasing members to maintain the tube's position without substantial turbulence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a cross-fire tube is installed to provide fluid communication between adjacent combustors, then ignition reliability is improved by enabling spark ignition to propagate between chambers, but airflow to the combustor head end is disrupted, adversely affecting combustion efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The cross-fire tube assembly is segmented into multiple components: the cross-fire tube itself, a retention clip with a window, and a biasing member. This segmentation allows the tube to be positioned precisely within the liner passage while the retention clip secures it without disrupting airflow, and the biasing member maintains proper positioning without interfering with combustor head end airflow patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The retention clip acts as an intermediary component between the cross-fire tube and the liner. It provides a mounting mechanism that secures the tube in place while its windowed design allows airflow to pass through, mediating between the need for secure tube positioning and the need to maintain unobstructed airflow to the combustor head end.
2Ease of operation
If a cross-fire tube is positioned within the liner passage, then fluid communication between combustors is achieved, but the tube may interfere with air flow to the combustor head end
Solution Approach 1:
The retention clip is designed with a window in specific locations to allow airflow to pass through. This local modification creates zones of different flow characteristics - the clip structure provides secure mounting in areas where obstruction is acceptable, while the windowed regions maintain airflow pathways, thus applying local quality to resolve the contradiction between secure positioning and minimal airflow disruption.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a retention mechanism is added to secure the cross-fire tube, then tube positioning stability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retention clip and biasing member are combined into an integrated assembly that secures the cross-fire tube. The retention clip provides mechanical attachment through the windowed structure, while the biasing member (spring or elastomeric element) is incorporated to maintain proper tube positioning. This merging of functions into a single integrated component achieves stable tube positioning without requiring multiple separate fastening devices, thus limiting the increase in device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
According to one aspect of the invention, a combustor assembly for a pair of adjacent combustors includes a first passage formed in a liner of a first combustor and a flow sleeve disposed outside the liner of the first combustor, wherein the flow sleeve includes a window and a second passage aligned with the first passage. The assembly also includes a cross-fire tube disposed in the first passage to provide fluid communication between the first combustor and a second combustor and a retention clip disposed through the window to urge the cross-fire tube against an outer surface of the liner to enable the cross-fire tube to receive fluid through the first passage.