Inducer Seal with Integrated Slots for Rotor Shaft Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engine components, particularly the rotor shaft and wheel space, face high thermal stresses and potential creep deformation due to high temperatures along the hot gas path, leading to efficiency degradation and reduced lifetime.
Innovation Solution
An inducer seal with integrated inducer slots is designed to direct air flow with tangential velocity to cool the rotor shaft, using a ring plate with a circumferential channel and abradable seals, where the scoop-like shape of the slots creates a cooling air flow that reduces thermal stresses and deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If components are positioned along the hot gas path to increase efficiency, then operating temperatures can be increased, but thermal stresses and creep deformation increase
Solution Approach 1:
Cooling air is introduced as an intermediary substance between the hot gas path and the rotor shaft to transfer heat away from critical components. The inducer seal with integrated slots delivers this cooling air directly to the rotor shaft, acting as a thermal mediator that protects components from excessive temperatures while allowing the turbine to operate at higher temperatures for improved efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses pneumatic cooling by introducing compressed cooling air through the inducer seal structure. The circumferential channel and inducer slots form a pneumatic delivery system that transports cooling air from the compressor to the rotor shaft area, using fluid dynamics to achieve targeted cooling without mechanical contact
2Temperature
If cooling air flow is increased to reduce thermal stresses, then component temperature decreases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The inducer slots are integrated directly into the inducer seal structure, merging the sealing function with the cooling air delivery function. This combination eliminates the need for separate cooling air delivery components, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining effective cooling of the rotor shaft
Solution Approach 2:
The inducer seal performs multiple functions simultaneously: it provides sealing between the rotor shaft and stationary components, and it serves as the delivery mechanism for cooling air. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed in the cooling system
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 solution effectively cools the rotor shaft and surrounding components, reducing thermal expansion and creep deformation, thereby enhancing the operational efficiency and lifespan of gas turbine engine components.
Implementation Method 1
creating tangential velocity in the flow of air by the scoop-like shape of the inducer slots, and cooling the rotor shaft with the flow of air
Data Source
AI summary
The present application provides an inducer seal configured to provide a flow of air to a rotor shaft within a turbine of a gas turbine engine. The inducer seal includes a ring plate having an outer surface with a circumferential channel and an inner surface having an abradable seal. A number of inducer slots are positioned in the ring plate that extend from the outer surface to the inner surface such that the flow of air may pass therethrough in a tangential direction relative to rotation of the rotor shaft to cool the rotor shaft.