Gas Turbine Nozzle With Virtual Impactor Particle Separator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engines face reduced operational efficiency and lifespan due to particle contamination in cooling air, which clogs and obstructs turbine components, especially in environments with high airborne particles.
Innovation Solution
A nozzle assembly with a particle separator and virtual impactor that accelerates and separates the cooling fluid stream, using a flow accelerator and collector to remove particles from the cooling air, ensuring a clean fluid stream reaches the turbine components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If cooling air is supplied to turbine components, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but particle contamination causes clogging and reduced operational time
Solution Approach 1:
The particle separator is integrated into the cooling air supply system to remove particles from the cooling air before it enters the turbine components. This preliminary cleaning action prevents particle accumulation and clogging in advance, thereby maintaining cooling effectiveness over extended operational periods without requiring frequent maintenance or component replacement
2Temperature
If cooling air is supplied to turbine components, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but particle contamination causes obstruction of flow passages
Solution Approach 1:
The particle separator acts as an intermediary component between the cooling air source and the turbine components. It intercepts and removes particles from the cooling air stream before the particles can reach and obstruct the turbine component flow passages, thereby protecting the turbine components while maintaining cooling effectiveness
3Reliability
If particle separator is added to remove particles, then particle removal effectiveness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The particle separator is designed to perform multiple functions within a single integrated component: it separates particles from cooling air, directs cleaned air to turbine components, and manages particle disposal. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby maintaining particle removal effectiveness while minimizing increases in overall 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
Effectively removes particles from the cooling fluid, preventing clogging and maintaining turbine component efficiency and extending operational time by ensuring a clean cooling fluid stream.
Implementation Method 1
a flow accelerator with an accelerator inlet and an accelerator outlet, which is smaller in cross-sectional area than the accelerator inlet
Implementation Method 2
particles entrained in the cooling fluid stream that are primarily constrained by the momentum in the second portion of the cooling fluid stream
Data Source
AI summary
A nozzle assembly for a gas turbine engine includes at least one pair of fixed vanes to define a nozzle between the pair of fixed vanes. The vanes can have an interior chamber defining a cooling circuit with a particle separator located within the interior chamber. The particle separator, which can comprise a virtual impactor, can have an accelerator for accelerating fluid moving through the virtual impactor such that the flow path is divided into a major flow moving into the interior chamber and a minor flow moving into a particle collector defined within the virtual impactor. The accelerator accelerates the fluid such that particles within the fluid are carried by their momentum into the particle collector with the minor flow, removing the particles from the major flow of fluid moving into the interior chamber.