Open Cycle Engine Rotor Assembly with Pressure Gain Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gas turbine engines face inefficiencies due to limited compressor and turbine efficiencies, high material temperature constraints, and increased costs associated with complex cooling methods, which restrict their application range and efficiency, especially in smaller sizes.
Innovation Solution
A rotor assembly for an open cycle gas turbine engine with a pressure gain rotor design that includes compression and expansion passages, combustion chambers, and an external turbine, utilizing a fibre reinforced polymer composite and ceramic materials to enhance efficiency and reduce costs, while allowing for high combustion temperatures and various fuel options.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional gas turbine engines use traditional compressor and turbine designs, then they can achieve basic power output, but their efficiency is limited due to material temperature constraints and complex cooling requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor utilizes composite construction with fibre reinforced polymer composite materials combined with ceramic materials, enabling the structure to withstand high combustion temperatures without requiring complex cooling systems. This composite approach allows the engine to operate at higher temperatures while maintaining structural integrity, thereby improving thermodynamic efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the combustion chamber from the rotating rotor assembly and places it in a stationary position. This separation allows the rotor to focus solely on compression and expansion functions while the stationary combustion chamber can be optimized for high temperature operation without imposing thermal constraints on the rotating components, thus improving overall engine efficiency.
2Power
If gas turbine engines are designed for high power output, then they achieve sufficient power, but their size and cost increase, making them unsuitable for smaller applications
Solution Approach 1:
The engine is segmented into distinct functional modules: a rotating rotor assembly for compression and expansion, and a stationary combustion chamber. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and enables modular scaling, making the engine suitable for a wide range of power outputs from small to large applications without requiring complete redesign.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor rotates at high speeds to dynamically compress and expand gases, enabling compact design for high power density. The dynamic rotation allows the engine to achieve high power output in a small volume by utilizing centrifugal forces and rapid gas flow, making it suitable for both small and large scale applications.
3Productivity
If conventional gas turbines use traditional rotor designs, then they achieve basic compression, but their complexity increases with multiple stages and components
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor combines multiple functions into a single integrated component: it performs both compression (during rotation) and expansion (during reverse rotation or controlled deceleration) of the working gas. This merging of compression and expansion functions into one rotating assembly eliminates the need for separate compressor and turbine stages, reducing structural complexity while maintaining high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor serves multiple purposes: compressing air during rotation, containing the working gas, and facilitating heat transfer. The universal design of the rotor as both compressor and expander reduces the number of components needed, simplifying the overall engine structure while achieving efficient gas compression and expansion.
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 achieves high efficiency and reduced NOx emissions, enabling the engine to operate efficiently across a wider range of power outputs and sizes, with improved cost-effectiveness and flexibility in fuel usage.
Implementation Method 1
a rotor which rotates about a rotor axis inside a windage reducing casing, and which rotor contains at least one compression passage that provides a conduit for air to flow from one or more air inlets at or near the rotor axis to at least one combustion chamber distal the rotor axis
Implementation Method 2
in which the air is heated by combustion with a fuel
Implementation Method 3
an expansion passage connected to each said combustion chamber through which the combustion gases expand to exit the rotor
Data Source
AI summary
A rotor assembly for an engine, comprising: a rotor, supported on bearings for axial rotation, a rotor portion forming a compression passage extending outwards from the axis, gases entering the rotor through inlets at the axis and flowing outwards through the compression passage; a combustion chamber supported within the compression passage near the maximum radius of the rotor having a closed outer end and combustion chamber gases inlets through which gases enter the combustion chamber, each combustion chamber having a fuel inlet, and; one or more expansion passages in fluidic connection with and extending radially inwards from the combustion chamber within a compression passage and fluidically connecting at or near the rotor axis to a combustion gas outlet tube that extends along the rotor axis, combustion gases created by combustion of fuel with inlet gases within the combustion chamber expanding as they flow inwards through the expansion passage.