Segmented Fuel Injector Circuits for Gas Turbine Combustion Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional staged fuel injection systems in gas turbine engines face inefficiencies due to unknown response times in filling fuel manifolds and lack of control over individual fuel stages, leading to suboptimal performance and maintenance issues.
Innovation Solution
A fuel injector design featuring a plurality of fuel circuits with independent control, each terminating at a metering orifice that can be activated independently, connected to a segmented manifold ring with individual valves for precise flow control, allowing for uniform spray patterns and flexible staging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional staged fuel injection systems are used with check or scheduling valves, then fuel flow rate can be increased at higher power levels, but the response time to fill empty fuel manifolds becomes unknown and suboptimal
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel injection system is segmented into multiple independent fuel circuits (first, second, third circuits) that can operate independently. Each circuit has its own metering orifice and can be controlled separately, allowing selective activation of fuel stages without requiring manifold filling operations, thus eliminating unknown response times while maintaining the ability to increase fuel flow rate at higher power levels.
2Quantity of substance
If conventional staged fuel injection systems are used with check or scheduling valves, then fuel flow rate can be increased at higher power levels, but control over individual fuel stages is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides fuel delivery into separate, independently controllable circuits with individual metering orifices. This segmentation enables precise control over each fuel stage (pilot, intermediate, main) while still achieving the required fuel flow rates at different power levels through selective combination of active circuits.
Solution Approach 2:
Each fuel circuit is designed with specific local characteristics including dedicated metering orifices with precise geometries and specific outlet orientations (30° to 60° angles). These localized quality differences enable each circuit to contribute differently to the overall spray pattern, allowing fine-tuned control of individual stages while maintaining uniform composite spray quality.
3Stability of the object's composition
If multiple fuel circuits with independent control are implemented, then uniform spray patterns can be achieved even with single circuit operation, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel injection system is divided into multiple independent circuits, each with its own metering orifice designed to produce uniform spray characteristics. This segmentation allows any single circuit to operate independently with uniform spray, while multiple circuits can combine their output for higher flow rates, achieving scalability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple fuel circuits are merged into a common prefilming chamber and annular outlet orifice. The individual circuit outlets are oriented at 30° to 60° angles to the chamber circumference, and their sprays combine in the prefilming chamber to create a uniform annular spray pattern at the outlet, effectively hiding the complexity of multiple circuits behind a unified spray output.
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
This design enhances fuel staging by ensuring uniform spray patterns, reducing system complexity and weight, improving combustion control, and enabling quicker response to fuel control commands, while maintaining full fuel manifolds and optimizing performance and component life.
Implementation Method 1
Each metering orifice can open at an angle of 30° to 60° relative to the circumference of the prefilming chamber so that a substantially uniform spray can issue from the outlet orifice even if only one of the fuel circuits is active
Implementation Method 2
The nozzle body can define an airblast nozzle with an outer air circuit defined outboard of the prefilming chamber, and with an inner air circuit defined inboard of the prefilming chamber, for airblast injection of fuel from the outlet orifice
Data Source
AI summary
A fuel injector includes a feed arm with an inlet end and a nozzle body extending from the feed arm at an end opposite the inlet end. The nozzle body defines a prefilming chamber that opens into an annular outlet orifice for issuing a spray therefrom. A plurality of fuel circuits is defined from the inlet end of the feed arm to the prefilming chamber of the nozzle body. Each fuel circuit in the plurality of fuel circuits can include a single respective inlet opening at the inlet end of the feed arm, with a single respective conduit extending through the feed arm and nozzle body from the single respective inlet opening to a single respective outlet slot feeding into the prefilming chamber.