Turbine Blade Cooling via Forward Wheelspace Air Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current gas turbine engine cooling methods often waste cooling air by using a single dedicated delivery circuit, leading to increased purge flow and reduced thermal management efficiency, which affects specific fuel consumption.
Innovation Solution
The method involves taking air from the forward wheelspace and mixing it with fresh cooling air to deliver it to the trailing edge cooling circuit of the turbine blade, reducing the need for excess purge flow by utilizing excess air from the forward wheelspace cavity, thereby improving cooling efficiency and specific fuel consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single dedicated delivery circuit is used for cooling air, then the cooling system is simple to implement, but cooling efficiency decreases and purge flow increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is divided into two separate delivery circuits: a first delivery circuit that delivers cooled cooling air directly to the leading edge cooling circuit, and a second delivery circuit that delivers a mixture of cooled cooling air and forward wheelspace air to the trailing edge cooling circuit. This segmentation allows optimized cooling efficiency for different blade sections while managing thermal management effectiveness.
2Reliability
If excess cooled cooling air is used for cooling, then thermal management effectiveness is ensured, but specific fuel consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of discarding excess cooled cooling air as purge flow, the invention recovers forward wheelspace air (which would otherwise be wasted) and incorporates it into the second delivery circuit. This recovery approach maintains thermal management effectiveness by ensuring adequate cooling air supply to the trailing edge while reducing the total amount of cooled cooling air needed from the compressor, thereby improving specific fuel consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The forward wheelspace air, which is naturally present in the engine compartment, is utilized to supplement the cooling air supply. This self-service approach allows the cooling system to use readily available air resources rather than relying entirely on dedicated cooled cooling air from the compressor, reducing the energy penalty associated with compressing and cooling excess air.
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 approach reduces the amount of cooled cooling air required, leading to improved specific fuel consumption and enhanced thermal management within the gas turbine engine by effectively utilizing air from the forward wheelspace to cool the trailing edge of the turbine blade.
Implementation Method 1
providing a first flow of air through a primary cooling circuit... delivering a portion of the first flow of air to a leading edge of the blade... delivering a portion of the second flow of air to a trailing edge of the blade
Implementation Method 2
cooling the first flow of air... providing the first flow of air through a primary cooling circuit
Data Source
AI summary
A gas turbine engine defining an axial direction and a radial direction, and including a primary cooling circuit configured to receive a first flow of air; and a turbine rotor comprising a rotor blade, the rotor blade defining at least in part a forward wheelspace that is located forward of the rotor blade, the forward wheelspace configured to receive a second flow of air, the rotor blade further defining: a first cooling circuit internal to the rotor blade and in fluid communication with the primary cooling circuit for receiving the first flow of air from the primary cooling circuit; a second cooling circuit internal to the rotor blade and in fluid communication with the forward wheelspace for receiving a portion of the second flow of air from the forward wheelspace; and a means for drawing a portion of the second flow of air into the second cooling circuit.