General Electric Company

Ahmad Safi

Mahmut Faruk Aksit

Abdul-Azeez Mohammed-Fakir

Ning Fang

Srikanth Vedantam

Brian Peter Arness

Iain Robertson Kellock

Norman Arnold Turnquist

Osman Saim Dinc

Mehmet Demiroglu

John Ellington Greene

Richard Robert Larsen

Hamid Reza Sarshar

Gayle Hobbs Goetze

Wei-Ming Chi

Gerald Burt Kliman

Gary Michael Itzel

Biao Fang

Anthony Holmes Furman

Imdad Imam

Frederick George Baily

Roger Neal Johnson

Mark Edward Burnett

Gilbert Joseph Dean

David Michael Prowse

James Hopkins

Steven Wayne Russell

Thomas Paul Martin

A seal assembly includes an annular hanger having a supporting ledge. An arcuate seal segment includes an outer rail mounted on the ledge and supporting an inner seal. An arcuate carrier is mounted between the hanger and the rail, and includes a piston mounted in a bore. The bore is selectively pressurized to deploy the piston between the hanger and rail for temporarily retracting the seal segment from an adjacent rotor component.

Active seal assembly

An actuated seal assembly for controlling flow in a fluid path in turbomachinery comprising a seal and a seal carrier coupled to the seal is provided. A displacement apparatus is coupled to the seal carrier for positioning the seal so as to control the flow in the fluid path. In addition, a drive system is provided for powering the displacement apparatus.

Actuated brush seal

In a gas turbine, a supplemental seal is provided between an annular axially facing sealing surface of a nozzle support ring and an annular axially opposed sealing surface formed by circumferentially adjacent nozzle segments. Each segment carries an inner rail mounting a chordal hinge seal which engages the sealing surface of the nozzle support ring. That seal is supplemented by a generally arcuate V-shaped seal between the sealing surfaces which opens radially inwardly toward a high pressure leakage path past the chordal hinge seal. The supplemental seal is initially compressed and maintained in a compressed condition during installation by application of a solder. At operating temperature, the solder melts away, releasing the supplemental seal to seal between the nozzle support ring and nozzle segments.

Supplemental seal for the chordal hinge seals in a gas turbine and methods of installation

In a gas turbine having a chordal hinge seal between an inner rail of each nozzle segment and an annular axially facing sealing surface of a nozzle support ring, a supplemental seal is disposed between the support ring and inner bands of the nozzle segments on a lower pressure side of the chordal hinge seals. To minimize or prevent leakage flow across the chordal hinge seals, a generally U-shaped supplemental seal having reversely folded U-shaped marginal portions is received in a cavity formed in the axially extending sealing surface of the inner rail of the nozzle segment. At operating conditions, the marginal portions seal against the base of the cavity and the annular sealing surface of the nozzle support ring to prevent leakage flow past the chordal hinge seal from entering the hot gas path. To install the supplemental seal, the seal is first compressed and maintained in a compressed state by applying one or more wraps about the supplemental seal or an epoxy to secure the seal when compressed in the cavity. At operating temperatures, the retention means releases the seal to engage marginal portions against opposite sealing surfaces of the nozzle segment and support ring.

Supplemental seal for the chordal hinge seals in a gas turbine

In a gas turbine having a chordal hinge seal between an inner rail of each nozzle segment and an annular axially facing sealing surface of a nozzle support ring, a supplemental seal is disposed between the support ring and inner rail of the nozzle segment on a lower pressure side of the chordal hinge seal. The supplemental seal comprises a segmented annular composite tubular woven compliant seal disposed in a cavity along a sealing surface of the inner rail of the segment. The seal bears against the annular sealing surface of the nozzle support ring, which compresses the seal. Because of the compliant nature of the seal, a supplemental seal is formed on the low pressure side of the chordal hinge seal.

In a gas turbine including a nozzle retaining ring having a first annular axially sealing surface and a shroud segment having an axial registering second surface. To minimize or prevent leakage flow between the retaining ring and shroud segments, a generally U-shaped seal having reversely folded U-shaped marginal portions is received in a cavity formed in the second surface. At operating conditions, the marginal portions seal against the base of the cavity and the first surface of the retaining ring to prevent leakage flow past the retaining ring/shroud segment interface. To install the seal, the seal body is first compressed and maintained in a compressed state by applying one or more wraps about the seal body and an epoxy is used to secure the seal when compressed in the cavity. At operating temperatures, the retention means releases the seal to engage marginal portions against opposite sealing surfaces of the shroud segments and retaining ring.

Seal for gas turbine nozzle and shroud interface

Upper and lower halves of the inner barrel of a compressor for a turbine are bolted to one another along a horizontal midline joint with metal-to-metal surface contact. Elongated grooves are provided in the margin of one of the barrel halves. Elongated composite tubular woven seals are provided in the grooves, the seals having a diameter in excess of the depth of the grooves. The seals comprise an inner woven metal core surrounded by an annular silica fiber layer, in turn surrounded by a metal foil with an outer protective covering of a braided stainless steel. Upon joining the upper and lower halves, the compliant seal is crushed within the groove, maintaining a seal between the barrel halves in the event of warpage of the compressor casing during turbine operation.

Composite tubular woven seal for an inner compressor discharge case

Upper and lower halves of the inner barrel of a compressor for a turbine are bolted to one another along a horizontal midline joint with metal-to-metal surface contact. Elongated grooves are provided in the engaging surfaces, with the upper groove having a depth greater than the depth of the lower groove. Elongated seals are provided in the grooves, including an elongated shim with a metallic woven covering on opposite sides, and margins having sealing edges. The depth of the seal is equal to or less than the depth of the upper groove and an adherent material maintains the seal in the upper groove during installation. In operation, the adherent material dissolves at temperatures above ambient and the seal drops by gravity to bear against the walls of the grooves in response to high pressure air leaking through any gap at the horizontal midline joint.

Cloth seal for an inner compressor discharge case and methods of locating the seal in situ

In a gas turbine including a nozzle retaining ring having a first annular axially facing sealing surface and a shroud segment having an axial registering second surface. To minimize or prevent leakage flow between the retaining ring and shroud segments, a generally U-shaped seal having reversely folded U-shaped marginal portions is received in a cavity formed in the second surface. At operating conditions, the marginal portions seal against the base of the cavity and the first surface of the retaining ring to prevent leakage flow past the retaining ring/shroud segment interface. To install the seal, the seal body is first compressed and maintained in a compressed state by applying one or more wraps about the seal body and an epoxy is used to secure the seal when compressed in the cavity. At operating temperatures, the retention means releases the seal to engage marginal portions against opposite sealing surfaces of the shroud segments and retaining ring.

Method of forming and installing a seal

In a gas turbine having a chordal hinge seal between an inner rail of each nozzle segment and an annular axially facing sealing surface of a nozzle support ring, a flexible supplemental seal is disposed between the support ring and inner band of the nozzle segment radially inwardly of the chordal hinge seal. To minimize or prevent leakage flow across the chordal hinge seal, the flexible seal extends between the inner rail and the sealing surface of the support ring radially inwardly of the chordal hinge seal. A first margin of the flexible seal engages in a linear groove carried by the inner rail. The opposite margin extends arcuately in sealing engagement with the nozzle support ring.

In a gas turbine having a chordal hinge seal between an inner rail of each nozzle segment and an annular axially facing sealing surface of a nozzle support ring, a supplemental seal is disposed between the support ring and inner rail of the nozzle segment on a high pressure side of the chordal hinge seal. The supplemental seal includes a pair of sheet metal shims overlaid by a woven metallic cloth supported by a bracket secured to the nozzle support ring. The radially outer end of the cloth seal bears against a back side of the inner rail. The shims of the legs of the supplemental seal are slit along their distal margin and staggered in a circumferential direction relative to one another to provide flexibility and effective sealing engagement with the inner rail.

Supplemental seal for the chordal hinge seal in a gas turbine

In a gas turbine having a chordal hinge seal between an inner rail of each nozzle segment and an annular axially facing sealing surface of a nozzle support ring, a supplemental seal is disposed between the support ring and inner band of the nozzle segment on a high pressure side of the chordal hinge seal. The supplemental seal includes a pair of sheet metal shims overlaid by a woven metallic cloth supported by a bracket secured to the inner margin of the inner rail. The radially inner end of the cloth seal bears against the annular sealing surface of the nozzle support ring. The shims of the legs of the supplemental seal are slit along their distal margin and staggered circumferentially relative to one another to provide flexibility and effective sealing engagement with the nozzle support ring.

In a gas turbine having a chordal hinge seal between an inner rail of each nozzle segment and an annular axially facing sealing surface of a nozzle support ring, a supplemental seal is disposed between the support ring and inner rail of each nozzle segment radially inwardly of the chordal hinge seal. To minimize or prevent leakage flow across the chordal hinge seal, the seal is formed of flexible sheet metal which extends between the inner rail and a seat projecting from the annular sealing surface of the support ring radially inwardly of the chordal hinge seal. A first margin of the flexible seal engages in an arcuate groove carried by the inner rail. The opposite margin extends arcuately in sealing engagement along the seat carried by the nozzle support ring.

A compliant woven tubular seal is provided in an arcuate cavity opening through an axial face of a plurality of shroud segments in opposition to a nozzle retaining ring. The annular composite tubular woven compliant seal includes a stainless steel inner metal core surrounded by an annular layer of silica fiber. Surrounding the silica fiber is a metal foil which prevents flow past the supplemental seal. An outer wear-resistant braiding serves as a protective covering and wear surface.

Composite tubular woven seal for gas turbine nozzle and shroud interface

In a gas turbine having a chordal hinge seal between an inner rail of each nozzle segment and an annular axially facing sealing surface of a nozzle support ring, a supplemental seal is disposed between the support ring and inner rail of the nozzle segment on a high pressure side of the chordal hinge seal. The supplemental seal includes a pair of sheet metal shims overlaid by a woven metallic cloth. A bracket and a portion of the supplemental seal are received in a groove along a radial inward facing surface of the inner rail. The projecting margin of the cloth seal bears against the annular sealing surface of the nozzle support ring. The shims of the distal margin of the supplemental seal are slit and staggered in a chord-wise direction relative to one another to provide flexibility and effective sealing engagement with the nozzle support ring.

Growing community of inventors

Troy, NY, United States of America

Ahmad Safi