General Electric Company

Edward John Sharrow

Douglas Carl Hofer

Daniel Ross Predmore

Norman Douglas Lathrop

Daniel Mark Brown

Craig Daniel Ivancic

Robert James Sherwood

Xiaoqing Zheng

Stephen Roger Swan

William Patrick Rusch

Kenneth Michael Koza

Raymond Kenneth Overbaugh, Jr

Edward Jay Cooper

Hemanth A Kumar

Kumar Navjot

Christen A Vitrone

Karthik Gopal Rao Agara

Scott William Blackwell

Carol Ann Sterantino

John Keeling

David Montgomery Ritz

Peter John Eizenzopf

Kristin Segreto

Rotor support structures for industrial machines are disclosed. The support structures may include a rigid base component including a top portion, a slide plate positioned above the rigid base component, and a bearing housing for a rotor, coupled to the slide plate. The bearing housing and the slide plate may be configured to slide or move over the rigid base component. The support structure may also include a plurality of retention blocks coupled to the bearing housing. Each of the plurality of retention blocks may include a moveable retention pin positioned through each of the plurality of retention blocks. The axial movement of the bearing housing and slide plate may compensate for thermal expansion of a turbine shell and/or may reduce vibrations of the rotor and bearing housing during operation of the industrial machines.

Support structures for rotors

A standard for supporting a turbine rotor and a turbine shell includes a bearing block including a housing enclosing bearing surfaces engageable by the turbine rotor. Turbine shell-arm supports are located on opposite sides of the housing, the turbine shell-arm supports each having a horizontal and one or more vertical surfaces adapted to be engaged by support arms of a turbine shell enclosing at least a portion of the turbine. An internal cooling/heating circuit is arranged to simultaneously cool or heat the bearing block and the turbine shell-arm supports to thereby reduce differential thermal growth characteristics of the turbine rotor and turbine shell.

Cooling circuit for reducing thermal growth differential of turbine rotor and shell supports

A support arrangement for an exhaust hood. The inner casing in the inventive arrangement is supported directly by the curb foundation. As a result, the effect of pressure changes in the exhaust hood are eliminated and the effect of temperature changes of the exhaust hood are reduced relative to the positioning of the inner casing and the rotor within it. Shaft bearings may be outside the exhaust hood located in a standard directly on the foundation. Rotor end packing may also be attached to the standard. The exhaust hood can be a much simpler design with less structural supports and less fabrication time. Easier maintenance is facilitated because the shaft bearings are not tucked under the exhaust hood and the end packing can be removed without removal of a large section of the exhaust hood.

Low-pressure steam turbine hood and inner casing supported on curb foundation

An extraction unit for a steam turbine includes an end plate mounted downstream of a selected stage of a steam turbine, the end plate sealing the selected stage from the atmosphere, and an extraction pipe passing through the end plate for extracting steam from the selected stage.

Extraction unit for turbine and related method

An arrangement and method adapted for providing a stiffened lower exhaust hood for a steam turbine. Sidewalls of the lower exhaust hood may taper inward between a horizontal joint and an inlet to a condenser for the steam turbine, providing an enhanced flow path for the exhaust steam. Stiffening of the sidewalls may be provided by stiffening bends, stiffening curvature, and external stiffening beams on the wall plate of the sidewalls of the lower exhaust hood, permitting reduction or elimination of structural supports within the exhaust hood, which degrade exhaust steam flow.

Shaped and stiffened lower exhaust hood sidewalls

A method for assembling a power system is provided. The method includes coupling a first turbine and second turbine together with a coupling that extends between a first rotor of a first turbine and a second rotor of the second turbine, and such that the first turbine has fluid flow along a first flow path, and the second turbine has fluid flow along a second flow path. The method further includes fixedly coupling an outer wall to the first turbine that directs fluid flow from the first flow path towards the second flow path.

Methods and apparatus for assembling turbine engines

A casing ( ) for a steam turbine section has a housing ( ) installed therein for a bearing supporting a rotor for buckets. A housing support structure ( ) includes a pair of horizontally extending struts (T -T ) extending from a side ( ) of the casing to the housing and a second pair of struts (T , not shown) extending from the opposite side of the casing to the housing. The struts are in fluid communication with the interior of the housing and the atmosphere and both support the housing within the casing and vent the interior of the housing. Vertical struts (T -T ) also extend between the casing and the housing. A foundation plate ( ) is installed beneath the casing, and a pair of gibs ( ) are installed on opposite sides of the casing along the longitudinal centerline thereof to strengthen the casing and prevent tilting of components within the casing when a vacuum within the casing is present.

Support structure for stream turbine bearing housing

The shafts of upstream and downstream turbines are interconnected by a coupling. A diffuser is provided in an intermediate cavity between the upstream and downstream turbines to recover kinetic energy, as well as minimize or eliminate windage and spinning losses resultant from exposure of the coupling to the flowpath along the turbines. A radial entry inlet provides a supplemental fluid admission into the intermediate cavity, the admission being turned axially and circumferentially for joining with the flow exiting the upstream turbine for combined flow to the downstream turbine.

Diffusing coupling cover for axially joined turbines

A cover is provided to conceal the forward-facing step defined by the protrusion of the first stage diaphragm into the LP inlet. The cover presents a smoothly contoured surface to the flowing fluid in both radial and circumferential directions and thus reduces energy loss of the working fluid, thereby to increase performance of the LP turbine.

Growing community of inventors

Scotia, NY, United States of America

Edward John Sharrow