General Electric Company

Howard L Foltz

Willard J Dodds

Keith K Taylor

Stanley Kevin Widener

Ely E Halila

Richard Wade Stickles

George E Cook

Thomas L MacLean

Steven C Steffens

A gas turbine engine combustor cooling system for imperforate non-metallic combustor liners has a wall positioned adjacent to the liners forming therewith a cavity. The wall has a plurality of inlets for admitting cooling air into the cavity and a plurality of outlets for exhausting the cooling air into a separate passageway after it impinges the liners. The exhausted cooling air is transferred upstream of the liner where it is combined with fuel for burning rather than discharged downstream as cooling film.

Combustor liner cooling system

A gas turbine engine combustor is provided with a combustor dome plate film cooling means having an annular slotted ring to provide a film starting means upstream of a multi-hole film cooled single wall metal dome plate which is annular in shape. One particular embodiment provides a starting slot in the form of a plurality of rings surrounding the edges of the air/fuel nozzle inlet apertures in the dome plate. The cooling holes are disposed in concentric circles about the apertures and angled along radii emanating from the center of the apertures. This produces a cooling film emanating radially from the ring like circular slots around each air/fuel nozzle inlet aperture in the dome plate. Another embodiment provides a starting slot in the form of circumferential rails circumferentially disposed about the inner and outer circumferential edges of dome plate. The cooling holes are arranged in two section, the first to feed a radially inward directed cooling film that is initiated from an outer starting slot on a radially outer circumferential edge of the plate. The second sections has film cooling holes angled radially outward to feed a radially outward directed cooling film emanating an inner starting slot on a radially inward circumferential edge of the plate.

Angled multi-hole film cooled single wall combustor dome plate

A gas turbine engine combustor liner having conventional dilution holes disposed therethrough and multi-hole film cooling holes to provide a cooling film on the hot side of the liner is provided with generally rectangular film starting apertures disposed downstream, with respect to the predetermined cooling film flow direction, of the dilution holes in predetermined otherwise cooling film dry areas on the hot side of the combustor liner. In one embodiment the multi-hole film cooling holes and the rectangular film starting apertures are angled sharply in the downstream direction and angled in a circumferential direction which generally coincides with a predetermined swirl angle of the flow along the surface of the liner within the combustion zone.

Multi-hole film cooled combustor liner with rectangular film restarting

A method of diluting combustion gases in a gas turbine engine combustor includes injecting primary dilution air into the combustion gases, and injecting trim dilution air into the combustion gases adjacent to the injected primary dilution air. A dilution air injector for practicing the method includes a plate, or centerbody in an exemplary embodiment, having a primary dilution hole for injecting a portion of compressed air into combustion gases as primary dilution air, and a trim dilution hole for injecting a portion of the compressed air into the combustion gases as trim dilution air. The primary and trim dilution holes are sized and configured so that the primary and trim dilution air cooperate with each other for penetrating into and diluting a predetermined portion of the combustion gases.

Method and apparatus for injecting dilution air

A shield is disposed in spaced relationship to the exterior surface of the combustor liner of a gas turbine engine and extends over a plurality of very small holes formed in the combustor liner so as to block flow of air to these holes. Further, the shield provides a space between the shield and the combustor liner for receiving reverse flow of air. A portion of the air flowing along the exterior surface of the combustor liner is diverted for reverse flow in the path provided between the shield and the combustor liner. A lesser plurality of substantially larger holes are provided in the combustor liner at the point of reversal of the air so that the dirt particles in the air, because of the centrifugal force acting thereon, tend to flow through these larger holes. A second group of larger holes are provided in the combustor liner approximately at the forward end of the space between the shield and the combustor liner. In flowing to the very small holes in the combustor liner the air must make a second reversal and substantially all of any remaining dirt particles are caused to flow through this second group of larger holes during this second reversal of air flow. Accordingly, the air reaching the very small holes in the combustor liner and being directed to the interior surface of the combustor liner for cooling thereof is substantially devoid of dirt particles and the possibility of plugging any of these very small holes is minimized.

Growing community of inventors

West Chester, OH, United States of America

Howard L Foltz