General Electric Company

Iain Robertson Kellock

Brendan F Sexton

David Martin Johnson

Sacheverel Quentin Eldrid

Albert Myers

Hans M Knuijt

Kyle E Coneybeer

Steven Sebastian Burdgick

Abdul-Azeez Mohammed-Fakir

Ahmad Safi

Charles Alan Bulgrin

Gary Michael Itzel

Mahmut Faruk Aksit

John Howard Starkweather

Dean Thomas Lenahan

Ralph Chris Bruner

Tagir Robert Nigmatulin

Nesim Abuaf

Brian Peter Arness

Larry W Plemmons

David Leach

Mark Stewart Schroder

Daniel Ross Predmore

Victor H Correia

Francisco J Cunha

Kevin Joseph Barb

John Zhiqiang Wang

Calvin Levy Sims

Stephen William Tesh

Yufeng Phillip Yu

Tagir Nigmatulin

David M Kercher

Sanjay Chopra

Douglas Arthur Lupe

Andrew David Kemp

George Gerald Gunn

Cedric Chow

Waylon Willard Webbon

Radhakrishna Bagepalli

Sankar Nellian

Jon Conrad Scaeffer

Nesim Abauf

David Max Kercher

A turbomachine includes a casing defining a hot gas path, and a shroud member attached to the casing. The shroud member is spaced from the casing to define a gap. The shroud member includes a first end having a first hook member provided with a first sealing surface and a second end including a second hook member provided with a second sealing surface. At least one of the first and second sealing surfaces includes a plurality of labyrinth seal elements that reduce air leakage through the gap into the hot gas path.

Shroud for a turbomachine

Disclosed is a shroud for a turbomachine including at least one support structure and at least one inner shroud disposed at a gas path of a turbomachine. The at least one inner shroud and the at least one support structure have at least one gap therebetween. The at least one gap alternates between at least one restrictive gap and at least one unrestrictive gap and is capable of creating at least one pressure loss mechanism to reduce a hot gas flow in the at least one gap. Further disclosed is a turbomachine and a method for reducing ingestion of hot gas in a turbomachine.

Flow inhibitor of turbomachine shroud

A closed loop inner shroud assembly for a gas turbine. The shroud assembly may include a shroud body, a cover plate, an inlet though the cover plate to the shroud body, a serpentine passageway through the shroud body, and an outlet from the shroud body to the cover plate.

Closed loop, steam cooled turbine shroud

A damper pin for a bucket damper slot in a turbine includes slot insertion ends shaped to fit into the bucket damper slot, and at least a first scallop section formed or machined between the slot insertion ends and shaped to receive a bucket shank pocket radial contour at bucket Hi-C. A second scallop section may also be formed or machined diametrically opposed and anti-symmetrical to the first scallop section between the slot insertion ends.

Turbine bucket damper pin

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.

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 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.

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 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 a back side surface 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 in a chord-wise direction relative to one another to provide flexibility and effective sealing engagement with the nozzle support ring.

An impingement insert sleeve is provided that is adapted to be disposed in a coolant cavity defined through a stator vane. The insert has a generally open inlet end and first and second pairs of diametrically opposed side walls, and at least one fail-safe tab defined at a longitudinal end of the insert for limiting radial displacement of the insert with respect to the stator vane.

Turbine vane segment and impingement insert configuration for fail-safe impingement insert retention

A turbine bucket includes an airfoil extending from a platform, having high and low pressure sides; a wheel mounting portion; a hollow shank portion located radially between the platform and the wheel mounting portion, the platform having an under surface. An impingement cooling plate is located in the hollow shank portion, spaced from the under surface, and the impingement plate is formed with a plurality of impingement cooling holes therein.

Bucket platform cooling scheme and related method

A method of operating a gas turbine having inner and outer shells, with the inner shell being radially movable relative to rotor bucket tip passage in the inner shell for flowing a thermal medium. A pair of passage portions are formed in each of the aft and forward inner shell sections with axially communicating passageways between the passage portions. A thermal medium, preferably from an off-turbine site, is provided for flow through the second-stage aft inner shell section, along axial passageways along the mid-line of the inner shell to a first passage portion of the forward inner shell section. Cross-over paths flow the thermal medium from the first passage portions to second circumferentially extending passage portions of the forward inner shell section, in turn, in communication with axial passageways extending from the forward section to the aft section. A second pair of passage portions flow the thermal medium to an outlet in the aft section. By controlling the temperature of the thermal medium for flow through the aft and forward sections of the inner shell, the clearance between the shrouds and the tips of the buckets for at least the first and second stages of the turbine is controllably adjusted.

Turbine inner shell heating and cooling flow circuit

A gas turbine nozzle segment has outer and inner band portions. Each band portion includes a nozzle wall, a cover and an impingement plate between the cover and nozzle wall defining two cavities on opposite sides of the impingement plate. Cooling steam is supplied to one cavity for flow through the apertures of the impingement plate to cool the nozzle wall. Structural pedestals interconnect the cover and nozzle wall and pass through holes in the impingement plate to reduce localized stress otherwise resulting from a difference in pressure within the chamber of the nozzle segment and the hot gas path and the fixed turbine casing surrounding the nozzle stage. The pedestals may be cast or welded to the cover and nozzle wall.

Support pedestals for interconnecting a cover and nozzle band wall in a gas turbine nozzle segment

A turbine shroud cooling cavity is partitioned to define a plurality of cooling chambers for sequentially receiving cooling steam and impingement cooling of the radially inner wall of the shoud. An impingement baffle is provided in each cooling chamber for receiving the cooling media from a cooling media inlet in the case of the first chamber or from the immediately upstream chamber in the case of the second through fourth chambers and includes a plurality of impingement holes for effecting the impingement cooling of the shroud inner wall.

Closed circuit steam cooled turbine shroud and method for steam cooling turbine shroud

A turbine includes a plurality of inner shell sections mounting first and second stage nozzle and shroud portions. The inner shell sections are pinned to an outer containment shell formed of sections to preclude circumferential movement of the inner shell relative to the outer shell and enable thermal expansion and contraction of the inner shell relative to the outer shell. Positive bucket tip clearance control is afforded by passing a thermal medium about the inner shell in heat transfer relation with the shrouds about the first and second stage bucket tips, the thermal medium being provided from a source of heating/cooling fluid independent of the turbine. Access is provided to the rotor and turbine buckets by removing the outer and inner shell sections.

Removable inner turbine shell with bucket tip clearance control

Removable inner turbine shell and bucket tip clearance control

A turbine includes a plurality of inner shell sections mounting first and second stage nozzle and shroud portions. An outer housing surrounds the inner shell sections and includes at least two outer shell sections overlying the inner shell sections. The inner shell sections are releasably connected to one another and the outer shell sections are releasably connected to one another. Upon removing an outer shell section, an access opening is provided through which an uppermost inner shell section is removed. Rollers are provided between the lower outer and inner shell sections so that the lower inner shell section is rotated into the access opening and can be removed through the access opening.

Growing community of inventors

Simpsonville, SC, United States of America

Iain Robertson Kellock