General Electric Company

Matthew Robert Cerny

Brandon Wayne Miller

Thomas Kupiszewski

Jeffrey Raymond Menard

Johnathen Pegram

Christopher James Kroger

Nicholas Taylor Moore

Daniel Alan Niergarth

Jeffrey Douglas Rambo

William Dwight Gerstler

Hendrik Pieter Jacobus De Bock

Eric Richard Westervelt

Nicholas Allan Wilson

Gary Quackenbush

A heat engine comprising a compressor providing a flow of compressed air from a core flowpath of the heat engine; a cooled cooling air (CCA) heat exchanger system to which the flow of compressed air is provided from the compressor; a coolant supply system providing a flow of coolant to the CCA heat exchanger in thermal communication with the flow of compressed air at the CCA heat exchanger, in which the coolant supply system and CCA heat exchanger together define a CCA circuit through which the compressed air flows in thermal communication with the coolant; and a hot section disposed downstream of the compressor section along the core flowpath through which combustion gases flow, in which the hot section defines a secondary flowpath through which the flow of compressed air from the CCA heat exchanger is provided.

Heat engine with heat exchanger

A thermal management system for a gas turbine engine and/or an aircraft is provided including a thermal transport bus having a heat exchange fluid flowing therethrough. The thermal management system also includes a plurality of heat source exchangers and at least one heat sink exchanger. The plurality of heat source exchangers and the at least one heat sink exchanger are in thermal communication with the heat exchange fluid in the thermal transport bus. The plurality of heat source exchangers are arranged along the thermal transport bus and configured to transfer heat from one or more accessory systems to the heat exchange fluid, and the at least one heat sink exchanger is located downstream of the plurality of heat source exchangers and configured to remove heat from the heat exchange fluid.

Cooling system

According to some embodiments, system and methods are provided, comprising receiving one or more mission objectives for an aircraft mission, and condition data at a mission execution module; generating, via the mission execution module, a mission plan executable to address at least one of the one or more mission objectives via manipulation of a power-thermal management system (PTMS); receiving the generated mission plan at the PTMS directly from the mission execution module; and automatically executing the generated mission plan to operate an aircraft. Numerous other aspects are provided.

Intelligent mission thermal management system

A curvilinear plate for a heat exchanger is provided. The curvilinear plate can include an inner plate defining a plurality of first grooves and an outer plate defining a plurality of second grooves. The outer plate is attached to the inner plate with the plurality of first grooves and the plurality of second grooves substantially aligned to define a plurality of channels therebetween. Each channel extends from a first opening on a first portion of a first end of the curvilinear plate to a second opening on a second portion of the first end. A method is also generally provided for forming a curvilinear plate.

Heat exchanger for embedded engine applications: curvilinear plate

A thermal management system for a gas turbine engine and/or an aircraft is provided including a thermal transport bus having a heat exchange fluid flowing therethrough. The thermal management system also includes one or more heat source exchangers and a deicing module. The one or more heat source exchangers and the deicing module are each in thermal communication with the heat exchange fluid in the thermal transport bus. The one or more heat source exchangers are configured to transfer heat from one or more accessory systems to the heat exchange fluid, and the deicing module is located downstream of the one or more heat source exchangers for transferring heat from the thermal transfer fluid to a surface of one or more components of the gas turbine engine and/or the aircraft.

Thermal management system

A tubular array heat exchanger and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The heat exchanger includes a plurality of tubes extending between a tube inlet and a tube outlet. An inlet manifold includes an inner wall and an outer wall defining an inlet plenum and one or more baffles extending between the inner wall and the outer wall to divide the inlet plenum into a plurality of fluid passageways, each of the plurality of fluid passageways extending between the inlet plenum and a respective one of the tube inlets. The tubes, the inlet manifold, and an outlet manifold identical to the inlet manifold are manufactured as a single monolithic component.

Tubular array heat exchanger

A heat exchanger and a method for additively manufacturing the heat exchanger are provided. The heat exchanger includes a housing defining a flow passageway having a plurality of heat exchange banks stacked therein. Each heat exchange bank includes a plurality of heat exchange tubes that form a lattice structure that extends from a first end proximate a central manifold outward along the radial direction toward a second end proximate an annular outer manifold. The central manifolds and the annular outer manifolds fluidly couple the heat exchange tubes of adjacent heat exchange banks in an alternating manner to form a serpentine flow path for a flow of heat exchange fluid.

Additively manufactured heat exchanger

An annular duct including a modular annular heat exchanger for a gas turbine engine is provided, where the modular annular heat exchanger includes a plurality of radial modules in circumferentially adjacent arrangement. Each radial module includes a cooled fluid inlet plenum segment, a plurality of blades, and a cooled fluid outlet plenum segment. The plurality of blades is configured in circumferentially adjacent arrangement and defines an angular space that is conformal between each circumferentially adjacent blade. The cooled fluid inlet plenum segment, the plurality of blades, and the cooled fluid outlet plenum segment are in serial axial flow arrangement and define an internal cooled fluid flowpath and an external cooling fluid flowpath parallel to the internal cooled fluid flowpath. Each radial module further includes an inner annular ring segment and an outer annular ring segment. The inner annular ring segment and the outer annular ring segment define a plurality of blade retainers. The blade retainers define an axial, radial, and circumferential position of the blades, the cooled fluid inlet plenum segment, and the cooled fluid outlet plenum segment.

Modular annular heat exchanger

A transduct segment, that can include a main tube extending from a first end to a second end and defining a hollow passageway therethrough, a lower platform attached to an outer surface of the main tube on first side of an aperture defined within the main tube, and an upper platform attached to the outer surface of the main tube on second side of the aperture that is opposite of the first side, is provided. The upper platform is integral with the lower platform to define a supply channel therebetween, and the supply channel is in fluid communication with the hollow passageway of the main tube through the aperture defined by the main tube. The lower platform and the upper platform define an interface defining a plurality of channels in fluid communication with the hollow passageway defined by the main tube.

Heat exchanger for embedded engine applications: transduct segments

Methods of cooling a hot fluid in an annular duct of a gas turbine engine are provided. The method can include directing the hot fluid through a plurality of cooling channels that are radially layered within the annular duct to define a heat transfer area, and passing a cooling fluid through the annular duct such that the cooling fluid passes between the radially layered cooling channels. Additionally or alternatively, the method can include passing the hot fluid into a first inner radial tube, through a plurality of cooling channels defined within a plurality of curvilinear plates that are radially layered within the annular duct, and into a second inner radial tube; and passing a cooling fluid through the annular duct.

Methods of cooling a fluid using an annular heat exchanger

An annular heat exchanger for a gas turbine engine is provided. The annular heat exchanger can include a first annular ring comprising a first main tube defined by a plurality of transduct segments; a second annular ring comprising a second main tube defined by a plurality of transduct segments and a curvilinear plate defining at least one channel therein that is in fluid communication with a transduct segment of the first main tube and a transduct segment of the second main tube.

Heat exchanger for embedded engine applications

An integrated power and thermal management system for a turbine-powered aircraft is provided. The system may comprise a power turbine, compressor, first cooling turbine, second cooling turbine, and electrical motor-generator disposed on a primary shaft. The compressor may be disposed on the primary shaft to motivate a system airflow and operably joined to the power turbine. The first cooling turbine may be rotatably disposed on the primary shaft in selective fluid communication with the compressor. The second cooling turbine may be rotatably disposed on the primary shaft in selective fluid communication with the first cooling turbine.

Growing community of inventors

West Chester, OH, United States of America

Matthew Robert Cerny