United Technologies Corporation

Reid Dyer Curtis Smith

Steven Wayne Burd

Stephen Karl Kramer

James B Hoke

William Arthur Sowa

Albert K Cheung

John T Ols

Dae K Dempsey

A combustor assembly includes a convergent segment followed by a divergent segment to advantageously improve combustion. The combustor assembly includes a first segment beginning at a forward end that transitions to a second segment past a transition segment in a direction along a combustor axis toward an aft end. The reduction in cross-sectional area within the first segment provides desirable fuel and air mixing properties. The convergent first segment in combination with the divergent second segment decreases residence time of fuel-air mixture within the combustor chamber that decreases production of undesirable emissions from the combustor assembly.

Annular gas turbine combustor including converging and diverging segments

Annular gas turbine combustor

A gas turbine engine has a combustor module including an annular combustor having a liner assembly that defines an annular combustion chamber having a length, L. The liner assembly includes a radially inner liner, a radially outer liner that circumscribes the inner liner, and a bulkhead, having a height, H, which extends between the respective forward ends of the inner liner and the outer liner. The combustor has an exit height, H, at the respective aft ends of the inner liner and the outer liner interior. The annular combustor has a ratio H/Hhaving a value less than or equal to 1.7. The annular combustor may also have a ration L/Hhaving a value less than or equal to 6.0.

Gas turbine combustor

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Amston, CT, United States of America

Reid Dyer Curtis Smith