Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Scott T Cloyd

Allen G Chen

Robert Kenmer Scott

Robert A Hindle

Stephen W Brown

A gas turbine power plant in which a mixture of steam and compressed air, the mixture being primarily steam, is used to cool the rotating blades and stationary vanes in the turbine section. The air is bled from the compressor. The flow rate of steam that is mixed into the compressed air is adjusted so to maintain the pressure drop experienced by the compressed air as it flows to the turbine within a predetermined range. Consequently, the steam and air mixture has the same volumetric flow rate as if compressed air alone were being used. Thus, any sudden decrease in steam flow rate will automatically result in an offsetting increase in the flow of compressed air due to the decrease in the line pressure in the common line through which the air and steam flow to the turbine. Consequently, no control, isolation or check valves are utilized in the compressed air piping.

Steam cooling of gas turbine with backup air cooling

A gas turbine is provided in which heat is removed from compressed air bled from the compressor section, for purposes of cooling in the turbine section, using a first heat exchanger to transfer heat from the cooling air to an intermediate fluid. The heat so removed is then returned to the cycle by transferring it from the intermediate fluid to a fluid to be injected into the combustion section, such as gaseous fuel or water for NOx control, using a second heat exchanger. A third heat exchanger may be used in conjunction with the second heat exchanger to control the temperature of the intermediate fluid and, hence, the temperature of the cooling air.

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Lake Mary, FL, United States of America

Scott T Cloyd