General Electric Company

Srikanth Vedantam

Mahmut Faruk Aksit

Abdul-Azeez Mohammed-Fakir

Ning Fang

Ahmad Safi

Brian Peter Arness

John Ellington Greene

Wei-Ming Chi

Gayle Hobbs Goetze

In a gas turbine, a supplemental seal is provided between an annular axially facing sealing surface of a nozzle support ring and an annular axially opposed sealing surface formed by circumferentially adjacent nozzle segments. Each segment carries an inner rail mounting a chordal hinge seal which engages the sealing surface of the nozzle support ring. That seal is supplemented by a generally arcuate V-shaped seal between the sealing surfaces which opens radially inwardly toward a high pressure leakage path past the chordal hinge seal. The supplemental seal is initially compressed and maintained in a compressed condition during installation by application of a solder. At operating temperature, the solder melts away, releasing the supplemental seal to seal between the nozzle support ring and nozzle segments.

Supplemental seal for the chordal hinge seals in a gas turbine and methods of installation

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 bands of the nozzle segments on a lower pressure side of the chordal hinge seals. To minimize or prevent leakage flow across the chordal hinge seals, a generally U-shaped supplemental seal having reversely folded U-shaped marginal portions is received in a cavity formed in the axially extending sealing surface of the inner rail of the nozzle segment. At operating conditions, the marginal portions seal against the base of the cavity and the annular sealing surface of the nozzle support ring to prevent leakage flow past the chordal hinge seal from entering the hot gas path. To install the supplemental seal, the seal is first compressed and maintained in a compressed state by applying one or more wraps about the supplemental seal or an epoxy to secure the seal when compressed in the cavity. At operating temperatures, the retention means releases the seal to engage marginal portions against opposite sealing surfaces of the nozzle segment and 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 lower pressure side of the chordal hinge seal. The supplemental seal comprises a segmented annular composite tubular woven compliant seal disposed in a cavity along a sealing surface of the inner rail of the segment. The seal bears against the annular sealing surface of the nozzle support ring, which compresses the seal. Because of the compliant nature of the seal, a supplemental seal is formed on the low pressure side of the chordal hinge seal.

In a gas turbine including a nozzle retaining ring having a first annular axially sealing surface and a shroud segment having an axial registering second surface. To minimize or prevent leakage flow between the retaining ring and shroud segments, a generally U-shaped seal having reversely folded U-shaped marginal portions is received in a cavity formed in the second surface. At operating conditions, the marginal portions seal against the base of the cavity and the first surface of the retaining ring to prevent leakage flow past the retaining ring/shroud segment interface. To install the seal, the seal body is first compressed and maintained in a compressed state by applying one or more wraps about the seal body and an epoxy is used to secure the seal when compressed in the cavity. At operating temperatures, the retention means releases the seal to engage marginal portions against opposite sealing surfaces of the shroud segments and retaining ring.

Seal for gas turbine nozzle and shroud interface

Upper and lower halves of the inner barrel of a compressor for a turbine are bolted to one another along a horizontal midline joint with metal-to-metal surface contact. Elongated grooves are provided in the margin of one of the barrel halves. Elongated composite tubular woven seals are provided in the grooves, the seals having a diameter in excess of the depth of the grooves. The seals comprise an inner woven metal core surrounded by an annular silica fiber layer, in turn surrounded by a metal foil with an outer protective covering of a braided stainless steel. Upon joining the upper and lower halves, the compliant seal is crushed within the groove, maintaining a seal between the barrel halves in the event of warpage of the compressor casing during turbine operation.

Composite tubular woven seal for an inner compressor discharge case

Upper and lower halves of the inner barrel of a compressor for a turbine are bolted to one another along a horizontal midline joint with metal-to-metal surface contact. Elongated grooves are provided in the engaging surfaces, with the upper groove having a depth greater than the depth of the lower groove. Elongated seals are provided in the grooves, including an elongated shim with a metallic woven covering on opposite sides, and margins having sealing edges. The depth of the seal is equal to or less than the depth of the upper groove and an adherent material maintains the seal in the upper groove during installation. In operation, the adherent material dissolves at temperatures above ambient and the seal drops by gravity to bear against the walls of the grooves in response to high pressure air leaking through any gap at the horizontal midline joint.

Cloth seal for an inner compressor discharge case and methods of locating the seal in situ

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 flexible supplemental seal is disposed between the support ring and inner band of the nozzle segment radially inwardly of the chordal hinge seal. To minimize or prevent leakage flow across the chordal hinge seal, the flexible seal extends between the inner rail and the sealing surface of the support ring radially inwardly of the chordal hinge seal. A first margin of the flexible seal engages in a linear groove carried by the inner rail. The opposite margin extends arcuately in sealing engagement with the nozzle support ring.

A compliant woven tubular seal is provided in an arcuate cavity opening through an axial face of a plurality of shroud segments in opposition to a nozzle retaining ring. The annular composite tubular woven compliant seal includes a stainless steel inner metal core surrounded by an annular layer of silica fiber. Surrounding the silica fiber is a metal foil which prevents flow past the supplemental seal. An outer wear-resistant braiding serves as a protective covering and wear surface.

Composite tubular woven seal for gas turbine nozzle and shroud interface

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 band of the nozzle segment on a lower pressure side of the chordal hinge seal. The supplemental seal includes a flexible sheet metal seal having a margin secured in a groove of the inner rail of the nozzle segments with a bent-over edge to form a seal therewith. The opposite margin has an edge which bears against the axially opposed sealing surface of the nozzle support ring. Leakage flow past the chordal hinge seal exerts sealing pressure against the preloaded flexible seal to maintain the seal between the sealing surfaces of the support ring and segments. The supplemental seal extends circumferentially and spans the joint between adjacent nozzle segments.

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. The supplemental seal is formed of a preloaded flexible sheet metal seal having a first margin secured in a linear groove extending in a tangential direction along the inner rail of the nozzle segments with a bent-over edge to form a seal therewith. The opposite second margin has an edge which bears against the axially opposed sealing surface of the nozzle support ring. Sealing pressure against the preloaded flexible seal from a high pressure region maintains the seal between the sealing surfaces of the support ring and segments. The supplemental seal extends tangentially and end edges thereof overlap one another to form a seal between adjacent nozzle segments.

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 band of the nozzle segment on a lower pressure side of the chordal hinge seal. To minimize or prevent leakage flow across the chordal hinge seal, a generally U-shaped portion seals between radially opposed surfaces of the nozzle support ring and inner band, the legs of the U-shaped portion engaging those surfaces. In a further embodiment, an arcuate sheet metal supplemental seal having a sinuous shape is disposed and seals between the radially opposed surfaces of the nozzle support ring and inner band, respectively.

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Niskayuna, NY, United States of America

Srikanth Vedantam