United Technologies Corporation

USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Stanley J Markowski

Robert P Lohmann

Richard S Reilly

James J Nolan

Ronald A Jeroszko

Edward T Brookman

A diffuser system for a gas turbine engine includes a prediffuser and a piping system that diverts the flow into two streams. One stream captures the prediffuser discharge air at the center of the gas path where the total pressure is at its highest level and provides an additional stage of diffusing before dumping it around the burner to supply liner cooling air, turbine cooling air and if necessary, small amounts of dilution air to trim radial temperature profile. The other stream is ducted directly into the burner avoiding the typical dump diffuser losses.

Diffuser for gas turbine engine

A swirler for use in combustion chambers in which the vanes of the swirler are partially unshrouded to improve the mixing of fuel and air.

Partially unshrouded swirler for combustion chambers

An improved swirler assembly prevents flow separation in the diffuser secn. An annular swirling layer of air surrounds a linear jet with mixing occurring between these air flows prior to the diffuser section. A center tube through the swirler section provides the linear jet which mixes with the swirler flow in a mixing area prior to the diffuser section.

Swirler assembly for a vorbix augmentor

A burner construction for low emission burners in which the primary fuel is injected with air in an annulus into the upstream end of the burners so as to cause a significant recirculation of the fuel and air mixture adjacent to the end cap, the secondary fuel is injected into the burner in a small angle spray at a point substantially spaced from the end cap and large combustion and/or dilution holes in the burner wall a small distance upstream of the secondary nozzle are sized to produce an additional recirculation in the primary fuel and air around the secondary nozzle with this additional recirculation in the direction opposite to the first recirculation.

Burner construction for gas turbines

A fuel injection system for low emission burners in which the primary fuel is delivered in an annular spray into the primary combustion zone; at high power operation, secondary fuel is injected additionally in a low angle axial spray to penetrate beyond the primary zone and into the secondary combustion zone downstream of the primary zone.

Fuel injection system for low emission burners

In a two stage burner construction in which primary fuel burns in an annulus in a primary combustion zone and secondary fuel is discharged through the primary zone to a secondary zone downstream of the primary zone, vortex generators are used in the passage through which the fuel and air entering the primary zone to enhance the mixing and to improve the toroidal flow in the combustion zone. Other vortex generators are used to improve the mixing of the secondary fuel and air to improve secondary combustion. The vortex generators may be used in conjunction with a trip on the secondary nozzle tube to further enhance primary combustion.

Fuel nozzle for burner construction

The performance of the diffuser action of burner shrouds is improved by establishing a substantially uniform velocity profile across the shroud passage by introducing a strong secondary flow in the form of vortices that lead to a better velocity profile and much improved diffuser action in the shroud passages.

Means for improving the performance of burner shroud diffusers

An augmenter construction for fan engines in which the fan air and engine gas are distributed through transition ducts terminating in vortex generators and the fuel rich pilot gas discharges into diffusers downstream of the vortex generators to mix with the vortices within the diffusers for improved combustion.

Modified vorbix burner concept

An arrangement for mixing fan air and engine gas in an engine augmenter which includes transition ducts for diverting some of the fan air into the engine gas annulus, the ducts having vortex generators to create secondary flows that will improve mixing and permit use of shorter augmenters.

Vorbix augmenter configuration

An augmenter construction for fan engines in which the fan air and the engine gas are distributed through transition ducts terminating in vortex generators and the fuel rich pilot gas discharges around these vortex generators to mix with the vortices for improved combustion. The transition tubes have diffuser sections extending from the vortex generators and these sections have rectangular or multisided terminal ends.

Vorbix augmenter configuration with diffuser and vorbix swirler

A low emission combustion chamber in which vitiated products of combustion from a pilot burner are caused to swirl about the combustion chamber axis before fuel droplets are introduced into the vitiated, swirling combustion products for flash vaporization therein to produce a vaporized, swirling, vitiated fuel-air mixture so as to effect ignition lag until swirling combustion air can be mixed with the swirling mixture to molecularly premix the fuel and air and increase its oxygen content to reduce the ignition lag to effect autoignition at an equivalence ratio less than 1 so as to effect high-rate, lean burning in the primary combustion chamber.

Low emission combustion chamber

A mixed flow turbofan engine in which a portion of the core engine exhaust gases are passed into a pilot zone chamber where fuel is added thereto for vaporization therewith and wherein the fan air is passed over a series of vortex generators so that the vortex flow fan air and the vaporized fuel mixture will mix and combust rapidly in an augmentation combustion chamber.

Growing community of inventors

East Hartford, CT, United States of America

Stanley J Markowski