U.S. patent application number 13/662802 was filed with the patent office on 2014-05-01 for gas turbine engine with inlet particle separator and thermal management.
This patent application is currently assigned to UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION. The applicant listed for this patent is UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Jesse M. Chandler, Alan H. Epstein, Wesley K. Lord, Gabriel L. Suciu.
Application Number | 20140119903 13/662802 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50547388 |
Filed Date | 2014-05-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140119903 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Suciu; Gabriel L. ; et
al. |
May 1, 2014 |
Gas Turbine Engine With Inlet Particle Separator and Thermal
Management
Abstract
A gas turbine engine includes a nose cone at an inlet end, and
spaced radially inwardly of a nacelle. A compressor is downstream
of the nose cone. A core inlet delivers air downstream of the nose
cone into the compressor. An inlet particle separator includes a
manifold for delivering air radially outwardly of the core inlet.
Air delivered by the inlet particle separator passes over a heat
exchanger before passing to an outlet.
Inventors: |
Suciu; Gabriel L.;
(Glastonbury, CT) ; Epstein; Alan H.; (Lexington,
MA) ; Lord; Wesley K.; (Glastonbury, CT) ;
Chandler; Jesse M.; (South Windsor, CT) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION |
Hartford |
CT |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
UNITED TECHNOLOGIES
CORPORATION
Hartford
CT
|
Family ID: |
50547388 |
Appl. No.: |
13/662802 |
Filed: |
October 29, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
415/177 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F01D 25/08 20130101;
F02C 7/052 20130101; Y02T 50/675 20130101; Y02T 50/60 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
415/177 |
International
Class: |
F01D 25/08 20060101
F01D025/08 |
Claims
1. A gas turbine engine comprising: a nose cone at an inlet end,
and spaced radially inwardly of a nacelle; a compressor downstream
of said nose cone, and a core inlet for delivering air downstream
of said nose cone into said compressor; and an inlet particle
separator including a manifold for delivering air radially
outwardly of said core inlet, said air delivered by the inlet
particle separator passing over a heat exchanger before passing to
an outlet.
2. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said
heat exchanger cools oil associated with a gear reduction on the
gas turbine engine.
3. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said
compressor rotating about a central axis of the engine, and said
nose cone has a radially outermost portion which is radially
outward of a radially inner end of said core inlet, and such that
air having heavier particles is generally directed radially
outwardly of said core inlet and into said inlet particle
separator.
4. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said
manifold extends for 360 degrees about said axis of rotation.
5. The gas turbine engine set forth in claim 4, wherein said
manifold having an open inlet at an upstream end, and a downstream
outlet over a limited portion of the 360 degrees of the
circumferentially extending portion.
6. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein an
ejector is positioned downstream of said heat exchanger, said
ejector for selectively driving air across the heat exchanger.
7. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein a
turbine section is downstream of said compressor and drives
propellers.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This application relates to a gas turbine engine, wherein an
inlet particle separator provides a thermal management
function.
[0002] Gas turbine engines are known, and include a compressor
compressing air and delivering it into a combustor section. The air
is mixed with fuel in the combustor and ignited. Products of the
combustion pass downstream over turbine rotors driving them to
rotate.
[0003] One type of gas turbine engine is a contra-rotating turbo
prop gas turbine engine. In such a gas turbine engine, air may be
delivered into a compressor section, as mentioned above from an
inlet. The air may include impurities and, thus, it is known to
include an inlet particle separator which will tend to force dirt
or other impurities radially outwardly, such that clean air is
delivered into the compression section.
[0004] Recently, the efficiency of gas turbine engines has become
of increasing importance. Thus, the loss of air associated with the
inlet particle separator, with no achieved benefit, hurts the
efficiency of the overall engine.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In a featured embodiment, a gas turbine engine has a nose
cone at an inlet end spaced radially inwardly of a nacelle. A
compressor is downstream of the nose cone. A core inlet delivers
air downstream of the nose cone into the compressor. An inlet
particle separator includes a manifold for delivering air radially
outwardly of the core inlet. The air is delivered by the inlet
particle separator passing over a heat exchanger before passing to
an outlet.
[0006] In another embodiment according to the previous embodiment,
the heat exchanger cools oil associated with a gear reduction on
the gas turbine engine.
[0007] In another embodiment according to any of the previous
embodiments, the compressor rotates about a central axis of the
engine. The nose cone has a radially outermost portion which is
radially outward of a radially inner end of the core inlet, such
that air having heavier particles is generally directed radially
outwardly of the core inlet and into the inlet particle
separator.
[0008] In another embodiment according to any of the previous
embodiments, the manifold extends for 360 degrees about the axis of
rotation.
[0009] In another embodiment according to any of the previous
embodiments, the manifold has an open inlet at an upstream end, and
a downstream outlet over a limited portion of the 360 degrees of
the circumferentially extending portion.
[0010] In another embodiment according to any of the previous
embodiments, an ejector is positioned downstream of the heat
exchanger for selectively driving air across the heat
exchanger.
[0011] In another embodiment according to any of the previous
embodiments, a turbine section is downstream of the compressor and
drives propellers.
[0012] These and other features of this application will be best
understood from the following specification and drawings, the
following of which is a brief description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 schematically shows a gas turbine engine
incorporating an inlet particle separator.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a detail of the inlet end of the gas turbine
engine.
[0015] FIG. 3A shows an inlet particle separator.
[0016] FIG. 3B is another view of the inlet particle separator.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] A gas turbine engine 20 is illustrated in FIG. 1 having a
nose cone 22 at an inlet end. Nose cone 22 is positioned radially
inwardly of a nacelle 24. As shown, air passing the nose cone 22
may enter an inlet 50 of a manifold 28 and be directed across a
heat exchanger 32. The heat exchanger 32 may be associated with
cooling any fluid on the engine. As one example, the heat exchanger
32 may cool oil which is delivered to a gear reduction associated
with the gas turbine engine 20.
[0018] Downstream of the heat exchanger 32 the air passes through
the ejector 31. The ejector 31 is provided with a control 90 which
selectively shoots air into the ejector 31 when the gas turbine
engine 20 is on the ground, as there will not be ram air delivered
into the inlet when an aircraft associated with the gas turbine
engine 20 is not moving. An outlet 30 is downstream of the ejector
31.
[0019] The nose cone 22 is designed to ensure the dirtier air will
be delivered into the inlet 50, and the clean air passes into a
path into a core inlet 26. Core inlet 26 feeds air into a
compressor section 27, where it is compressed and delivered into a
combustor section 25. The air is mixed with fuel and ignited, and
products of this combustion pass downstream over turbine rotors 23,
driving them to rotate. The engine 20 may be a contra-rotating prop
aircraft with a pair of propellers 80 and 82 rotating in opposed
directions. The propellers 80 and 82 are driven by the output shaft
of a fan drive gear system 200, which in turn is powered by the
turbine section 23. Of course, other engine types may benefit from
this disclosure.
[0020] FIG. 2 shows a detail of the nose cone 22. Nose cone 22 is
shaped such that it has the highest or most radially outward point
100 which is radially further outward than an inner point 101 of a
manifold 102 leading into the compressor 27. As is known, the gas
turbine engine rotates upon an axis x (FIG. 1) and the "radially
outward" position is relative to the axis x. Of course, some
impurities or dirt may still be delivered into the core inlet 26.
However, due to the shape and positioning of the structure, the
heavier particles containing impurities are generally directed
radially outwardly of the core inlet 26, and into the inlet 50 of
the manifold 28. That is, the majority of the impurities will be
passed into the manifold 28, compared to what is passed into the
core inlet 26.
[0021] As shown in FIG. 3A, the manifold 28 includes a
circumferentially extending portion 31 which surrounds a
circumference of gas turbine engine 20 for 360 degrees about axis
x. The inlet end 50 is not shown, but is generally open (see FIG.
2), while the downstream end is closed as illustrated in this
Figure. The circumferentially extending portion feeds into a
circumferentially limited outlet 29 which passes air across the
heat exchanger 32. FIG. 3B shows another view of the same
structure.
[0022] The present invention now utilizes the inlet particle
separator to perform a thermal management function and, thus, the
efficiency of the overall operation of the gas turbine engine is
improved.
[0023] Although an embodiment of this invention has been disclosed,
a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain
modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For
that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine
the true scope and content of this invention.
* * * * *