Patents Examined by Craig Kim
  • Patent number: 11885315
    Abstract: Disclosed is a radio-frequency plasma generating system including a radio-frequency generator and a plasma source, the radio-frequency generator being inductively or capacitively coupled to the plasma source through a resonant electric circuit, the radio-frequency generator being adapted to receive direct current power from a direct current power supply and for generating radio-frequency power at a frequency f, the radio-frequency power including a reactive radio-frequency power oscillating in the resonant electric circuit and an active radio-frequency power absorbed by the plasma. The radio-frequency plasma generating system includes a unit for measuring an efficiency of conversion E of direct-current power to active radio-frequency power absorbed by the plasma and a unit for adjusting the frequency f as a function of the measured efficiency of conversion E to maintain the efficiency of conversion E in a predetermined range within a RF plasma operational range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: THRUSTME
    Inventors: Stanislav Dudin, Dmytro Rafalskyi
  • Patent number: 11879385
    Abstract: A power-generation system for a nuclear reactor includes a power unit, a reactor heat exchanger, and an auxiliary combustion system. The power unit produces compressed air that is heated by the reactor heat exchanger. The auxiliary combustion system includes an auxiliary combustor located external to the power unit and fluidly connected with the compressed air to increase the temperature of the compressed air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce North American Technologies Inc.
    Inventor: Andrew J. Eifert
  • Patent number: 11873994
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a system comprising a recuperated gas turbine engine with a catalytic combustor, and methods of operating the same, the catalytic combustor comprising: (a) an upstream section comprising an electrical heater and (b) a downstream catalyst section, wherein the upstream section and the downstream catalyst section are disposed adjacent to and in fluid communication with one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignees: Johnson Matthey Public Limited Company, Delta Motorsport Limited
    Inventors: Nick Carpenter, Guy Chandler, Jeremy Gidney, Scott Herring, Chris Morgan, Timothy O'Connell, Mark Wilksch
  • Patent number: 11867120
    Abstract: A turbine engine gas-inlet cooling system and a turbine engine apparatus are disclosed. The turbine engine includes a gas-inlet end and a gas-outlet end, and the turbine engine gas-inlet cooling system includes a gas-inlet cooling device. The gas-inlet cooling device includes a gas-input end and a gas-output end, and is configured to cool working gas being input from the gas-input end. The gas-output end is connected with the gas-inlet end of the turbine engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Yantai Jereh Petroleum Equipment & Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Rikui Zhang, Xincheng Li, Peng Zhang, Zhijie Liu
  • Patent number: 11867400
    Abstract: A combustor for a gas turbine engine includes a liner surrounding a fuel and air mixing body. A gaseous fuel supply passage delivers gaseous fuel into the mixing body. A wall of the mixing body has air openings to communicate air into mixing passages. At least one fuel opening in each of the mixing passages allows fuel to flow into the mixing passages and mix with the air. There are passage sections downstream of a location of the fuel openings, such that the mixed air and fuel travel downstream of the location and into a combustion chamber. The passage sections have baffles that create a tortuous path. A gas turbine engine is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventor: Tin Cheung John Hu
  • Patent number: 11867122
    Abstract: A propulsion assembly having a propulsion system including an exhaust nozzle fastened to the nozzle wall on the outside thereof so as to define between them a chamber, and a heat exchanger system ensuring an exchange of heat energy between the hot combustion gases circulating in the exhaust nozzle and the colder fuel circulating in the supply pipe at least in part by thermal radiation through the nozzle wall. The heat exchanger system has a pipe portion arranged in the chamber and the exchange of heat energy takes place at this pipe portion. With such an arrangement, the heat energy of the combustion gases is transferred to the fuel for better combustion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignees: Airbus SAS, Airbus Operations SAS
    Inventors: Jorge Alejandro Carretero Benignos, Lionel Czapla
  • Patent number: 11867139
    Abstract: A modular damper plug forming a multi-volume acoustic resonator in an acoustic liner of a rocket engine is provided. In one aspect, the damper plug includes a main body including a top surface spaced from a bottom surface by a first height, a left surface spaced from a right surface by a width, and an exterior surface spaced from an interior surface by a length. A chamber within the main body extends along a part of the height, a part of the width, and a part of the length, and communicates with the top surface through an opening. The chamber also communicates with the interior surface through one or more ducts. The main body is sized and shaped to be received in any one of a plurality of cavities in the acoustic liner. The chamber includes an upstream volume of the acoustic resonator, and the one or more ducts communicate with a downstream volume of the acoustic resonator when the damper plug is received in any one of the plurality of cavities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Blue Origin, LLC
    Inventors: Owen Stewart Graham, Stephen Wuest, Nicholas James Keleshian, Warren Godwin Lamont
  • Patent number: 11859548
    Abstract: In a gas turbine and a control method thereof, and a combined cycle plant, the gas turbine includes a compressor that compresses air, a combustor that mixes and combusts compressed air compressed by the compressor and fuel, a turbine that obtains rotational power using combustion gas generated by the combustor, a compressed air cooling heat exchanger that cools the compressed air to produce air for heat exchange, air temperature adjusting heat exchangers that exchange heat between the air and the compressed air, a heat exchange amount adjusting device that adjusts a heat exchange amount of each of the compressed air cooling heat exchanger and the air temperature adjusting heat exchangers, and a control device that controls the heat exchange amount adjusting device, in which the control device controls the heat exchange amount adjusting device based on a temperature of the air to be taken into the compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Daisuke Asaki, Masashi Terauchi
  • Patent number: 11859544
    Abstract: In a closed system that recirculates exhaust gas from a gas turbine engine, recirculated exhaust gas should be mixed into inlet gas in a manner that produces a uniform distribution within the mixed gas, while preventing an excessive pressure drop at the point of mixing, and without needing excessive duct length. Otherwise, the performance of the gas turbine engine may be detrimentally affected. Accordingly, a mixer box is disclosed that injects recirculated exhaust gas into a flow path of inlet gas in a uniform manner. The mixer box may comprise mixer(s) that extend the flow path of the recirculated exhaust gas into the flow path of the inlet gas along two axes. Each mixer may comprise surface apertures and/or interior channels designed to promote uniform ejection of the recirculated exhaust gas from the mixers into the flow path of inlet gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Solar Turbines Incorporated
    Inventors: John Lockyer, Jiang Luo, Stephen Theron, Stephen Burke
  • Patent number: 11859821
    Abstract: An injection system includes an inner nozzle body defining a first air path along a longitudinal axis. The first air path defines a converging-diverging section between an upstream portion of the first air path and an outlet orifice of the first air path. A main orifice is defined at a narrowest portion of the converging-diverging section. A fuel circuit wall is outboard of the inner nozzle body. A fuel path is defined between the fuel circuit wall and the inner nozzle body. An outer nozzle body outboard of the fuel circuit wall has a second air path defined through the inner nozzle body for communication of air from the outer nozzle body into the first air path, wherein the second air path meets the first air path at a second orifice in the first air path downstream of the main orifice of the inner nozzle body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Collins Engine Nozzles, Inc.
    Inventors: Jason A. Ryon, Lev A. Prociw, Brandon P. Williams
  • Patent number: 11852022
    Abstract: A first cylinder is configured to receive a gas turbine. A second cylinder surrounds an outer circumference of the first cylinder. Retainers extend from the second cylinder towards the first cylinder. Each of the retainers includes a central stalk that extends from the second cylinder towards the first cylinder and a branches extending radially from the central stalk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Inventor: William Maxwell
  • Patent number: 11852076
    Abstract: A method comprising applying braze to a joint location of two work pieces and applying local heating to the joint location of the two work pieces until braze melting temperature is achieved to melt the braze while maintaining temperature of more remote portions of each work piece. The method includes reducing heating of the braze to form a braze joint joining the joint location of the two work pieces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Collins Engine Nozzles, Inc.
    Inventors: Jason Ryon, Brandon P. Williams, Troy Finton
  • Patent number: 11852344
    Abstract: A tubular combustion chamber system for a gas turbine unit includes a plurality of annularly arranged transition lines, which are designed to be connected at the upstream ends thereof to respective burners and to conduct hot gas produced by the burners to a turbine. The tubular combustion chamber system has a hot gas distributor, which is designed to be connected to the turbine and defines a ring channel, which is open to the turbine and into which the downstream ends of the transition lines lead. A gas turbine unit includes a plurality of annularly arranged burners, a turbine and a tubular combustion chamber system which connects the burners to the turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Matthias Gralki, Claus Krusch, Daniel Schmidt
  • Patent number: 11852032
    Abstract: A turbine includes a rotor including a rotation shaft that rotates around an axis and a blade row formed on an outer surface of the rotation shaft; a casing, which covers the rotor, has a casing inner surface being expanded radially outward approaching a downstream side of the casing in a direction of the axis; and an inner member body formed to line the casing inner surface of the casing such that an extraction port is formed between an upstream side end of the inner member body and the casing inner surface. A discharge port is formed between a downstream side end of the inner peripheral member body and the casing inner peripheral surface. The extraction port and the discharge port are formed in an annular shape centered on the axis. A flow path cross-sectional area of the discharge port is smaller than that of the extraction port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Kuwamura, Shigeo Ookura, Shunsuke Mizumi, Chongfei Duan, Hideaki Sugishita, Kazuyuki Matsumoto, Naoto Omura
  • Patent number: 11840963
    Abstract: An acoustic attenuator comprises a first attenuation unit, a second attenuation unit, a welded section, and a communication part. A first acoustic damper is provided on an outer surface of a first acoustic liner, which faces toward a side opposite from an object, to form a first damper space that communicates with an internal space of the object. The second attenuation unit is attached to an outer surface of the object. The welded section is provided at least between the first acoustic damper and a second acoustic damper. The welded section secures the second attenuation unit to the first acoustic liner. The communication part is disposed in a position farther from an outer surface of the object than the welded section, allowing communication between the first damper space and a second damper space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Hirokazu Shiraishi, Tatsuya Nadayoshi, Kentaro Murakami
  • Patent number: 11840987
    Abstract: A cascade thrust reverser assembly for a gas turbine engine includes a nacelle assembly defining a bypass passage. The cascade thrust reverser assembly includes a cascade assembly configured to be at least partially enclosed by the nacelle assembly, the cascade assembly comprising one or more cascade members, the one or more cascade members movable between a stowed configuration wherein the one or more cascade members define a first radial extent and a deployed configuration wherein the one or more cascade members define a second radial extent, wherein the one or more cascade members form a cascade segment in the deployed configuration, and wherein the second radial extent is greater than the first radial extent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Trevor Howard Wood, Kishore Ramakrishnan, Justin John Gambone, Jr., Darren Lee Hallman, Thomas Malkus, Jixian Yao, Keith Edward James Blodgett
  • Patent number: 11840985
    Abstract: A propulsion system assembly includes a variable area inlet and an inlet duct. The variable area inlet includes an outer airflow inlet passage, an inner airflow inlet passage, an inlet structure and a center body structure. The outer airflow inlet passage is between the inlet structure and the center body structure. The inner airflow inlet passage is formed within the center body structure. The center body structure includes a valve configured to regulate air flow through the inner airflow inlet passage. The valve includes a first door configured to pivot between a closed position and an open position. The inlet duct is configured to receive air from the outer airflow inlet passage when the first door is in the closed position. The inlet duct is configured to receive air from the outer airflow inlet passage and the inner airflow inlet passage when the first door is in the open position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: ROHR, INC.
    Inventor: Michael Aten
  • Patent number: 11834189
    Abstract: An exhaust nozzle assembly includes, but is not limited to, a nozzle body configured to be fluidly coupled with an engine and to receive a jet produced by the engine. An outer cover covers the nozzle body. A movable component is disposed and configured to have an effect on either the jet or an exhaust plume when the movable component moves. A linkage is coupled to the movable component and adapted for coupling to an actuator. The linkage transmits the force to the moveable component from the actuator. There is a gap between an inner surface of the outer cover and an outer surface of the nozzle body. The linkage is smaller than the actuator. The gap is smaller than a smallest dimension of the actuator and larger than the linkage. The linkage is partially disposed within the gap, and the exhaust nozzle assembly is free of the actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Inventors: Donald Freund, Derek Muzychka
  • Patent number: 11815024
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine includes a turbomachine and a thermal management system. The thermal management system includes a heat source heat exchanger configured to collect heat from the turbomachine during operation; a heat sink heat exchanger; and a thermal transport bus having a heat exchange fluid configured to flow therethrough at a pressure within an operational pressure range. The thermal management system defines an operational temperature range for the heat exchange fluid, the operational temperature range having a lower temperature limit less than about zero degrees Fahrenheit at a pressure within the operational pressure range and an upper temperature limit of at least about 1000 degrees Fahrenheit at a pressure within the operational pressure range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Daniel Alan Niergarth, Adon Delgado, Jr., Brandon Wayne Miller, Hendrik Pieter Jacobus de Bock
  • Patent number: 11815014
    Abstract: A combined cooling heating and power micro gas turbine device includes a micro gas turbine. The micro gas turbine includes a gas compressor, a turbine and a combustion chamber assembly. The combustion chamber assembly includes a combustion chamber, an air inlet cavity, an air inlet channel and an exhaust channel. The air inlet cavity includes an interior air inlet cavity and an exterior air inlet cavity that are integrated, an air outlet end of the exterior air inlet cavity is communicated with an air inlet end of the interior air inlet cavity, an air inlet end of the exterior air inlet cavity is communicated with the air inlet channel, the air inlet channel is communicated with the gas compressor, the combustion chamber is arranged between the interior air inlet cavity and the exterior air inlet cavity, and an air outlet of the combustion chamber is communicated with the exhaust channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: TxEGT AUTOMOTIVE POWERTRAIN TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
    Inventor: Pu Jin