Patents by Inventor Thomas Zierer

Thomas Zierer has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11927192
    Abstract: A pump apparatus has a rotor shaft, a pump impeller connected to the rotor shaft, at least one axial bearing which rotatably supports the rotor shaft at a side facing the pump impeller, a magnetic pump stator, a magnetic pump rotor which is connected to the rotor shaft, a containment can which extends between the stator and the rotor, and at least one central support element which is mounted in the region of the pump impeller. The pump apparatus has an elastomer disk which is arranged between the support element and the axial bearing. The stator and the rotor are arranged with an axial offset with respect to each other. The stator and the rotor are provided as a result of the axial offset to produce an axial force F in the direction of the elastomer disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Johannes Walter, Claudius Muschelknautz, Gerald Zierer, Hannes Butscher, Pierre Werny, Ralf Herrmann, Thomas Eckerle
  • Patent number: 10920670
    Abstract: A sealing arrangement at an interface between a combustor and a turbine of a gas turbine. The turbine can include deflecting vanes at its inlet, which deflecting vanes are each mounted within the turbine so as to define an inner or outer diameter platform and are in sealing engagement via an inner or outer diameter vane tooth with a seal arranged at the corresponding inner or outer diameter part of the outlet of the combustor. The seal is movable and is pressed on the inner or outer diameter vane tooth by a differential pressure such that the pressure of the mainstream hot gas flow is a lower pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2021
    Assignee: ANSALDO ENERGIA SWITZERLAND AG
    Inventors: Marcos Escudero Olano, Stephan Strueken, Thomas Zierer, Frank Graf, Adnan Eroglu, Joshua R. McNally, Stephen W. Jorgensen, Afzal Pasha Mohammed
  • Patent number: 10174636
    Abstract: A compressor assembly, and more in general relates to a compressor for a gas turbine providing a solution that teaches to locate within a cavity formed by the outer casing of the compressor and the inner vane carrier a separator element, or membrane, such to divide the cavity into two sub-cavities. This advantageously results in a more flexible design with respect to the positioning of the flange blow-off extractor and to the cavity sizing, as the flange position is not necessarily the boundary for the flow anymore as it would be without the separator element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: ANSALDO ENERGIA SWITZERLAND AG
    Inventors: Thomas Zierer, Sven Olmes, Isaac-Eliseo Gomez-Lor-Lopez
  • Publication number: 20180100439
    Abstract: A sealing arrangement at an interface between a combustor and a turbine of a gas turbine. The turbine can include deflecting vanes at its inlet, which deflecting vanes are each mounted within the turbine so as to define an inner or outer diameter platform and are in sealing engagement via an inner or outer diameter vane tooth with a seal arranged at the corresponding inner or outer diameter part of the outlet of the combustor. The seal is movable and is pressed on the inner or outer diameter vane tooth by a differential pressure such that the pressure of the mainstream hot gas flow is a lower pressure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2017
    Publication date: April 12, 2018
    Applicant: ANSALDO ENERGIA SWITZERLAND AG
    Inventors: Marcos ESCUDERO OLANO, Stephan STRUEKEN, Thomas ZIERER, Frank GRAF, Adnan EROGLU, Joshua R. McNALLY, Stephen W. JORGENSEN, Afzal Pasha MOHAMMED
  • Patent number: 9816393
    Abstract: The disclosure pertains to a turbine with a gas turbine blade and a rotor heat shield for separating a space region through which hot working medium flows from a space region inside a rotor arrangement of the turbine. The rotor heat shield includes a platform which forms an axial heat shield section and which is arranged substantially parallel to the surface of a rotor and a radial heat shield section at the upstream end of the axial heat shield section, which is extending in a direction away from the surface of the axial heat shield section towards the hot gas. Further the turbine comprises a blade rear cavity which is delimited by the downstream end of the platform and/or the downstream end of the blade foot, the radial heat shield section. The disclosure further refers to a gas turbine blade and a rotor heat shield designed for such a turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: ANSALDO ENERGIA IP UK LIMITED
    Inventors: Carlos Simon-Delgado, Christoph Didion, Stefan Biedermann, Beat Von Arx, Thomas Zierer
  • Publication number: 20170081961
    Abstract: A turboengine blading member includes at least one airfoil and at least one platform provided at least one of a base and a tip of the airfoil. The airfoil has a profile body, a leading edge provided at a first side of the profile body, and a trailing edge section extending from a second side of the profile body and opposite the leading edge. The profile body is connected to the at least one platform. The trailing edge section cantilevers from the profile body and is provided without connection to the platform.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2016
    Publication date: March 23, 2017
    Applicant: ANSALDO ENERGIA IP UK LIMITED
    Inventors: Herbert BRANDL, Joerg KRUECKELS, Thomas ZIERER
  • Publication number: 20160376891
    Abstract: A method and device for cooling a turboengine rotor. A blade member includes a platform having a hot gas side and a coolant side. An airfoil is on the platform hot gas side and a blade foot section is on the platform coolant side. The blade foot section includes a blade shank and a blade root. The blade shank extends from the platform coolant side and is interposed between the blade root and the platform coolant side. The blade root includes root fixation features and is received by a fixation feature of a rotor shaft. A first fluid flows along the rotor front face and into a cavity of the blade shank and a second fluid flows within the blade shank cavity. The first fluid flow is relatively colder than the second fluid flow and a combined shank cavity fluid flow is formed inside the blade shank cavity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2016
    Publication date: December 29, 2016
    Applicant: ANSALDO ENERGIA IP UK LIMITED
    Inventors: Cyrille BRICAUD, Carlos SIMON-DELGADO, Thomas ZIERER, Ulrich Robert STEIGER, Stephan STRUEKEN, Christoph DIDION
  • Patent number: 9482094
    Abstract: A gas turbine includes a rotor concentrically surrounded by a casing, with an annular hot gas channel axially extending between the rotor and the casing. The rotor includes a plurality of blades arranged annularly on the rotor. Each of the blades is mounted with a root in a respective axial slot on a rim of the rotor radially extending with an airfoil into the hot gas channel and adjoining with an axially oriented root surface to an annular rim cavity. A cooling device is provided at the root of each blade to receive cooling air injected into the rim cavity through stationary injectors. An optimized cooling is achieved by providing an essentially plane root surface and the cooling device includes a scoop for capturing and redirecting at least part of the injected cooling air, which scoop is a recess with respect to the root surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC TECHNOLOGY GMBH
    Inventors: Sascha Justl, Carlos Simon-Delgado, Thomas Zierer, Sven Olmes
  • Publication number: 20160024970
    Abstract: A compressor assembly, and more in general relates to a compressor for a gas turbine providing a solution that teaches to locate within a cavity formed by the outer casing of the compressor and the inner vane carrier a separator element, or membrane, such to divide the cavity into two sub-cavities. This advantageously results in a more flexible design with respect to the positioning of the flange blow-off extractor and to the cavity sizing, as the flange position is not necessarily the boundary for the flow anymore as it would be without the separator element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2015
    Publication date: January 28, 2016
    Inventors: Thomas ZIERER, Sven OLMES, Isaac-Eliseo GOMEZ-LOR-LOPEZ
  • Patent number: 8979479
    Abstract: A gas turbine (1) includes a combustion chamber (2) followed by a stator airfoil row (4) defining a plurality of guide vanes and separated by the combustion chamber (2) by a first gap (5), and a rotor airfoil row (6) separated by the stator airfoil row (4) by a second gap (7). The stator airfoils (15) of the stator airfoil row (4) are connected to guide vane boxes (17) collecting a cooling fluid (A) and injecting it through nozzles (20) in the second gap (7) to make it to enter rotor airfoil inlets (23). The guide vane boxes (23) are provided with passages (30) connecting a zone (31) upstream of the guide vane boxes (17) to a zone (32) of the second gap (7) downstream of the guide vane boxes (32). Moreover, the mouths (3) of the passages (30) facing the rotor airfoil row (6) are closer to a hot gases path than the nozzles (20).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Alstom Technology Ltd
    Inventors: Ulrich Steiger, Carlos Simon-Delgado, Axel Heidecke, Thomas Zierer, Robert Marmilic
  • Publication number: 20150037167
    Abstract: The disclosure pertains to a turbine with a gas turbine blade and a rotor heat shield for separating a space region through which hot working medium flows from a space region inside a rotor arrangement of the turbine. The rotor heat shield includes a platform which forms an axial heat shield section and which is arranged substantially parallel to the surface of a rotor and a radial heat shield section at the upstream end of the axial heat shield section, which is extending in a direction away from the surface of the axial heat shield section towards the hot gas. Further the turbine comprises a blade rear cavity which is delimited by the downstream end of the platform and/or the downstream end of the blade foot, the radial heat shield section. The disclosure further refers to a gas turbine blade and a rotor heat shield designed for such a turbine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2014
    Publication date: February 5, 2015
    Inventors: Carlos SIMON-DELGADO, Christoph Didion, Stefan Biedermann, Beat Von Arx, Thomas Zierer
  • Publication number: 20140112798
    Abstract: A gas turbine includes a rotor concentrically surrounded by a casing, with an annular hot gas channel axially extending between the rotor and the casing. The rotor is equipped with a plurality of blades, which are arranged on the rotor in an annular fashion. Each of the blades is mounted with a root in a respective axial slot on a rim of the rotor radially extending with an airfoil into said hot gas channel and adjoining with an axially oriented root surface to an annular rim cavity. Cooling means are provided at the root of each of said blades to receive cooling air being injected into said rim cavity through stationary injecting means. An optimized cooling is achieved by providing the root surface to be an essentially plane surface and the cooling means including a scoop for capturing and redirecting at least part of the injected cooling air, which scoop is designed as a recess with respect to the root surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2013
    Publication date: April 24, 2014
    Applicant: ALSTOM Technology Ltd
    Inventors: Sascha JUSTL, Carlos SIMON-DELGADO, Thomas ZIERER, Sven OLMES
  • Patent number: 8092150
    Abstract: A method for axial thrust control of a gas turbine, and a gas turbine with a device for controlling axial thrust are provided. A gas turbine, with regard to aerodynamic forces and pressure forces, which exert an axial force upon the rotor, is configured such that at no-load and low partial load it has a negative thrust, and at high load it has a positive thrust. In order to ensure a resulting positive thrust upon the thrust bearing within the entire load range of the gas turbine, an additional thrust is applied in a controlled manner. The additional thrust for example can be controlled in dependence upon the gas turbine load. The resulting thrust force at full load is consequently less than in the case of a conventionally designed gas turbine without thrust balance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Alstom Technology Ltd.
    Inventors: Stefan Rofka, Rene Waelchli, Sven Olmes, Thomas Zierer
  • Publication number: 20110070077
    Abstract: A gas turbine (1) includes a combustion chamber (2) followed by a stator airfoil row (4) defining a plurality of guide vanes and separated by the combustion chamber (2) by a first gap (5), and a rotor airfoil row (6) separated by the stator airfoil row (4) by a second gap (7). The stator airfoils (15) of the stator airfoil row (4) are connected to guide vane boxes (17) collecting a cooling fluid (A) and injecting it through nozzles (20) in the second gap (7) to make it to enter rotor airfoil inlets (23). The guide vane boxes (23) are provided with passages (30) connecting a zone (31) upstream of the guide vane boxes (17) to a zone (32) of the second gap (7) downstream of the guide vane boxes (32). Moreover, the mouths (3) of the passages (30) facing the rotor airfoil row (6) are closer to a hot gases path than the nozzles (20).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2010
    Publication date: March 24, 2011
    Inventors: Ulrich Steiger, Carlos Simon-Delgado, Axel Heidecke, Thomas Zierer, Robert Marmilic
  • Patent number: 7810332
    Abstract: A gas turbine includes a compressor for compressing the combustion air, at least one combustion chamber, in which a fuel is burned while compressed combustion air is supplied, and at least one first turbine arranged downstream of the combustion chamber and in which the hot combustion gases from the combustion chamber are expanded to perform work. Part of the compressed combustion air is branched off, cooled in a cooling air cooler, brought to a lower cooling air pressure by a second turbine and supplied to the gas turbine for cooling purposes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2010
    Assignee: Alstom Technology Ltd
    Inventors: Sven Olmes, Wilhelm Reiter, Thomas Zierer
  • Publication number: 20090067984
    Abstract: A method for axial thrust control of a gas turbine, and a gas turbine with a device for controlling axial thrust are provided. A gas turbine, with regard to aerodynamic forces and pressure forces, which exert an axial force upon the rotor, is configured such that at no-load and low partial load it has a negative thrust, and at high load it has a positive thrust. In order to ensure a resulting positive thrust upon the thrust bearing within the entire load range of the gas turbine, an additional thrust is applied in a controlled manner. The additional thrust for example can be controlled in dependence upon the gas turbine load. The resulting thrust force at full load is consequently less than in the case of a conventionally designed gas turbine without thrust balance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 3, 2008
    Publication date: March 12, 2009
    Applicant: ALSTOM TECHNOLOGY LTD.
    Inventors: Stefan Rofka, Rene Waelchli, Sven Olmes, Thomas Zierer
  • Patent number: 7311741
    Abstract: The invention describes a device for separating dust and dirt out of flowing media. A curved flow path (1) is imposed on the flow (21), and heavy foreign bodies are separated out of the main flow by centrifugal force. The partial stream required to carry away the foreign bodies is aftertreated in a filter (11) and returned in purified form. Unlike with conventional filters, which have to process the entire flow of media, pressure losses during the separation of dust are minimized, and on the other hand no medium is lost for removing the dust load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2007
    Assignee: Alstom Technology Ltd
    Inventors: Gordon Anderson, Reinhard Fried, Shailendra Naik, Stefan Schlechtriem, Thomas Zierer
  • Publication number: 20070095072
    Abstract: A gas turbine includes a compressor for compressing the combustion air, at least one combustion chamber, in which a fuel is burned while compressed combustion air is supplied, and at least one first turbine arranged downstream of the combustion chamber and in which the hot combustion gases from the combustion chamber are expanded to perform work. Part of the compressed combustion air is branched off, cooled in a cooling air cooler, brought to a lower cooling air pressure by a second turbine and supplied to the gas turbine for cooling purposes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2006
    Publication date: May 3, 2007
    Applicant: Alstom Technology Ltd.
    Inventors: Sven Olmes, Wilhelm Reiter, Thomas Zierer
  • Publication number: 20050076622
    Abstract: The invention describes a device for separating dust and dirt out of flowing media. A curved flow path (1) is imposed on the flow (21), and heavy foreign bodies are separated out of the main flow by centrifugal force. The partial stream required to carry away the foreign bodies is aftertreated in a filter (11) and returned in purified form. Unlike with conventional filters, which have to process the entire flow of media, pressure losses during the separation of dust are minimized, and on the other hand no medium is lost for removing the dust load.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2002
    Publication date: April 14, 2005
    Inventors: Gordon Anderson, Reinhard Fried, Shailendra Naik, Stefan Schlechtriem, Thomas Zierer
  • Patent number: 6161385
    Abstract: A turbomachine, in particular a gas turbine, is in the traditional manner provided with air cooling of the components that are subject to a high thermal stress. The cooling system (21, 31, 41) is provided with elements through which another medium (25, 35, 45), for example water or steam, can be added to the cooling system during peak demand. This medium displaces cooling air (26, 36, 46) from the cooling system, the air being then available additionally in a heat generator (2, 4). This means that more fuel (12, 13) can be added without increasing the hot gas temperature (T.sub.1, T.sub.3) at the turbine inlet (301, 501), and the power is increased. The quantity of the medium added to the cooling system is controlled by control elements (24, 34, 44) as a function of a control deviation (P.sub.set -P.sub.act) of the power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2000
    Assignee: Asea Brown Boveri AG
    Inventors: Dieter Rebhan, Jost Braun, Thomas Zierer, Stefan Rofka