Patents Examined by L. J. Casaregola
  • Gas turbine combustion chamber made of CMC and supported in a metal casing by CMC linking members
    Patent number: 7234306
    Abstract: The annular combustion chamber having ceramic matrix composite material walls is mounted inside a metal casing by linking members fastened to the chamber by brazing. The linking members comprise a plurality of inner linking tabs and a plurality of outer linking tabs connecting the chamber to the inner and outer metal shrouds of the casing, each linking tab has a first portion fastened to the outside surface of a wall of the combustion chamber by brazing, the first portions of the linking tabs being spaced apart from one another circumferentially so that the brazed connections between the chamber and the linking members occupy a set of limited zones that are spaced apart from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2007
    Assignee: SNECMA
    Inventors: Caroline Aumont, Eric Conete, Mario De Sousa, Didier Hernandez
  • Gas turbine control apparatus and gas turbine system using the same
    Patent number: 7234305
    Abstract: In a gas turbine control apparatus, a frequency analyzing section frequency-analyzes at least one of pressure oscillation in combustors of a gas turbine and acceleration oscillation of each of the combustors and outputs a first frequency analysis result as the result of frequency analysis for a plurality of predetermined frequency bands. A control unit controls at least one of a first fuel flow rate of fuel and a first air flow rate of air based on the first frequency analysis result for the plurality of frequency bands. The fuel and the air are supplied to the gas turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2007
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masumi Nomura, Kozo Toyama
  • Fuel supply system
    Patent number: 7234293
    Abstract: A fuel supply system for a gas turbine engine including first and second positive displacement pumps operated simultaneously to supply fuel under pressure from a low pressure source, a combining spill valve controlling the output flows from the first and second pumps to combine the outputs of the first and second pumps for supply to a metering valve of the system, or to spill some or all of the output of one or both pumps back to the low pressure supply, a pressure raising and shut off valve arrangement downstream of the metering valve for isolating the fuel system from an associated engine until the fuel pressure upstream of the pressure raising and shut off valve arrangement exceeds a predetermined pressure, and, a control system dependent upon the position of the combining spill valve for reducing said predetermined pressure at which said pressure raising and shut off valve arrangement opens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2007
    Assignee: Goodrich Control Systems Limited
    Inventors: Martin Kenneth Yates, Philip Laurence Elliott
  • Onboard supplemental power system at varying high altitudes
    Patent number: 7231770
    Abstract: Systems and methods for supplementing a power system to achieve consistent operation at varying altitudes are disclosed herein. A hybrid power system comprising a single power source driving multiple generators may implement a power recovery turbine to drive a supercharger compressor, which may provide compressed air at increased altitudes. The supplemental power system disclosed herein provides necessary shaft horsepower at high altitudes to drive a generator and produce cooling air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2007
    Assignee: Steward-Davis International, Inc.
    Inventor: Stanley W. Epstein
  • Extended operability aircraft fuel delivery system
    Patent number: 7231768
    Abstract: A fuel delivery system for a gas turbine engine includes a main fuel pump supplying fuel to a fuel-metering device. The operational flow range of the fuel system is dependent on a minimum net positive suction pressure at the main pump inlet required to prevent pump cavitation. A mixture of fuel and dissolved gases increases the minimum net positive suction pressure required to prevent cavitation. A fuel de-aerator including a permeable membrane removes dissolved gases from the fuel to eliminate formation of dissolved gases. The elimination of dissolved gases from within the liquid fuel reduces the required net positive suction pressure, enabling a greater operational flow range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2007
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Louis J. Spadaccini, Scott Kaslusky, Robert A. McLaughlin
  • Method and apparatus for increasing the pressure of cooling fluid within a gas turbine engine
    Patent number: 7225624
    Abstract: A system located with the housing of a gas turbine engine for increasing the pressure of working fluid from the compressor that will be utilized to cool a component. In one form the system includes a pump rotatable with a turbine component to increase the pressure of the working fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2007
    Assignee: Allison Advanced Development Company
    Inventor: Robert Anthony Ress, Jr.
  • Methods and apparatus for operating gas turbine engines
    Patent number: 7219499
    Abstract: A method facilitates assembling a gas turbine engine assembly. The method comprises providing at least one propelling gas turbine engine that includes a core engine including at least one turbine. The method also comprises coupling an auxiliary engine to the propelling gas turbine engine such that during operation of the propelling gas turbine engine, at least a portion of the airflow entering the propelling gas turbine engine is extracted from the propelling gas turbine engine upstream from the core engine turbine, and channeled to the auxiliary engine for generating power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2007
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: John B. Turco, Gary Craig Wollenweber
  • System and method for lightoff detection in turbine engines
    Patent number: 7216489
    Abstract: A system and method is provided for lightoff detection in a turbine engine that provides improved accuracy and consistency. The system and method use engine temperature and engine rotation speed sensor data to determine a first time interval during which the lightoff is estimated to have occurred. A peak gradient in the temperature sensor data within the first time interval and a peak gradient in the engine rotation sensor data within the first time interval are then determined. The temperature peak gradient time and the engine rotation peak gradient time are then used as boundaries to determine a narrowed time interval within the first time interval. The minimum gradient in the engine rotation sensor data in the narrowed time interval is determined, with the minimum gradient time in the engine rotation sensor data comprising an accurate estimate of lightoff time for the turbine engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2007
    Assignee: Honeywell International, Inc.
    Inventors: Onder Uluyol, Dale Mukavetz, Sunil K. Menon
  • Method for operating a turbine group
    Patent number: 7216486
    Abstract: Relevant fuel-gas properties (XG) are measured on an ongoing basis while a gas turbine group is operating. The C2+alkane content of the fuel gas is of particular interest in this context, since it has a significant influence on the ignitability of the fuel gas in the combustion chamber. The operating parameters of the gas turbine group are acted on directly as a function of the measured fuel-gas properties. In particular, in the case of the example of a gas turbine group with sequential combustion, the distribution of the fuel mass flows ({dot over (m)}EV, {dot over (m)}SEV) between the combustion chambers (4, 8) of the gas turbine group is varied. Furthermore, if there is provision for inert media, such as water or steam, to be introduced, it is possible for the mass flow of inert media ({dot over (m)}ST) to be controlled as a function of the measured fuel properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2007
    Assignee: ALSTOM Technology Ltd.
    Inventors: Klaus Doebbeling, Ken-Yves Haffner, Rolf Rüetschi, Hanspeter Zinn
  • Metering demand fuel system for gas turbine engines
    Patent number: 7216487
    Abstract: A fuel system includes a turbine engine, and an electric motor that are independently drivable relative to one another. The electric motor has a speed that is selectively controlled based upon a desired fuel flow. A centrifugal pump is driven by the turbine engine. The centrifugal pump provides a desired fuel pressure for the fuel system. A positive displacement pump is driven by the electric motor The positive displacement pump is in fluid communication with the centrifugal pump, for example in a series arrangement. The positive displacement pump meters a desired volume in response to the speed of the second drive assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2007
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand
    Inventor: Douglas A. Parsons
  • Methods and apparatus for cooling turbine engine combustor ignition devices
    Patent number: 7216488
    Abstract: An ignition device assembly for a gas turbine engine combustor includes a body and a shroud. The body extends from an inlet end to an outlet end, and the shroud extends circumferentially around at least a portion of the body, and axially from a first end to a tip end. The shroud includes a tip portion and a body portion. The body portion includes a plurality of metering openings and a plurality of first outlet openings. The plurality of metering openings are for channeling cooling air to the ignition device body, and the plurality of first outlet openings are for channeling spent cooling air from the ignition device body. The tip portion includes a plurality of discharge openings extending therethrough for channeling cooling from the ignition device body. The plurality of first outlet openings are between the shroud tip portion and the plurality of shroud metering openings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2007
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Stephen John Howell, John Carl Jacobson, Barry Francis Barnes, Ramy Michael Souri
  • Method and apparatus for a rocket engine power cycle
    Patent number: 7216477
    Abstract: A system for cooling a portion of a rocket engine with an inert compound and transferring the thermal energy from the inert compound to the propellants. The energy absorbed by the coolant is used also to power the turbines which powers the pumps that pump the fuel, the oxidizer, and the coolant. Additionally, the coolant, which is an inert compound, is used to separate the oxidizer and the fuel before the oxidizer and the fuel enter the combustion chamber eliminating the need for a complex inert turbo pump seal package. The systems which pump or comprise the coolant physically separate the propellants before the propellants enter the rocket engine. The coolant remains substantially unconsumed in this cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2007
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher M Erickson, James R Lobitz, William Bissell
  • Device for supplying cooling air to exhaust nozzle flaps
    Patent number: 7213393
    Abstract: A device for supplying cooling air to a hollow flap of an exhaust nozzle in a turbojet engine. The device includes a tube connecting the hollow flap to a cooling air source. The tube comprises at least one telescopic portion and at least one ball-joint connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2007
    Assignee: Snecma Moteurs
    Inventors: Guy Lapergue, Raphael Curtelin, Didier Feder
  • Case burning rocket
    Patent number: 7210282
    Abstract: A case-burning rocket booster includes a combustible case containing a solid rocket fuel, a combustion chamber adjustably coupled to the case for burning the case and the solid rocket fuel, a nozzle connected to the combustion chamber for expelling the burned case and fuel to generate thrust, and a drive system for pulling the combustion chamber and nozzle up the case as the case and fuel burn. A hybrid version of the case-burning rocket also includes an oxidizer supply system for supplying varying amounts of oxidizer to the combustion chamber to vary the thrust generated by burning the case and the fuel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2007
    Inventor: Brian A. Floyd
  • Gas turbine engine component having bypass circuit
    Patent number: 7210900
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine component has an annular flange arm, a backing plate mounted to the flange arm and a bypass circuit formed between the flange arm and the backing plate. The bypass circuit includes one or more channels formed in one of the flange arm or the backing plate. When more than one channels are used, at least one connecting slot is provided between the channels. At least one inlet passage extends through the flange arm in fluid communication with the forward-most channel, and at least one outlet slot is formed between the flange arm and the backing plate in fluid communication with the aft-most channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2007
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Andre Christopher Urso, George Albert Durgin, Christopher George Housley, George E. Moore, Harris Daniel Abramson, Robert Paul Czachor
  • Method and apparatus for identification of hot and cold chambers in a gas turbine combustor
    Patent number: 7210297
    Abstract: A method for identifying combustion characteristics of a plurality combustion chambers in a gas turbine, the method including: supplying fuel to the combustion chambers at a predetermined fuel rate; sensing combustion dynamic pressure in said plurality of combustion chambers and generating dynamic pressure signals representative of the dynamic pressure in each of said combustion chambers, wherein the dynamic pressure signals provide information regarding the dynamic pressure at a plurality of frequencies; segmenting the signals into a plurality of predefined frequency bands; determining a characteristic value for each of the segmented signals, and identifying an order of combustion chambers based on the characteristic value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2007
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Minesh Ashok Shah, Ajai Singh, Willy Steve Ziminsky, Derrick Simons
  • Engine fuel control
    Patent number: 7204076
    Abstract: An aircraft gas turbine engine fuel metering unit incorporating a memory device for storing data relevant to that unit, and an electrical connection arrangement whereby data can be read from and/or written to said memory device by an associated electronic engine controller, said stored data including data relating to at least one of the performance, the identification, the health, and the service life of that fuel metering unit. The invention further resides in an aircraft gas turbine engine fuel supply system and a method of operating such a system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2007
    Assignee: Goodrich Control Systems Ltd.
    Inventors: Michael Griffiths, Paul Bernard Green, Daniel James Bickley
  • Staged emitter-attractor ion drive
    Patent number: 7204078
    Abstract: An ion drive system for creating a propulsion force or thrust has at least one stage having an emitter and an attractor spaced from the emitter by a gap. An ionizable dielectric media is located within the gap. The drive system further has a propellant source for introducing a propellant in the vicinity of the emitter and a power source for creating a high intensity field in the vicinity of the emitter to ionize the dielectric media and a diffused field in the vicinity of the attractor to accelerate the ions away from the emitter and thereby create a propulsive force. In a preferred embodiment, the ion drive system has a plurality of stages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2007
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Alan B. Minick, Benjamin Goldberg
  • Modulated current gas turbine engine starting system
    Patent number: 7204090
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for starting a gas turbine engine under various conditions are used to distribute a varying total amount of electric power to at least one of a starter, a fuel heater and an oil heater while providing fuel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2007
    Assignee: Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
    Inventor: Richard John O'Connor
  • Atmospheric pressure combustion turbine system
    Patent number: 7204077
    Abstract: Techniques suitable for recovering energy from a high-temperature gas of an ordinary pressure are provided. A turbomachine has a turbine 16 and compressors 20 and 24. A combustor 12 is disposed at a stage above the turbine 16. A power generating system generates power by passing a working fluid for the turbomachine through the combustor 12, the turbine 16 and the compressors 20 and 24 in that order.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2007
    Assignees: Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology
    Inventors: Kazuo Tanaka, Seiji Yamashita, Eiichi Harada, Norihiko Iki, Sanyo Takahashi, Hirohide Furutani