Patents by Inventor Ethan Patrick O'Connor

Ethan Patrick O'Connor 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: 11906163
    Abstract: A fuel delivery system for a gas turbine engine includes a fuel source; a draw pump downstream of the fuel source for generating a liquid fuel flow from the fuel source; a main fuel pump downstream of the draw pump; and a fuel oxygen reduction unit downstream of the draw pump and upstream of the main fuel pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Daniel Alan Niergarth, Sridhar Adibhatla, Ethan Patrick O'Connor
  • Patent number: 11866182
    Abstract: A fuel oxygen reduction unit assembly for a fuel system is provided. The fuel oxygen reduction unit assembly includes: a fuel oxygen reduction unit located downstream from the fuel source and defining a stripping gas flowpath and a liquid fuel flowpath, the fuel oxygen reduction unit comprising a means for transferring an amount of oxygen from a liquid fuel flow through the liquid fuel flowpath to a gas flow through the stripping gas flowpath; and an oxygen conversion unit in flow communication with the stripping gas flowpath configured to extract a flow of oxygen from a gas flow through the stripping gas flowpath, the oxygen conversion unit defining an oxygen outlet configured to provide the extracted flow of oxygen to an external system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Daniel Alan Niergarth, Brandon Wayne Miller, John Michael Pyles, Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Justin Paul Smith, William James Mailander
  • Patent number: 11852080
    Abstract: A gearbox assembly includes a first gear coupled to a first shaft, a second gear coupled to a second shaft, and a plurality of planet gears that mesh with the first gear and the second gear. The first shaft includes a first shaft stiff portion and a first shaft flexible portion that includes a greater flexibility than a flexibility of the first shaft stiff portion such that the first gear moves in a radial direction. The second shaft includes a second shaft stiff portion and a second shaft flexible portion that includes a greater flexibility than a flexibility of the second shaft stiff portion such that the second gear moves in the radial direction. The first gear and the second gear move to distribute loads substantially equally on the plurality of planet gears.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Gert J. van der Merwe, Barry L. Allmon
  • Patent number: 11851204
    Abstract: A fuel delivery system for a gas turbine engine includes a fuel tank; a draw pump downstream of the fuel tank for generating a liquid fuel flow from the fuel tank; a main fuel pump downstream of the draw pump; and a fuel oxygen conversion unit downstream of the draw pump and upstream of the main fuel pump. The fuel oxygen conversion unit includes a stripping gas line; a contactor in fluid communication with the stripping gas line and the draw pump for forming a fuel/gas mixture; and a dual separator pump in fluid communication with the contactor for receiving the fuel/gas mixture and separating the fuel/gas mixture into a stripping gas flow and the liquid fuel flow at a location upstream of the main fuel pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Daniel Alan Niergarth, Brandon Wayne Miller, Richard Alan Wesling, David Justin Brady
  • Publication number: 20230407785
    Abstract: A fuel oxygen reduction unit for an engine is provided. The fuel oxygen reduction unit includes an inlet fuel line; a stripping gas source; a contactor selectively in fluid communication with the stripping gas source, the inlet fuel line, or both to form a fuel/gas mixture; and a separator that receives the fuel/gas mixture, the separator configured to separate the fuel/gas mixture into an outlet stripping gas flow and an outlet fuel flow; wherein a flow of stripping gas passes through the fuel oxygen reduction unit a single time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2023
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Brandon Wayne Miller, Daniel Alan Niergarth, Alfred Albert Mancini
  • Patent number: 11774427
    Abstract: Methods of and apparatus for monitoring the health of a fuel oxygen conversion unit for a vehicle or a vehicle engine are provided. For example, a method comprises providing a distribution of sensed values obtained from a plurality of sensors distributed along an axial length of a gas oxygen reduction unit of the fuel oxygen conversion unit and determining the health of the fuel oxygen conversion unit from the distribution. As another example, a fuel oxygen conversion unit defines a circulation gas flowpath from a fuel gas separator to a contactor and comprises a gas oxygen reduction unit positioned in the circulation gas flowpath for reducing an oxygen content of a flow of stripping gas through the circulation gas flowpath. A plurality of sensors are distributed along an axial length of the gas oxygen reduction unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Nathan Ray Parrott
  • Patent number: 11773776
    Abstract: A fuel oxygen reduction unit for an engine is provided. The fuel oxygen reduction unit includes an inlet fuel line; a stripping gas source; a contactor selectively in fluid communication with the stripping gas source, the inlet fuel line, or both to form a fuel/gas mixture; and a separator that receives the fuel/gas mixture, the separator configured to separate the fuel/gas mixture into an outlet stripping gas flow and an outlet fuel flow; wherein a flow of stripping gas passes through the fuel oxygen reduction unit a single time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Brandon Wayne Miller, Daniel Alan Niergarth, Alfred Albert Mancini
  • Publication number: 20230119477
    Abstract: A turbine engine that includes an engine core, an inner cowl, an outer cowl and an accessory gearbox. The engine core includes at least a compressor section, a combustion section, and a turbine section in axial flow arrangement. The accessory gearbox is operably coupled to the engine core and includes a first portion and a second portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2022
    Publication date: April 20, 2023
    Inventors: Brandon Wayne Miller, John Carl Glessner, Lawrence William Nurre, Ian Francis Prentice, Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Arthur William Sibbach
  • Patent number: 11577852
    Abstract: A fuel oxygen conversion unit for a vehicle or an engine of the vehicle includes a contactor; a mechanically-driven, first fuel gas separator defining a liquid fuel outlet and a stripping gas outlet, the fuel oxygen conversion unit defining a liquid fuel outlet path in fluid communication with the liquid fuel outlet of the first fuel gas separator; and a second fuel gas separator positioned in fluid communication with the liquid fuel outlet path at a location downstream of the first fuel gas separator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Daniel Alan Niergarth, Arthur William Sibbach, Brandon Wayne Miller, Richard Alan Wesling
  • Patent number: 11572838
    Abstract: A turbine engine that includes an engine core, an inner cowl, an outer cowl and an accessory gearbox. The engine core includes at least a compressor section, a combustion section, and a turbine section in axial flow arrangement. The accessory gearbox is operably coupled to the engine core and includes a first portion and a second portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Brandon Wayne Miller, John Carl Glessner, Lawrence William Nurre, Ian Francis Prentice, Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Arthur William Sibbach
  • Patent number: 11474339
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to an optical adapter for an optical scope. The optical scope includes a tube defining a conduit. The optical adapter is coupled to an end of the tube. The optical adapter defines a proximate end and a distal end. The optical adapter includes a casing defining a longitudinal direction. The casing includes a first wall and a second wall, in which the first wall and the second wall define a first viewing port therebetween. The second wall defines a second viewing port. The optical adapter further includes a hinge coupled to the first wall, a reflecting lens defining a first end separated from a second end in the longitudinal direction, in which the first end is coupled to the hinge, and an actuator coupled to the first wall and to the second end of the reflecting lens. The actuator pivots the reflecting lens about the hinge from a retracted position adjacent to the first wall to an extended position toward the second wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, David Scott Diwinsky, Wayne Ray Grady
  • Patent number: 11447263
    Abstract: A method of operating a fuel oxygen reduction unit for a vehicle or a gas turbine engine of the vehicle is provided. The fuel oxygen reduction unit including a contactor and a fuel gas separator, and further defining a stripping gas flowpath in flow communication with a stripping gas inlet of the contactor and a stripping gas outlet of the fuel gas separator. The method includes receiving data indicative of a parameter of a stripping gas flow through the stripping gas flowpath or of a component in flow communication with the stripping gas flow through the stripping gas flowpath; and determining an operability condition of the fuel oxygen reduction unit, or a component operable with the fuel oxygen reduction unit, based on the data received indicative of the parameter of the stripping gas flow or of the component in flow communication with the stripping gas flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Daniel Alan Niergarth, Brandon Wayne Miller, Sridhar Adibhatla
  • Patent number: 11352960
    Abstract: In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of operating a fuel system for an aeronautical gas turbine engine is provided. The method includes: providing a flow of fuel to a fuel nozzle of the aeronautical gas turbine engine during a wind down condition; operating a fuel oxygen reduction unit to reduce an oxygen content of the flow of fuel provided to the fuel nozzle of the aeronautical gas turbine engine during the wind down condition; and ceasing providing the flow of fuel to the fuel nozzle of the aeronautical gas turbine engine, the fuel nozzle comprising a volume of fuel after ceasing providing the flow of fuel to the fuel nozzle; wherein operating the fuel oxygen reduction unit comprises operating the fuel oxygen reduction unit to reduce an oxygen content of the volume of fuel in the fuel nozzle to less than 20 parts per million.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Alfred Albert Mancini, Daniel Alan Niergarth, Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Brandon Wayne Miller
  • Patent number: 11319085
    Abstract: A fuel oxygen conversion unit includes a contactor; a fuel gas separator, the fuel oxygen conversion unit defining a circulation gas flowpath from the fuel gas separator to the contactor; and an isolation valve in airflow communication with the circulation gas flowpath for modulating a gas flow through the circulation gas flowpath to the contactor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Daniel Alan Niergarth, Brandon Wayne Miller, Richard Alan Wesling, Christian Xavier Stevenson, Peter Allen Andrews, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11313246
    Abstract: A wash system for a gas turbine engine includes a core turning assembly having a motor configured to be mechanically coupled to the gas turbine engine. The rotor of the core turning assembly is further configured to rotate one or more components of a compressor section or a turbine section of the gas turbine engine at a rotational speed greater than two (2) revolutions per minute and less than five hundred (500) revolutions per minute during washing operations of the gas turbine engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Michael Edward Eriksen, Ethan Patrick O'Connor
  • Publication number: 20220099031
    Abstract: A turbine engine that includes an engine core, an inner cowl, an outer cowl and an accessory gearbox. The engine core includes at least a compressor section, a combustion section, and a turbine section in axial flow arrangement. The accessory gearbox is operably coupled to the engine core and includes a first portion and a second portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Publication date: March 31, 2022
    Inventors: Brandon Wayne Miller, John Carl Glessner, Lawrence William Nurre, Ian Francis Prentice, Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Arthur William Sibbach
  • Patent number: 11193671
    Abstract: A fuel oxygen conversion unit includes a contactor defining a liquid fuel inlet, a stripping gas inlet and a fuel/gas mixture outlet; and a fuel gas separator defining a fuel/gas mixture inlet in flow communication with the fuel/gas mixture outlet of the contactor and an axis. The fuel gas separator further includes a stationary casing; and a separator assembly including a core and a plurality of paddles extending from the core, the separator assembly rotatable about the axis within the stationary casing to separate a fuel/gas mixture received through the fuel/gas mixture inlet into a liquid fuel flow and stripping gas flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Daniel Alan Niergarth, Brandon Wayne Miller, Richard Alan Wesling
  • Patent number: 11186382
    Abstract: An engine includes a stripping gas source, a combustion section, and a fuel oxygen conversion unit positioned upstream of the combustion section, the fuel oxygen conversion unit defining a stripping gas flowpath in airflow communication with the stripping gas source. The fuel oxygen conversion unit includes a contactor defining a fuel inlet, a gas inlet in airflow communication with the stripping gas flowpath, and a fuel gas mixture outlet; and a fuel gas separator defining a fuel gas mixture inlet for receiving a fuel gas mixture from the contactor, a liquid fuel outlet, and a stripping gas outlet; wherein the stripping gas flowpath receives substantially all of a stripping gas flow therethrough from the stripping gas source and provides the stripping gas flow to the contactor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Peter Allen Andrews, Jr., Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Daniel Alan Niergarth, Brandon Wayne Miller, Christian Xavier Stevenson, David Vickery Parker
  • Publication number: 20210340936
    Abstract: A fuel oxygen reduction unit for an engine is provided. The fuel oxygen reduction unit includes a contactor including a fuel inlet that receives an inlet fuel flow and a stripping gas inlet that receives an inlet stripping gas flow, the contactor configured to form a fuel/gas mixture; a separator that receives the fuel/gas mixture, the fuel oxygen reduction unit defining a circulation gas flowpath from the separator to the contactor; and a stripping gas source selectively in fluid communication with the circulation gas flowpath for selectively introducing a stripping gas from the stripping gas source to the circulation gas flowpath, wherein the stripping gas source is an accessory gearbox.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Publication date: November 4, 2021
    Inventors: Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Christian Xavier Stevenson, Brandon Wayne Miller
  • Publication number: 20210340916
    Abstract: In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of operating a fuel system for an aeronautical gas turbine engine is provided. The method includes: providing a flow of fuel to a fuel nozzle of the aeronautical gas turbine engine during a wind down condition; operating a fuel oxygen reduction unit to reduce an oxygen content of the flow of fuel provided to the fuel nozzle of the aeronautical gas turbine engine during the wind down condition; and ceasing providing the flow of fuel to the fuel nozzle of the aeronautical gas turbine engine, the fuel nozzle comprising a volume of fuel after ceasing providing the flow of fuel to the fuel nozzle; wherein operating the fuel oxygen reduction unit comprises operating the fuel oxygen reduction unit to reduce an oxygen content of the volume of fuel in the fuel nozzle to less than 20 parts per million.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Publication date: November 4, 2021
    Inventors: Alfred Albert Mancini, Daniel Alan Niergarth, Ethan Patrick O'Connor, Brandon Wayne Miller