TURBINE AIRFOIL VANE WITH AN IMPINGEMENT INSERT HAVING A PLURALITY OF IMPINGEMENT NOZZLES

Abstract

A turbine airfoil vane usable in a turbine engine and including at least one cooling system with an impingement plate having one or more impingement nozzles is disclosed. The turbine vane impingement nozzles may extend towards an outer wall forming the turbine vane and may reduce the mixing of cooling fluids and impingement jets found in conventional configurations. Instead, the nozzles terminate within close proximity of the outer wall, thereby reducing the effect of cooling fluid cross flow.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed generally to turbine airfoil vanes, and more particularly to hollow turbine airfoil vanes having an impingement insert for passing fluids, such as air, to cool the airfoils.

BACKGROUND

Typically, gas turbine engines include a compressor for compressing air, a combustor for mixing the compressed air with fuel and igniting the mixture, and a turbine blade assembly for producing power. Combustors often operate at high temperatures that may exceed 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Typical turbine combustor configurations expose turbine vane and blade assemblies to these high temperatures. As a result, turbine vanes and blades must be made of materials capable of withstanding such high temperatures. In addition, turbine vanes and blades often contain cooling systems for prolonging the life of the vanes and blades and reducing the likelihood of failure as a result of excessive temperatures.

Typically, turbine vanes are formed from an elongated portion forming a vane having one end configured to be coupled to a vane carrier and an opposite end configured to be movably coupled to an inner endwall. The vane is ordinarily composed of a leading edge, a trailing edge, a suction side, and a pressure side. The inner aspects of most turbine vanes typically contain an intricate maze of cooling circuits forming a cooling system. The cooling circuits in the vanes receive air from the compressor of the turbine engine and pass the air through the ends of the vane adapted to be coupled to the vane carrier. The cooling circuits often include multiple flow paths that are designed to maintain all aspects of the turbine vane at a relatively uniform temperature. At least some of the air passing through these cooling circuits is exhausted through orifices in the leading edge, trailing edge, suction side, and pressure side of the vane.

The cooling system, as shown in FIG. 3, may include an impingement plate 3 with a plurality of impingement holes 4 for directing cooling fluids to impinge on the outer wall 6 forming a turbine airfoil. The impingement plate 3 may be offset from the outer wall 6 a conventional distance. The impingement plate 3 may be generally flat and reside in a single plane. In this configuration, the cross flow of cooling fluids often disrupts the impingement jets directed towards the outer wall, thereby negatively impacting the cooling function of the impingement jets. While advances have been made in the cooling systems in turbine vanes, a need still exists for a turbine vane having increased cooling efficiency for dissipating heat and passing a sufficient amount of cooling air through the vane.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a turbine airfoil vane usable in a turbine engine. The turbine vane may include one or more cooling systems with an impingement plate having one or more impingement nozzles. The turbine vane impingement nozzles may extend towards an outer wall forming the turbine vane and may reduce the mixing of cooling fluids with impingement jets. Instead, the nozzles may terminate within close proximity of the outer wall, thereby reducing the effect of cooling fluid cross flow.

The turbine vane may include a generally elongated hollow airfoil formed from an outer wall. The vane may include a leading edge, a trailing edge, a pressure side, a suction side, an outer endwall at a first end, an inner endwall at a second end opposite the first end, and a cooling system positioned within the generally elongated airfoil. The cooling system may include one or more impingement inserts positioned in internal aspects of a central cooling chamber of the cooling system. The impingement insert directs cooling fluids towards the outer wall forming the generally elongated airfoil to impinge upon the inner surface of the outer wall and cool the outer wall. The impingement insert may include a plurality of impingement nozzles extending toward an inner surface of the outer wall from an impingement plate, wherein each nozzle includes at least one impingement orifice. Each nozzle may include one or more impingement orifices positioned at an outermost aspect of the nozzle for directing cooling fluids orthogonally away from the impingement plate.

The impingement nozzles may be positioned such that a distance between the one or more impingement orifices and the inner surface of the outer wall may be less than a conventional distance between a conventional impingement plate with holes and an outer wall of a conventional vane. In addition, a distance between the impingement plate and the inner surface of the outer wall may be greater than a conventional distance between the conventional impingement plate with holes and the outer wall of the conventional vane.

One or more of the impingement nozzles may generally cylindrical, and in at least one embodiment, a plurality of the impingement nozzles may generally cylindrical. One or more of the impingement nozzles may be generally conical, and in at least one embodiment, a plurality of impingement nozzles may be generally conical. The impingement nozzles may have any one of a number of different shapes. In particular, the impingement nozzles may have a cross-sectional shape formed from a cylinder, a rectangle, a triangle or a semicircle.

An advantage of this invention is that the impingement jets are emitted from the impingement plate through impingement nozzles closer to the outer wall forming the turbine vane without reducing the cross-sectional area of the channel formed between the outer wall and the impingement plate.

Another advantage of this invention is that the impingement jets are discharged through the impingement plate in close proximity to the outer wall such that cooling fluid cross flow is not sufficient to disrupt the impingement jets.

These and other embodiments are described in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the presently disclosed invention and, together with the description, disclose the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a turbine vane having features according to the instant invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the turbine vane shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional, detailed view taken of an outer wall of a conventional turbine airfoil with an impingement insert.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional, detailed view taken at detail line 4-4 in FIG. 2 displaying an impingement insert with a plurality of impingement nozzles.

FIG. 5 is a partial view of the inner surface of the outer wall taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4 showing the impingement jets striking the outer wall and cross flow flowing therebetween.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 1-5, this invention is directed to a turbine airfoil vane 10 usable in a turbine engine. The turbine vane 10 may include one or more cooling systems 12 with an impingement plate 14 having one or more impingement nozzles 16. The turbine vane impingement nozzles 16 may extend towards an outer wall 20 forming the turbine vane 10 and may reduce the mixing of cooling fluids with impingement jets 22. Instead, the nozzles 16 may terminate within close proximity of the outer wall 20, thereby reducing the effect of cooling fluid cross flow 62.

The cooling system 12 may be configured to cool internal and external aspects of the turbine vane 10 usable in a turbine engine. In at least one embodiment, the turbine airfoil cooling system 12 may be configured to be included within a stationary turbine vane 10, as shown in FIGS. 1-4. The turbine airfoil cooling system 10 may be formed from a cooling system 12 having one or more cooling chambers 26. For instance, the cooling channels 26 may include one or more midcord cooling channels 28 positioned in the outer wall 20,

As shown in FIGS. 1-2, the turbine airfoil 12 may be formed from a generally elongated hollow airfoil 30 having an outer surface 32 adapted for use, for example, in an axial flow turbine engine. Outer surface 32 may have a generally concave shaped portion forming the pressure side 34 and a generally convex shaped portion forming the suction side 36. The turbine vane 10 may also include an outer endwall 38 at a first end 40 adapted to be coupled to a hook attachment and may include an inner endwall 42 at a second end 44. The airfoil 30 may also include a leading edge 46 and a trailing edge 48 opposite the leading edge 46.

As shown in FIG. 2, the turbine vane 10 may include an impingement insert 14 positioned in internal aspects of a central cooling chamber 26 of the cooling system 12. The impingement insert 14 may include a plurality of impingement nozzles 16, as shown in FIG. 4, extending from the impingement plate 14. In at least one embodiment, the nozzles 16 may extend toward an inner surface 52 of the outer wall 20 from the impingement plate 14. One or more of the nozzles 16 may include one or more impingement orifices 54. Each nozzle 16 may include at least one impingement orifice 54 positioned at an outermost aspect 56 of the nozzle 16 for directing cooling fluids orthogonally away from the impingement plate 14.

In at least one embodiment, one or more impingement nozzles 16 may be generally cylindrical. As such, a plurality of impingement nozzles 16 may be generally cylindrical. In other embodiments, one or more impingement nozzles 16 may have a cross-sectional area formed as a cylinder, a rectangle, a triangle, a semicircle, and other appropriate shapes. The impingement nozzles 16 may also be configured with a conical shape such that a cross-sectional area at a base 58 is greater than a cross-sectional area at the outermost aspect 56. One or a plurality of impingement nozzles 16 may be configured have a generally conical shape and may include one or more impingement orifices 54.

The impingement nozzles 16 may be aligned into rows, as shown in FIG. 5 through depiction of the impingement jets 60. The rows may extend in a generally spanwise direction, in a generally chordwise direction or other appropriate direction. Adjacent rows may be offset from each other.

The impingement orifices 54 may extend from the impingement plate 14 a distance 64 that is less than a conventional distance 8 between a conventional impingement plate 2 with holes 4 and an outer wall 6 of a conventional vane, as shown in FIG. 3. In addition, a distance 66 between the impingement plate 14 and the inner surface 52 of the outer wall 20 is greater than a conventional distance 8 between the conventional impingement plate 2 with holes 4 and the outer wall 6 of the conventional vane. In such a configuration, the cross-sectional areas between the nozzles 16 and the outer wall 20 is less than the distance 64 between the impingement plate 14 and the outer wall 20. Thus, the nozzles 16 may be placed in closer position relative to outer wall 20 without changing overall volume of cooling fluid flow through the channel formed between the outer wall 20 and the impingement plate 14.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, during use, cooling fluids may flow from a cooling fluid supply source (not shown) into the cooling system 12. The cooling fluids may be passed into the channel formed between the impingement plate 14 through the impingement nozzles 16 and the impingement orifices 54 positioned at the outermost aspect 56 of the nozzles 16. The size and configuration of the jet of cooling fluids flowing from the nozzle 16 is controlled by the shape and size of the nozzle 16. In at least one embodiment in which the nozzles 16 are generally circular, the impingement jets 60 may be generally circular when the cooling fluids strike the impingement plate 14, as shown in FIG. 5. After the cooling fluids impinge upon the impingement plate 14, the cooling fluids form a cross flow 62 flowing generally along the outer wall 20. Because the nozzles 16 extend to within close proximity of the outer wall 20, the impingement jets 60 have sufficient velocity such that the cross flow 62 does not disrupt the impingement jets 60. The cooling fluids flowing from the impingement nozzles 16 reduce the temperature of the outer wall 20.

The foregoing is provided for purposes of illustrating, explaining, and describing embodiments of this invention. Modifications and adaptations to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of this invention.

Claims

1. A turbine vane, comprising:

a generally elongated hollow airfoil formed from an outer wall, and having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a pressure side, a suction side, an outer endwall at a first end, an inner endwall at a second end opposite the first end, and a cooling system positioned within the generally elongated airfoil; and

at least one impingement insert positioned in internal aspects of a central cooling chamber of the cooling system;

wherein the impingement insert includes a plurality of impingement nozzles extending toward an inner surface of the outer wall from an impingement plate, wherein each nozzle includes at least one impingement orifice.

2. The turbine vane of claim 1, wherein a distance between the at least one impingement orifice and the inner surface of the outer wall is less than a conventional distance between a conventional impingement plate with holes and an outer wall of a conventional vane.

3. The turbine vane of claim 2, wherein a distance between the impingement plate and the inner surface of the outer wall is greater than a conventional distance between the conventional impingement plate with holes and the outer wall of the conventional vane.

4. The turbine vane of claim 1, wherein at least one of the impingement nozzles is generally cylindrical.

5. The turbine vane of claim 4, wherein the plurality of impingement nozzles are generally cylindrical.

6. The turbine vane of claim 1, wherein at least one of the impingement nozzles is generally conical.

7. The turbine vane of claim 6, wherein the plurality of impingement nozzles are generally conical.

8. The turbine vane of claim 1, wherein each nozzle includes at least one impingement orifice positioned at an outermost aspect of the nozzle for directing cooling fluids orthogonally away from the impingement plate.

9. The turbine vane of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of nozzles has a cross-sectional area selected from the group consisting of a cylinder, a rectangle, a triangle and a semicircle.

10. A turbine vane, comprising:

a generally elongated hollow airfoil formed from an outer wall, and having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a pressure side, a suction side, an outer endwall at a first end, an inner endwall at a second end opposite the first end, and a cooling system positioned within the generally elongated airfoil; and

at least one impingement insert positioned in internal aspects of a central cooling chamber of the cooling system;

wherein the impingement insert includes a plurality of impingement nozzles extending toward an inner surface of the outer wall from an impingement plate, wherein each nozzle includes at least one impingement orifice;

wherein a distance between the at least one impingement orifice and the inner surface of the outer wall is less than a conventional distance between a conventional impingement plate with holes and an outer wall of a conventional vane;

wherein a distance between the impingement plate and the inner surface of the outer wall is greater than a conventional distance between the conventional impingement plate with holes and the outer wall of the conventional vane.

11. The turbine vane of claim 10, wherein at least one of the impingement nozzles is generally cylindrical.

12. The turbine vane of claim 11, wherein the plurality of impingement nozzles are generally cylindrical.

13. The turbine vane of claim 10, wherein at least one of the impingement nozzles is generally conical.

14. The turbine vane of claim 13, wherein the plurality of impingement nozzles are generally conical.

15. The turbine vane of claim 10, wherein each nozzle includes at least one impingement orifice positioned at an outermost aspect of the nozzle for directing cooling fluids orthogonally away from the impingement plate.

16. The turbine vane of claim 10, wherein at least one of the plurality of nozzles has a cross-sectional area selected from the group consisting of a cylinder, a rectangle, a triangle and a semicircle.

17. A turbine vane, comprising:

a generally elongated hollow airfoil formed from an outer wall, and having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a pressure side, a suction side, an outer endwall at a first end, an inner endwall at a second end opposite the first end, and a cooling system positioned within the generally elongated airfoil; and

at least one impingement insert positioned in internal aspects of a central cooling chamber of the cooling system;

wherein the impingement insert includes a plurality of impingement nozzles extending toward an inner surface of the outer wall from an impingement plate, wherein each nozzle includes at least one impingement orifice;

wherein a distance between the at least one impingement orifice and the inner surface of the outer wall is less than a conventional distance between a conventional impingement plate with holes and an outer wall of a conventional vane;

wherein a distance between the impingement plate and the inner surface of the outer wall is greater than a conventional distance between the conventional impingement plate with holes and the outer wall of the conventional vane;

wherein each nozzle includes at least one impingement orifice positioned at an outermost aspect of the nozzle for directing cooling fluids orthogonally away from the impingement plate.

18. The turbine vane of claim 17, wherein at least one of the plurality of nozzles has a cross-sectional area selected from the group consisting of a cylinder, a rectangle, a triangle and a semicircle.

19. The turbine vane of claim 17, wherein the plurality of impingement nozzles are generally cylindrical.

20. The turbine vane of claim 17, wherein the plurality of impingement nozzles are generally conical.