TURBINE ASSEMBLY AND METHOD FOR REDUCING FLUID FLOW BETWEEN TURBINE COMPONENTS
According to one aspect of the invention, a turbine assembly includes a stator and a rotor adjacent to the stator. The turbine assembly also includes a passage formed in a projection from the rotor to form a fluid curtain between the rotor and stator, wherein the fluid curtain reduces a flow of fluid into a hot gas path.
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The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas turbines. More particularly, the subject matter relates to reducing fluid flow between components of gas turbines.
In a gas turbine, a combustor converts chemical energy of a fuel or an air-fuel mixture into thermal energy. The thermal energy is conveyed by a fluid, often compressed air from a compressor, to a turbine where the thermal energy is converted to mechanical energy. In some turbine embodiments, leakage of fluid between components into the compressed hot air causes a reduced power output and lower efficiency for the turbine. Leaks of fluid may be caused by thermal expansion of certain components and relative movement between components during operation of the gas turbine. Accordingly, reducing fluid leaks between components can improve efficiency and performance of the turbine.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONAccording to one aspect of the invention, a turbine assembly includes a stator and a rotor adjacent to the stator. The turbine assembly also includes a passage formed in a projection from the rotor to form a fluid curtain between the rotor and stator, wherein the fluid curtain reduces a flow of fluid into a hot gas path.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method for reducing fluid flow between turbine components includes flowing a hot gas across a nozzle on a stator, flowing the hot gas across a bucket on a rotor adjacent to the stator and flowing a cooling air flow through inner portions of the stator and rotor. The method further includes forming a curtain of fluid between the stator and rotor to reduce leaking of the flow of cooling air into the flow of hot gas.
These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The detailed description explains embodiments of the invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONIn an aspect, the combustor 104 uses liquid and/or gas fuel, such as natural gas or a hydrogen rich synthetic gas, to run the engine. For example, fuel nozzles 110 are in fluid communication with an air supply and a fuel supply 112. The fuel nozzles 110 create an air-fuel mixture, and discharge the air-fuel mixture into the combustor 104, thereby causing a combustion that heats a pressurized gas. The combustor 104 directs the hot pressurized exhaust gas through a transition piece into a turbine nozzle (or “stage one nozzle”) and then a turbine bucket, causing turbine 106 rotation. The rotation of turbine 106 causes the shaft 108 to rotate, thereby compressing the air as it flows into the compressor 102. The turbine components or parts are configured to allow for thermal expansion and relative movement of the parts while hot gas flows through the turbine 106. By reducing flow of a fluid that is cooler than the hot gas, turbine efficiency is improved. Specifically, reducing leakage of fluid into the hot gas path or compressed gas flow increases the volume of hot gas flow along the desired path, enabling more work to be extracted from the hot gas. Methods, systems and arrangements to reduce fluid leakage between turbine parts, such as stators and rotors, are discussed in detail below with reference to
As used herein, “downstream” and “upstream” are terms that indicate a direction relative to the flow of working fluid through the turbine. As such, the term “downstream” refers to a direction that generally corresponds to the direction of the flow of working fluid, and the term “upstream” generally refers to the direction that is opposite of the direction of flow of working fluid. The term “radial” refers to movement or position perpendicular to an axis or center line. It may be useful to describe parts that are at differing radial positions with regard to an axis. In this case, if a first component resides closer to the axis than a second component, it may be stated herein that the first component is “radially inward” of the second component. If, on the other hand, the first component resides further from the axis than the second component, it may be stated herein that the first component is “radially outward” or “outboard” of the second component. The term “axial” refers to movement or position parallel to an axis. Finally, the term “circumferential” refers to movement or position around an axis. Although the following discussion primarily focuses on gas turbines, the concepts discussed are not limited to gas turbines.
Referring now to
Forming the fluid curtain 308 between the rotor 202 and stator 204 reduces fluid leakage into the hot gas 218 enabling more work to be extracted from the hot gas 218. The fluid curtain 308 may be formed by a fluid flow from any suitable fluid source, such as the passage 212 in projection 210. As shown in
With continued reference to
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A turbine assembly comprising:
- a stator,
- a rotor adjacent to the stator; and
- a passage formed in a projection from the rotor to form a fluid curtain between the rotor and stator, wherein the fluid curtain reduces a flow of fluid into a hot gas path.
2. The turbine assembly of claim 1, wherein the rotor comprises an airfoil extending from a base of the rotor and wherein the projection is disposed on the base.
3. The turbine assembly of claim 2, wherein the projection comprises an angel wing.
4. The turbine assembly of claim 2, wherein a cavity is formed between the base of the rotor and a base of the stator, the cavity receiving a cooling air flow and wherein the passage extends through the base of the rotor to receive the cooling air flow from the cavity to supply the flow of fluid for the fluid curtain.
5. The turbine assembly of claim 2, wherein the passage is supplied the flow of fluid from an internal passage within the rotor base for cooling the airfoil.
6. The turbine assembly of claim 1, wherein the passage comprises a narrowing passage to cause increased fluid flow velocity within the passage to form the fluid curtain.
7. The turbine assembly of claim 1, wherein the passage directs the flow of fluid at an angle with respect to a line substantially perpendicular to a turbine axis.
8. A method for reducing fluid flow between turbine components comprising:
- flowing a hot gas across a nozzle on a stator;
- flowing the hot gas across a bucket on a rotor adjacent to the stator;
- flowing a cooling air flow through inner portions of the stator and rotor; and
- forming a curtain of fluid between the stator and rotor to reduce leaking of the flow of cooling air into the flow of hot gas.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein forming the curtain of fluid comprises flowing a fluid from a passage in a projection disposed on the rotor.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the projection comprises an angel wing.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the passage receives the fluid from a portion of the cooling air flow.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the passage receives the fluid from an internal passage within the rotor for cooling an airfoil.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein the passage directs fluid at an angle with respect to a line substantially perpendicular to a turbine axis.
14. The method of claim 8, wherein forming the curtain of fluid comprises flowing a fluid from a passage in a projection disposed on the stator.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the passage receives the fluid from a portion of the cooling air flow.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the passage receives the fluid from an internal passage within the rotor for cooling an airfoil.
17. A turbine assembly comprising:
- a stator,
- a rotor adjacent to the stator; and
- a passage in a projection disposed on the stator to form a fluid curtain between the rotor and stator, wherein the fluid curtain reduces a flow of fluid into a hot gas path.
18. The turbine assembly of claim 17, wherein the stator comprises an airfoil extending from a base of the stator and wherein the projection extends from a diaphragm of the stator.
19. The turbine assembly of claim 17, wherein inner portions of the stator and rotor receive a cooling air flow and wherein the fluid curtain is formed from the cooling air flow.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 4, 2012
Publication Date: Jul 4, 2013
Applicant: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY (Schenectady, NY)
Inventors: Ramesh Kempanna Babu (Bangalore), Karthik Srinivasan (Bangalore)
Application Number: 13/343,134
International Classification: F01D 5/18 (20060101);