| Patent application number | Description | Published |
| 20090056335 | Gas turbine engine combustor assembly having integrated control valves - A combustor assembly for a gas turbine engine includes a combustor endcover having at least one fuel circuit and mounted thereto a plurality of pre-mixers and at least one control valve. The at least one control valve is fluidly connected to the at least one fuel circuit and operatively connected to a controller. The controller selectively operates the at least one control valve to deliver fuel through the at least one fuel circuit to the plurality of pre-mixers in order to achieve an enhanced level of operational flexibility by providing individual combustion chamber control. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090243230 | Combustion cap floating collar using E-seal - An improved floating collar assembly for gas turbine combustion units consists of a sheet metal collar with a flat flange and an E seal that is pre-compressed within a block of epoxy. The collar fits over a corresponding fuel nozzle burner tube and is retained on a cap assembly by a flat plate. During assembly, the collar is loose so that it floats, which makes cap assembly easy. During operation, the epoxy used to pre-compress the E seal heats up and burns off, whereupon the E seal opens up and produces a seating load between the collar and plate that is high enough to keep the collar from rotating and thereby reduce collar wear. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090255266 | SURFACE TREATMENTS FOR PREVENTING HYDROCARBON THERMAL DEGRADATION DEPOSITS ON ARTICLES - A method of preventing thermal hydrocarbon degradation deposits on a surface of a gas turbine component, the method includes providing the turbine component comprising the surface configured for contacting a hydrocarbon fluid, wherein the substrate comprises a material having a nominal liquid wettability sufficient to generate, with reference to an oil, a nominal contact angle, disposing a plurality of features on the substrate to form an anti-deposition surface texture, wherein the plurality of features have a size, shape, and orientation selected such that the surface has an effective wettability sufficient to generate, with reference to an oil, an effective contact angle of greater than the nominal contact angle, and the features comprise a width dimension (a), and a spacing dimension (b), wherein the features prevent the hydrocarbon fluid from penetrating into the surface texture and thereby reduce the adhesion of the thermal hydrocarbon deposits to the surface. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090283611 | SURFACE TREATMENTS AND COATINGS FOR ATOMIZATION - An atomizer, comprising a pre-filming region comprising a surface configured to reduce a mean drop size of a liquid to be atomized, wherein the surface has an effective contact angle, with reference to the liquid, of less than about 30 degrees; and a lip portion disposed at an end of the pre-filming region and configured to create hydrodynamic instabilities in a liquid film, wherein the lip portion comprises an alternating pattern of wetting and non-wetting surfaces, wherein the non-wetting surface comprises a contact angle, with reference to the liquid, of greater than 90 degrees, and the wetting surface comprises a contact angle, with reference to the liquid, of less than 90 degrees. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20100043387 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR OPERATING GAS TURBINE ENGINES - Methods and systems for delivering fuel in a gas turbine engine are provided. The system includes a plurality of can annular combustors that includes at least a first set of combustors of the plurality of can annular combustors and at least a second set of combustors of the plurality of can annular combustors wherein each set of combustors is supplied by a separately controllable respective fuel delivery system. The method includes supplying fuel at a first fuel schedule to the first set of combustors and supplying fuel at a second fuel schedule to the second set of combustors during a first mode of operation wherein the second fuel schedule is different than the first fuel schedule, and supplying fuel at the second fuel schedule to the first and second sets of combustors during a second mode of operation. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100162724 | Methods and Systems for Controlling a Combustor in Turbine Engines - Embodiments of methods and systems for controlling a combustor for a gas turbine engine are provided. According to one example embodiment, a system includes an air control assembly associated with at least one air path of a combustor for a gas turbine engine. Additionally, the system also includes at least one sensor for sensing at least one operating parameter of the gas turbine engine. Further, the system also includes a controller operable to receive at least one operating parameter sensed by the at least one sensor, and further operable to selectively control an air control assembly based at least in part on the at least one operating parameter sensed by the at least one sensor. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100174466 | LATE LEAN INJECTION WITH ADJUSTABLE AIR SPLITS - A gas turbine engine is provided and includes a combustor having a first interior in which a first fuel is combustible, a turbine into which products of at least the combustion of the first fuel are receivable, a transition zone, including a second interior in which a second fuel and the products of the combustion of the first fuel are combustible, a plurality of fuel injectors which are configured to supply the second fuel to the second interior in any one of a single axial stage, multiple axial stages, a single axial circumferential stage and multiple axial circumferential stages, a compressor, by which air is supplied to the first and second interiors for the combustion therein, and a control system configured to control relative amounts of the air to the first and second interiors and relative amounts of the first and second fuels supplied to the first and second interiors. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100175384 | Optical Flame Holding And Flashback Detection - Optical flame holding and flashback detection systems and methods are provided. Exemplary embodiments include a combustor including a combustor housing defining a combustion chamber having combustion zones, flame detectors disposed on the combustor housing and in optical communication with the combustion chamber, wherein each of the flame detectors is configured to detect an optical property related to one or more of the combustion zones. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100251723 | THIMBLE, SLEEVE, AND METHOD FOR COOLING A COMBUSTOR ASSEMBLY - A method for cooling a combustor assembly having a cooling passage. The method includes providing at least one thimble including an inner surface that defines a first opening, a second opening that is downstream from the first opening, and a flow channel that extends between the first opening and the second opening. The flow channel has a converging portion and a recovery portion that is downstream from the converging portion. The method also includes inserting the at least one thimble into at least one inlet that is defined in at least one sleeve such that cooling air is discharged from the flow channel into the cooling passage. | 10-07-2010 |
| 20100275404 | ON-LINE CLEANING OF TURBINE HOT GAS PATH DEPOSITS VIA PRESSURE PULSATIONS - A method for removing hot gas deposits from a system via pressure pulses is provided. The method includes regulating a flow of a mixture of detonation fluid and oxidizer into an expansion chamber; and generating a detonation within the expansion chamber by igniting the mixture of detonation fluid and oxidizer in the expansion chamber producing a high-pressure wave, the high-pressure wave propagating along a fluid path of the system in a supersonic rate removing hot gas deposits in the fluid path while the system is in fired operation, the expansion chamber directing the high-pressure wave towards the fluid path of the system. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20110016878 | Systems and Methods for Gas Turbine Combustors - A gas turbine system comprising, a diffuser operative to diffuse an airstream output from a compressor, a fuel nozzle operative to receive fuel and emit the fuel in a combustor, and at least one bleed duct operative to direct bleed air from down stream of the combustor to the fuel nozzle. | 01-27-2011 |