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Gas turbine engine combustorRelated Patent Categories: Power Plants, Combustion Products Used As Motive Fluid, Coaxial Combustion Products Generator And TurbineGas turbine engine combustor description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070119183, Gas turbine engine combustor. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to combustors, and more particularly to a gas turbine engine combustor. [0002] Conventional gas turbine engine combustors have outer and inner annular cases, outer and inner liners (with air dilution holes) located radially between the outer and inner annular cases, a combustor dome connecting the outer and inner liners, and circumferentially arrayed premixer tubes each having an entrance and an exit. Each premixer tube is adapted to receive fuel-injector-discharged fuel, the entrance is adapted to receive at least some compressor-discharge air, and the exit is aligned to axially deliver such fuel-air mixture for ignition in the combustor. The combustion gases power a downstream turbine which rotates the compressor. Straight flow and reverse flow combustors are known. Gas turbine engines have been used to power aircraft, ships, etc. [0003] Still, scientists and engineers continue to seek improved gas turbine engine combustors. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0004] A first expression of a first embodiment of the invention is a gas turbine engine combustor including a gas-turbine-engine-combustor outer annular case and a gas-turbine-engine-combustor premixer tube. The outer annular case has a longitudinal axis. The premixer tube has an entrance, an exit, and a centerline. The premixer tube is adapted to receive fuel-injector-discharged fuel. The entrance is adapted to receive at least some compressor-discharge air. The exit is located inside the outer annular case. At the exit the centerline points in a direction which is more perpendicular to, than parallel to, the longitudinal axis. [0005] A second expression of a first embodiment of the invention is a gas turbine engine combustor including a straight-flow-combustor outer annular case and a gas-turbine-engine-combustor premixer tube. The outer annular case has a longitudinal axis. The premixer tube has an entrance, an exit, and a centerline. The premixer tube is adapted to receive fuel-injector-discharged fuel. The entrance is adapted to receive at least some compressor-discharge air. The exit is located inside the outer annular case. At the exit the centerline points in a direction which is more perpendicular to, than parallel to, the longitudinal axis. The direction is angled between generally sixty degrees and generally eighty degrees away from the longitudinal axis. [0006] A first expression of a second embodiment of the invention is a gas turbine engine combustor including a reverse-flow-combustor outer annular case and a gas-turbine-engine-combustor premixer tube. The outer annular case has a longitudinal axis. The premixer tube has an entrance, an exit, and a centerline. The premixer tube is adapted to receive fuel-injector-discharged fuel. The entrance is adapted to receive at least some compressor-discharge air. The exit is located inside the outer annular case. At the exit the centerline points in a direction which is more perpendicular to, than parallel to, the longitudinal axis. The direction is angled between generally sixty degrees and generally eighty degrees away from the longitudinal axis. [0007] In one example of any expression of any embodiment of the invention, use of a premixer tube whose centerline, at the exit of the premixer tube, points in a direction more perpendicular to, than parallel to, the longitudinal axis of the gas-turbine-engine-combustor outer annular case creates a swirled flow from the exit of the premixer tube. In this example, such swirled flow results in a shorter and simpler combustor design with fewer swirlers, lower soot, lower carbon monoxide, lower NOx, a greater turndown (e.g., 20:1), an excellent pattern factor (e.g., less than 0.20), and a lower cost compared to the axial flow from the exit of a premixer tube of a conventional gas-turbine-engine combustor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0008] The accompanying drawings illustrate two embodiments of the invention wherein: [0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic front elevational view looking downstream of a first embodiment of a gas turbine engine combustor, wherein the combustor is a straight-flow combustor, and includes a premixer tube and additional premixer tubes; [0010] FIG. 2 is a schematic aft elevational view looking upstream of the combustor of FIG. 1; [0011] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2 with the tubes not shown in cross section for clarity; [0012] FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the premixer tube of the combustor of FIG. 1 with a fuel injector present; [0013] FIG. 5 is a schematic cross sectional view of a second embodiment of a gas turbine engine combustor, wherein the combustor is a reverse-flow combustor, and includes a premixer tube with the tube not shown in cross section for clarity; [0014] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 4 showing additional premixer tubes and with the fuel injectors omitted for clarity, and [0015] FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the premixer tube of the combustor of FIG. 5 with a fuel injector present. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0016] Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-4 disclose a first embodiment of the invention. A first expression of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 is for a gas turbine engine combustor 110 including a gas-turbine-engine-combustor outer annular case 112 and a gas-turbine-engine-combustor premixer tube 114. The outer annular case 112 has a longitudinal axis 116. The premixer tube 114 has an entrance 118, an exit 120, and a centerline 122. The premixer tube 114 is adapted to receive fuel-injector-discharged fuel 124. The entrance 118 is adapted to receive at least some compressor-discharge air 126. The exit 120 is disposed inside the outer annular case 112. At the exit 120 the centerline 122 points in a direction 128 which is more perpendicular to, than parallel to, the longitudinal axis 116. [0017] In one enablement of the first expression of the first embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the direction 128 is more perpendicular to, than along, a reference line 130 which extends from the centerline 122 at the exit 120 to the longitudinal axis 116. In one variation, the direction 128 is angled between generally sixty degrees and generally eighty degrees away from the longitudinal axis 116 (i.e., away from a line parallel to the longitudinal axis 116 and intersecting the centerline 122 at the exit 120), and the direction 128 is angled between generally sixty degrees and generally eighty degrees away from the reference line 130. [0018] In one implementation of the first expression of the first embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the combustor 110 also includes a gas-turbine-engine-combustor inner annular case 132, a gas-turbine-engine-combustor outer liner 134, and a gas-turbine-engine-combustor inner liner 136, wherein the outer and inner liners 134 and 136 are disposed radially between the outer and inner annular cases 112 and 132 and wherein the exit 120 is disposed radially between the outer and inner liners 134 and 136. In one variation, the combustor 110 also includes a plurality of gas-turbine-engine-combustor additional premixer tubes 138 substantially identical to the premixer tube 114, wherein the premixer and additional premixer tubes 114 and 138 are substantially circumferentially arrayed with a substantially equal circumferential distance between adjacent ones of the exits 120 of the premixer and additional premixer tubes 114 and 138. In one modification, the exits 120 of the premixer and additional premixer tubes 114 and 138 are disposed wherein ignition at one of the exits 120 of the premixer and additional premixer tubes 114 and 138 will cause ignition, in sequential rotation, at each of the other of the exits 120 of the premixer and additional premixer tubes 114 and 138. [0019] In one application of the first expression of the first embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the outer and inner liners 134 and 136 each include a plurality of air dilution holes 140. In one employment, the combustor 110 also includes a combustor dome 142 connecting the outer and inner liners 134 and 136. In one construction, the premixer tube 114 is a thermal-barrier-coated tube and the combustor dome 142 is a thermal-barrier-coated combustor dome. [0020] In one deployment of the first expression of the first embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, some compressor-discharge air 144 also flows between the outer annular case 112 and the outer liner 134 and between the inner annular case 132 and the inner liner 136. In one variation, some of that compressor-discharge air 144 flows through the air dilution holes 140. In a gas turbine engine, a compressor (not shown) upstream of the combustor 110 supplies the compressor-discharge air 126 and 144 to the combustor 110 and combustion gases from the combustor 110 are channeled to a downstream turbine (not shown) which rotates the compressor as is known to those skilled in the art. Examples of uses of the combustor 110 include, without limitation, aircraft gas turbine engines, helicopter gas turbine engines, land-based gas turbine engines such as electric-power-plant gas turbine engines, and marine-base gas turbine engines such as ship-propulsion gas turbine engines, etc. In one arrangement, the premixer tube 114 is equipped with some swirlers (not shown). In one arrangement, a fuel injector 146 discharges fuel in the premixer tube 114 proximate the exit 120. Fuel types include natural and/or synthetic liquid fuels and/or natural and/or synthetic gaseous fuels. Continue reading about Gas turbine engine combustor... Full patent description for Gas turbine engine combustor Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Gas turbine engine combustor patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Gas turbine engine combustor or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Methods and apparatuses for assembling a gas turbine engine Next Patent Application: Gas turbine Industry Class: Power plants ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Gas turbine engine combustor patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.45851 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Medical: Surgery , Surgery(2) , Surgery(3) , Drug , Drug(2) , Prosthesis , Dentistry 174 |
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