Fluid cooling system integrated with outlet guide vane

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10260523-B2
Application number	US-201615092029-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 6, 2016
Priority date	Apr 6, 2016
Publication date	Apr 16, 2019
Grant date	Apr 16, 2019

Abstract

A fan module for a gas turbine engine is disclosed herein. The fan module includes a fan, a plurality of outlet guide vanes, and a fluid cooling system. The fan is adapted to rotate about a central axis to pass air at least in part aftward along the central axis and around an engine core of the gas turbine engine. The outlet guide vanes are spaced aft of the fan along the central axis and configured to receive the air passed aftward along the central axis by the fan. The fluid cooling system is configured to transfer heat from a fluid to the air from the fan to cool the fluid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fan module for a gas turbine engine, the fan module comprising
a fan adapted to rotate about a central axis to pass air at least in part aftward along the central axis and around an engine core of the gas turbine engine,
a plurality of outlet guide vanes spaced aft of the fan along the central axis and configured to receive the air passed aftward along the central axis by the fan,
a fluid cooling system integral with at least one of the plurality of outlet guide vanes and configured to transfer heat from a fluid to the air from the fan to cool the fluid, the fluid cooling system including a plurality of cooling passages radially spaced from one another along the at least one outlet guide vane and extending parallel to one another along the central axis such that when fluid is conducted by the cooling passages during operation of the fan module, the cooling passages cooperate to control a pressure drop of the fluid as the fluid flows through the cooling passages to facilitate heat transfer from the fluid to the air from the fan during a first operating condition of the fan module, and
a back pressure regulator configured to bypass the cooling passages during a second operating condition of the fan module.

2. The fan module of claim 1 , wherein the cooling passages have a height and a width of equal to or less than 0.02 inches.

3. The fan module of claim 1 , wherein (i) each of the cooling passages has an aft portion located a first radial distance from the central axis and a forward portion positioned forward of the aft portion along the central axis and located a second radial distance from the central axis substantially equal to the first radial distance and (ii) the cooling passages extend generally parallel to and along the central axis between the aft portions and the forward portions substantially without extending in a radial direction.

4. The fan module of claim 1 , wherein the at least one outlet guide vane includes a spar defining a supply duct configured to distribute fluid to the cooling passages and a discharge duct configured to collect fluid that has passed through the cooling passages.

5. The fan module of claim 4 , wherein the supply duct is formed to include a plurality of supply ports fluidly coupled to the aft portions of the cooling passages and configured to direct fluid into the aft portions of the cooling passages from the supply duct and the discharge duct is formed to include a plurality of discharge ports fluidly coupled to forward portions of the cooling passages and configured to direct fluid that has passed through the cooling passages into the discharge duct from the forward portions of the cooling passages.

6. The fan module of claim 5 , wherein the at least one outlet guide vane further includes a skin coupled to the spar such that the skin defines a portion of an exterior of the at least one outlet guide vane and the skin and the spar cooperate to define the cooling passages.

7. The fan module of claim 6 , wherein the skin is formed to include a plurality of lands configured to engage the spar to resist radial migration of fluid between the cooling passages when the skin is coupled to the spar and the lands partially define channels that are configured to partially define the cooling passages when the skin is coupled to the spar.

8. The fan module of claim 6 , wherein a plurality of fins are bonded to the skin so that the fins extend into the cooling passages and the fins are configured to facilitate heat transfer from the fluid to the air from the fan when fluid flows through the cooling passages in use of the fan module.

9. The fan module of claim 6 , wherein a plurality of fins are bonded to the spar so that the fins extend into the cooling passages and the fins are configured to facilitate heat transfer from the fluid to the air from the fan when fluid flows through the cooling passages in use of the fan module.

10. The fan module of claim 6 , wherein a plurality of pin fins are etched or machined into the skin so that the pin fins extend into the cooling passages and the pin fins are configured to facilitate heat transfer from the fluid to the air from the fan when fluid flows through the cooling passages in use of the fan module.

11. The fan module of claim 6 , wherein a plurality of pin fins are etched or machined into the spar so that the pin fins extend into the cooling passages and the pin fins are configured to facilitate heat transfer from the fluid to the air from the fan when fluid flows through the cooling passages in use of the fan module.

12. A gas turbine engine comprising
an engine core defining a central axis,
a fan coupled to the engine core to be driven by the engine core to rotate about the central axis to pass air at least in part aftward along the central axis around the engine core,
a plurality of outlet guide vanes spaced aft of the fan along the central axis and configured to receive the air passed aftward along the central axis by the fan, and
a fluid cooling system integral with at least one of the plurality of outlet guide vanes and configured to transfer heat from a fluid to the air from the fan to cool the fluid, the fluid cooling system including (i) a supply duct, (ii) a discharge duct sized to receive fluid from the supply duct, (iii) a plurality of cooling passages extending between the supply duct and the discharge duct and configured to conduct fluid provided by the supply duct to transfer heat from the fluid to the air from the fan to cool the fluid during a warm operating condition of the gas turbine engine, and (iv) a back pressure regulator configured to fluidly couple the supply duct to the discharge duct during a cold operating condition of the gas turbine engine to conduct fluid directly from the supply duct to the discharge duct during the cold operating condition.

13. The gas turbine engine of claim 12 , wherein the back pressure regulator is configured to fluidly couple the supply duct to the discharge duct during the cold operating condition of the gas turbine engine to conduct fluid directly from the supply duct to the discharge duct when a difference in fluid pressure between the supply duct and the discharge duct is above a threshold pressure.

14. The gas turbine engine of claim 13 , wherein the back pressure regulator is configured to at least partially block fluid from being conducted directly from the supply duct to the discharge duct during the warm operating condition of the gas turbine engine.

15. The gas turbine engine of claim 12 , wherein each of the cooling passages has an aft portion fluidly coupled to the supply duct and located a first radial distance from the central axis and a forward portion fluidly coupled to the discharge duct, positioned forward of the aft portion along the central axis, and located a second radial distance from the central axis substantially equal to the first radial distance and the cooling passages extend along the central axis between the aft portions and the forward portions substantially without extending in a radial direction such that when fluid is conducted by the cooling passages away from the aft portions to the forward portions during the warm operating condition of the gas turbine engine, the cooling passages cooperate to control a pressure drop of the fluid as the fluid flows through the cooling passages to facilitate heat transfer from the fluid to the air from the fan.

16. The gas turbine engine of claim 12 , wherein the supply duct and the discharge duct are defined by a spar included in the at least one outlet guide vane and the cooling passages a

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Nam Tech Inc

Inventors

• Snyder Douglas J

Classifications

• F01D9/041

  using blades (F01D5/148 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y02T50/676

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F02C7/14

  of fluids in the plant {, e.g. lubricant or fuel (F02C7/185 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• F05D2260/22141

  using fins or ribs · CPC title

• F28D2021/0049

  for lubricants, e.g. oil coolers · CPC title