Air-inlet particle separator having a bleed surface

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10738699-B2
Application number	US-201815875268-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 19, 2018
Priority date	Jan 19, 2018
Publication date	Aug 11, 2020
Grant date	Aug 11, 2020

Abstract

An air-inlet particle separator includes an outer wall, an inner wall, and a splitter. The splitter cooperates with the outer wall and the inner wall to separate particles entrained in an inlet flow moving through the air-inlet particle separator to provide a clean flow of air for a compressor section of a gas turbine engine.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An air-inlet particle separator for use with a gas turbine engine, the air-inlet particle separator comprising
an inner wall arranged circumferentially about an axis of the air-inlet particle separator,
an outer wall arranged circumferentially about the inner wall to define an air-inlet passageway adapted to receive a mixture of air and particles suspended in the air and the outer wall formed to include a plurality of apertures that extend through the outer wall to block the mixture of air and particles from forming vortices, and
a splitter located radially between the outer wall and the inner wall and configured to separate the mixture of air and particles into a clean flow substantially free of particles and a dirty flow containing the particles, the splitter and the inner wall define an engine channel arranged to receive the clean flow, and the splitter and the outer wall define a scavenge channel arranged to receive the dirty flow,
wherein the outer wall is configured to change shape selectively from an operating arrangement having a first contour to a cleaning arrangement having a second contour to cause particles attached to the outer wall and particles plugging the plurality of apertures to separate from the outer wall and move into the scavenge channel to clean the outer wall, and
wherein the first contour is different than the second contour.

2. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 1 , wherein the outer wall comprises bimetallic materials configured to change shape in response to electric energy being applied to the bimetallic materials included in the outer wall.

3. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 1 , further comprising an inflatable bladder arranged adjacent the outer wall and configured to inflate and deflate to change the outer wall between the operating arrangement and the cleaning arrangement.

4. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 1 , wherein the outer wall includes an inflatable bladder and a flexible covering arranged around the inflatable bladder, the flexible covering is formed to include the plurality of apertures, and the inflatable bladder is configured to inflate and deflate to change the shape of the outer wall between the operating arrangement and the cleaning arrangement.

5. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 4 , wherein the flexible covering comprises material reinforced with fibers.

6. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 1 , wherein the splitter includes a first splitter wall and a second splitter wall that cooperate to define a tip of the splitter and the plurality of apertures are located downstream of the tip of the splitter.

7. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 1 , wherein the outer wall is annular.

8. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 1 , wherein the outer wall is configured to change between the operating arrangement and the cleaning arrangement in response to the gas turbine engine starting and stopping.

9. An air-inlet particle separator comprising
a first wall,
a second wall spaced apart from the first wall to define an air-inlet passageway adapted to receive a mixture of air and particles suspended in the air, the second wall formed to include a plurality of apertures that extend through the second wall, and the second wall being deformable selectively between a first arrangement and a second arrangement, the first arrangement being different than the second arrangement,
a splitter configured to separate the mixture of air and particles into a clean flow substantially free of particles and a dirty flow containing the particles and the splitter located between the first wall and the second wall downstream of the air-inlet passageway, and
a controller configured to deform the second wall between the first arrangement and the second arrangement.

10. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 9 , wherein the second wall comprises bimetallic materials configured to deform in response to electric energy being applied to the bimetallic materials.

11. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 9 , further comprising an inflatable bladder arranged adjacent the second wall and configured to inflate and deflate to deform the second wall.

12. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 9 , wherein the second wall includes an inflatable bladder and a flexible covering arranged around the inflatable bladder, the flexible covering is formed to include the plurality of apertures, and the inflatable bladder is configured to inflate and deflate to deform the second wall.

13. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 12 , wherein the flexible covering includes material reinforced with fibers.

14. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 9 , wherein the splitter includes a first splitter wall and a second splitter wall that cooperate to define a tip of the splitter and the plurality of apertures are located downstream of the tip of the splitter.

15. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 9 , wherein the at least a portion of the second wall is hoop shaped.

16. The air-inlet particle separator of claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to deform the second wall periodically.

17. A method comprising
providing an inlet flow to an air-inlet particle separator of a gas-turbine engine, the inlet flow including air and particles suspended in the air, and the air-inlet particle separator including a first wall, a second wall spaced apart from the first wall and formed to include apertures therein, and a splitter located between the first wall and the second wall,
separating the inlet flow into a dirty flow including substantially all the particles and a clean flow lacking substantially all the particles,
directing the clean flow between the splitter and the first wall,
directing the dirty flow between the splitter and the second wall, and
deforming selectively a portion of the second wall between a first arrangement having a first contour and a second arrangement having a second contour to separate particles from the portion of the second wall, the first contour being different than the second contour.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the portion of the second wall includes at least one of the plurality of apertures.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the deforming step includes applying electric energy to the portion of the second wall.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the deforming step includes varying a pressure of a fluid applied to an inflatable bladder to cause the portion of the second wall to move.

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Nam Tech Inc

Inventors

• Burnside Phillip H

Classifications

• F02C7/042

  having variable geometry · CPC title

• B64D33/02

  of combustion air intakes · CPC title

• B01D45/04 Primary

  by utilising inertia (B01D45/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F02C7/052 Primary

  with dust-separation devices · CPC title

• F05D2220/32

  in gas turbines · CPC title