Aircraft heat exchangers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11585273-B2
Application number	US-202017124551-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2020
Priority date	Jan 20, 2020
Publication date	Feb 21, 2023
Grant date	Feb 21, 2023

Abstract

A turbine engine heat exchanger has: a manifold having a first face and a second face opposite the first face; a plurality of first plates along the first face, each first plate having an interior passageway; and a plurality of second plates along the second face, each second plate having an interior passageway. A first flowpath passing through the interior passageways of the first plates, the manifold, and the interior passageways of the second plates.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A turbine engine heat exchanger comprising:
a manifold having a first face and a second face opposite the first face;
a plurality of first plates along the first face, each first plate having an interior passageway;
a plurality of second plates along the second face, each second plate having an interior passageway; and
a first flowpath passing through the interior passageways of the first plates, the manifold, and the interior passageways of the second plates,

wherein:
the manifold forms a plenum into which respective first flowpath legs through the first plates merge and from which respective second flowpath legs through the second plates split;
the first face is concave and the second face is convex;
the first plates and the second plates each have:
a proximal edge mounted to the manifold and an opposite distal edge;
a forward edge and an aft edge; and
an inlet to the respective first passageway and an outlet from the respective first passageway;

the first plates' outlets are along the associated first plate proximal edge;
the second plates' inlets are along the associated second plate proximal edge;
the first plates' outlets are forward of the first plates' inlets; and
the second plates' outlets are forward of the second plates' inlets.

2. The turbine engine heat exchanger of claim 1 wherein:
the first flowpath passes sequentially through:
the interior passageways of the first plates;
the manifold; and
the interior passageways of the second plates.

3. The turbine engine heat exchanger of claim 1 wherein:
the first plates and the second plates comprise castings.

4. The turbine engine heat exchanger of claim 1 wherein:
the first plates are circumferentially arrayed in at least one first bank; and
the second plates are in at least one second bank, wherein within each second bank the second plates share a common parallel orientation.

5. The turbine engine heat exchanger of claim 4 wherein:
within each respective bank all plates are joined by wave fins.

6. A turbine engine including the turbine engine heat exchanger of claim 1 and further comprising:
one or more fan sections;
one or more compressor sections aft and downstream of the one or more fan sections along a core flowpath;
a combustor section downstream of the one or more compressor sections along the core flowpath;
one or more turbine sections downstream of the combustor section along the core flowpath;
an outer bypass flowpath;
an inner bypass flowpath; and
a wall between the outer bypass flowpath and the inner bypass flowpath, wherein:
exteriors of the first plates are along the inner bypass flowpath; and
exteriors of the second plates are along the outer bypass flowpath.

7. A turbine engine comprising:
one or more fan sections;
one or more compressor sections downstream of the one or more fan sections along a core flowpath;
a combustor section downstream of the one or more compressor sections along the core flowpath;
one or more turbine sections downstream of the combustor section along the core flowpath;
an outer bypass flowpath;
an inner bypass flowpath; and
a wall between the outer bypass flowpath and the inner bypass flowpath,

and further comprising:
a heat exchanger comprising:
a first plate array in the inner bypass flowpath;
a second plate array in the outer bypass flowpath; and
a manifold between the first plate array and second plate array,

wherein:
the first flowpath passes sequentially through:
the interior passageways of the first plates;
the manifold; and
the interior passageways of the second plates.

8. The turbine engine of claim 7 wherein:
the first flowpath is a compressor bleed flowpath.

9. The turbine engine of claim 8 wherein:
the first flowpath provides turbine cooling.

10. The turbine engine of claim 7 wherein:
the inner bypass flowpath extends from a stage of the one or more fan sections; and
the outer bypass flowpath extends from another stage of the one or more fan sections upstream of said stage.

11. The turbine engine of claim 10 wherein:
the first flowpath extends from within or downstream of the one or more compressor sections.

12. The turbine engine of claim 7 wherein:
the first plates and the second plates each have:
an inner diameter edge and an outer diameter edge; and
an inlet to the respective first passageway and an outlet from the respective first passageway;

the first plates' outlets are along the associated first plate outer diameter edge, forward of the first plates' inlets;
the second plates' inlets are along the associated second plate inner diameter edge; and
the second plates' outlets are forward of the second plates' inlets.

13. The turbine engine of claim 12 wherein:
the first plates' inlets are along the associated first plate outer diameter edge.

14. The turbine engine of claim 12 wherein:
the second plates' outlets are along the associated second plate inner diameter edge.

15. A method for using the turbine engine of claim 7 , the method comprising running the turbine engine to:
transfer thermal energy from a flow along the first flowpath to an inner bypass flow along the inner bypass flowpath and an outer bypass flow along the outer bypass flowpath.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the running the turbine engine further comprises:
passing the outer bypass flow to the heat exchanger at a first temperature and first pressure;
passing the inner bypass flow to the heat exchanger at a second temperature and second pressure greater than the first temperature and first pressure, respectively; and
passing the flow along the first flowpath to the heat exchanger at a third temperature and third pressure greater than the second temperature and second pressure, respectively.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein:
the flow is generally counterflow to the inner bypass flow and outer bypass flow.

18. The turbine engine heat exchanger of claim 7 wherein:
the first plates are circumferentially arrayed in at least one first bank;
the second plates are in at least one second bank;
within each second bank the second plates share a common parallel orientation; and
within each respective bank all plates are joined by wave fins.

19. A turbine engine including:
one or more fan sections;
one or more compressor sections aft and downstream of the one or more fan sections along a core flowpath;
a combustor section downstream of the one or more compressor sections along the core flowpath;
one or more turbine sections downstream of the combustor section along the core flowpath;
an outer bypass flowpath;
an inner bypass flowpath;
a wall between the outer bypass flowpath and the inner bypass flowpath; and
a turbine engine heat exchanger comprising:
a manifold having a first face and a second face opposite the first face;
a plurality of first plates along the first face, each first plate having an interior passageway;
a plurality of second plates along the second face, each second plate having an interior passageway; and
a first flowpath passing through the interior passageways of the first plates, the manifold, and the interior passageways of the second plates,

wherein:
exteriors of the first plates are along the inner bypass flowpath; and
exteriors of the second plates are along the outer bypass flowpath; and
the first flowpath passes sequentially through:
the interior passageways of the first plates;
the manifold; and
the in

Assignees

• Raytheon Tech Corp

Inventors

• Wiedenhoefer James F
• Bergman Russell J
• Stillman William P
• Hart Patrick M

Classifications

• F02K3/105

  Heating the by-pass flow · CPC title

• F05D2260/213

  by the provision of a heat exchanger within the cooling circuit · CPC title

• F02K3/025

  the by-pass flow being at least partly used to create an independent thrust component · CPC title

• F28D7/0075

  with particular circuits for the same heat exchange medium, e.g. with the same heat exchange medium flowing through sections having different heat exchange capacities or for heating or cooling the same heat exchange medium at different temperatures · CPC title

• F05D2220/323

  for aircraft propulsion, e.g. jet engines · CPC title