Gearbox assembly with lubricant extraction volume ratio

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12523176-B2
Application number	US-202418972209-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2024
Priority date	Jun 22, 2022
Publication date	Jan 13, 2026
Grant date	Jan 13, 2026

Abstract

A gas turbine engine includes a fan, a combustor positioned in a core air flowpath that generates combustion gases, a steam system that extracts water from the combustion gases and generates steam, and a gearbox assembly. The steam system includes water storage devices that store the water therein. The water storage devices include a first state in which a level of the water increases or is maintained and a second state in which the level of the water decreases as the water flows through the water storage devices. The gearbox assembly includes a gearbox and a gutter for collecting a gearbox lubricant scavenge flow from the gearbox. The gutter is characterized by a lubricant extraction volume ratio between 0.01 and 0.3, inclusive of the endpoints. The lubricant extraction volume ratio defined by:
V G V G ⁢ B · V G
is a gutter volume of the gutter and V GB is a gearbox volume.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A gas turbine engine comprising:
a fan shaft coupled to a fan; a combustor positioned in a core air flowpath that combusts compressed air and fuel to generate combustion gases; a turbine positioned downstream of the combustor to receive the combustion gases and to rotate the turbine, the turbine having a core shaft being drivingly coupled to the fan shaft to rotate the fan; a steam system that extracts water from the combustion gases, vaporizes the water to generate steam, and injects the steam into the core air flowpath, the steam system comprising one or more water storage devices that store the water therein prior to the water vaporizing to generate the steam, the one or more water storage devices including a first state in which the one or more water storage devices increase or maintain a level of the water in the one or more water storage devices as the water flows through the one or more water storage devices, and a second state in which the one or more water storage devices decrease the level of the water in the one or more water storage devices as the water flows through the one or more water storage devices; and a gearbox assembly comprising:
a gearbox, the fan shaft being drivingly coupled to the core shaft through the gearbox, the gearbox having a gearbox volume defined by an outer diameter of the gearbox and a gearbox length of the gearbox; and
a gutter for collecting a gearbox lubricant scavenge flow from the gearbox, the gutter having a gutter volume defined by an inner surface of a gutter wall of the gutter and being characterized by a lubricant extraction volume ratio between 0.01 and 0.3, inclusive of the endpoints, for a maximum gearbox power greater than 35 kHP and less than or equal to 90 kHP, and the lubrication extraction volume ratio is between 0.03 to 0.3, inclusive of the endpoints, for a maximum gearbox power less than 35 kHP, the lubricant extraction volume ratio defined by:

V
G

V

G
⁢
B

,

wherein V G is the gutter volume of the gutter and V GB is the gearbox volume.

2 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the first state of the one or more water storage devices is during steady state operating conditions of the gas turbine engine.

3 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the second state of the one or more water storage devices is during transient operating conditions of the gas turbine engine.

4 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the one or more water storage devices include an adjustable diaphragm that moves up or moves down to adjust a maximum water level in the one or more water storage devices.

5 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the one or more water storage devices include an overflow drain such that the water fills to the overflow drain and drains from the one or more water storage devices through the overflow drain to maintain the level of the water at a maximum water level during the first state of the one or more water storage devices.

6 . The gas turbine engine of claim 5 , further comprising a fan bypass nozzle and one or more core exhaust nozzles, wherein the overflow drain is in fluid communication with at least one of the fan bypass nozzle or the one or more core exhaust nozzles such that the water drains from the one or more water storage devices through the at least one of the fan bypass nozzle or the one or more core exhaust nozzles and out of the turbine engine.

7 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the steam system further comprises one or more drain valves that open during a shutdown of the gas turbine engine to drain the water from the steam system during the shutdown.

8 . The gas turbine engine of claim 7 , wherein the steam system further comprises one or more vents that open during the shutdown of the gas turbine engine to vent the steam system as the water drains through the one or more drain valves during the shutdown.

9 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the steam system comprises a condenser that condenses the water from the combustion gases and a boiler that vaporizes the water to generate the steam, the water flowing from the condenser to the one or more water storage devices and from the one or more water storage devices to the boiler.

10 . The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein the boiler is in fluid communication with the core air flowpath such that the combustion gases flow through the boiler and vaporize the water to generate the steam.

11 . The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , further comprising a water separator positioned downstream of the condenser, the water separator separating the water from the combustion gases.

12 . The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , further comprising a water pump in fluid communication with the one or more water storage devices and with the boiler to induce the flow of the water from the one or more water storage devices to the boiler.

13 . The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein the steam system further includes a steam turbine that receives the steam to rotate the steam turbine, the steam turbine being drivingly coupled to the core shaft to rotate the core shaft when the steam turbine rotates.

14 . The gas turbine engine of claim 13 , wherein the steam turbine receives the steam from the boiler.

15 . The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , further comprising a bypass airflow passage, wherein bypass air flows through the bypass airflow passage and core air flows through the core air flowpath, the condenser being positioned downstream of the boiler and in the bypass airflow passage for the bypass air to cool the combustion gases and to condense the water from the combustion gases.

16 . The gas turbine engine of claim 15 , wherein the one or more water storage devices are positioned downstream of the condenser to receive the water from the condenser and to supply the water to the boiler.

17 . The gas turbine engine of claim 15 , wherein a bypass ratio of the bypass air to the core air is in a range of 18:1 to 100:1.

18 . A gas turbine engine comprising:
a fan shaft coupled to a fan; a combustor positioned in a core air flowpath that combusts compressed air and fuel to generate combustion gases; a turbine positioned downstream of the combustor to receive the combustion gases and to rotate the turbine, the turbine having a core shaft being drivingly coupled to the fan shaft to rotate the fan; a steam system that extracts water from the combustion gases, vaporizes the water to generate steam, and injects the steam into the core air flowpath, the steam system comprising one or more water storage devices that store the water therein prior to the water vaporizing to generate the steam, the one or more water storage devices including a first state in which the one or more water storage devices increase or maintain a level of the water in the one or more water storage devices as the water flows through the one or more water storage devices, and a second state in which the one or more water storage devices decrease the level of the water in the one or more water storage devices as the water flows through the one or more water storage devices, wherein the first state is during st

Assignees

• Gen Electric
• Ge Avio Srl

Inventors

• Ertas Bugra H
• Zhang Xiaohua
• Manzoni Miriam
• Turi Flavia
• Piazza Andrea
• Sibbach Arthur W

Classifications

• F01D25/18

  Lubricating arrangements (of machines or engines in general F01M) · CPC title

• F02C7/06

  Arrangements of bearings (bearings F16C); Lubricating ({of turbo machines F01D25/18; of machines or} engines in general F01M) · CPC title

• F05D2260/606

  Bypassing the fluid · CPC title

• F05D2260/98

  Lubrication · CPC title

• F05D2270/16

  to control water or steam injection · CPC title