Pneumatic Circuit Breaker Based Self Resetting Passive Overspeed Control Valve for Turbine Pump Assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016312743-A1
Application number	US-201514695082-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 24, 2015
Priority date	Apr 24, 2015
Publication date	Oct 27, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A turbine pump assembly has a turbine, a centrifugal pump, a passive electrical speed control system, and a pneumatic circuit breaker. The pneumatic circuit breaker has a plurality of elements that are configured to move to a position blocking an outlet duct of the turbine when a flow velocity exceeds a predetermined threshold. A rocket thrust vector control system is also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A turbine pump assembly, comprising:
a turbine; a centrifugal pump; a passive electrical speed control system; and a pneumatic circuit breaker having a plurality of elements that are configured to move to a position blocking an outlet duct of the turbine when a flow velocity exceeds a predetermined threshold.

2 . The turbine pump assembly of claim 1 , wherein the centrifugal pump and the turbine rotate about a common shaft.

3 . The turbine pump assembly of claim 1 , wherein the centrifugal pump is configured to extract work from the turbine.

4 . The turbine pump assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pneumatic circuit breaker is arranged in the outlet of the turbine.

5 . The turbine pump assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pneumatic circuit breaker defines a teardrop shape when the plurality of elements are in a closed position.

6 . The turbine pump assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pneumatic circuit breaker has at least one spring attached to at least one of the plurality of elements, and the spring holds the at least one element in a closed position when the flow velocity is below the predetermined threshold.

7 . The turbine pump assembly of claim 1 , wherein the turbine is powered by a propellant provided by a main engine turbo-pump of a vehicle.

8 . The turbine pump assembly of claim 7 , wherein the propellant is hydrogen gas.

9 . The turbine pump assembly of claim 1 , wherein the passive electrical speed control system further comprises a valve configured to meter a flow of propellant to the turbine.

10 . The turbine pump assembly of claim 1 , wherein the passive electrical speed control system comprises a permanent magnet generator and a valve control solenoid.

11 . The turbine pump assembly of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined threshold is a flow velocity that will occur when the turbine is in an unloaded condition.

12 . A rocket thrust vector control system, comprising:
an engine nozzle; a turbine pump assembly having a turbine, a centrifugal pump, a passive electrical speed control system, and a pneumatic circuit breaker; and wherein the pneumatic circuit breaker has at least one element configured to move to a position blocking an outlet duct of the turbine when a flow velocity exceeds a predetermined threshold.

13 . The rocket thrust vector control system as recited in claim 12 , wherein the predetermined threshold is a flow velocity that occurs when the turbine is in an unloaded condition.

14 . The rocket thrust vector control system as recited in claim 12 , wherein the turbine is powered by a propellant provided by a main engine turbo-pump of a vehicle.

15 . The rocket thrust vector control system as recited in claim 12 , wherein the turbine drives the centrifugal pump.

Assignees

• Hamilton Sundstrand Corp

Inventors

• Himmelmann Richard A

Classifications

• F05D2260/38

  by a spring, i.e. spring loaded or biased towards a certain position · CPC title

• F05D2270/021

  to prevent overspeed · CPC title

• F02K9/58 Primary

  Propellant feed valves · CPC title

• F04D15/0066

  by changing the speed, e.g. of the driving engine · CPC title

• F04D15/0077

  Safety measures (F04D15/02 takes precedence) · CPC title