Systems and methods for a compressor diffusion slot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017191484-A1
Application number	US-201514984473-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 30, 2015
Priority date	Dec 30, 2015
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A compressor for a gas turbine engine includes a stator and a rotor. The stator includes first and second stator vanes attached to first and second vane platforms, respectively. The rotor includes a plurality of rotor blades that rotate with respect to the stator. An inner stator casing supports the first and second vane platforms and encloses the stator and the rotor. An outer stator casing encloses the inner stator casing, and a bleed cavity is disposed therebetween. At least one diffuser is disposed between the first vane platform and the second vane platform, and is configured to allow air communication between the inner stator casing and the bleed cavity. An exit opening of the diffuser is disposed within the bleed cavity at a location separate from the inner stator casing and the outer stator casing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A compressor for a gas turbine engine, the compressor including a rotor and a stator disposed within an inner stator casing and a bleed cavity disposed outside of the inner stator casing, the stator including a plurality of stator vanes fixedly coupled to the inner stator casing and the rotor including a plurality of rotor blades configured to rotate with respect to the plurality of stator vanes, said compressor comprising:
at least one diffuser disposed along the inner stator casing between two adjacent stator vanes of the plurality of stator vanes, said at least one diffuser comprising: an annular ring comprising an annular front wall and an annular aft wall, said annular front wall and said annular aft wall each extending radially from an inner circumference of said annular ring to an outer circumference of said annular ring, said annular ring having a thickness between said annular front wall and said annular aft wall; and at least one air passageway comprising an entrance opening disposed within the inner stator casing and an exit opening disposed within the bleed cavity at a location separate from the inner stator casing, said at least one air passageway configured to allow air communication between the rotor and the bleed cavity.

2 . The compressor of claim 1 , wherein said air passageway of said at least one diffuser is wider at said exit opening than at said entrance opening.

3 . The compressor of claim 2 , wherein said air passageway includes a frustoconical shape near said exit opening.

4 . The compressor of claim 2 , wherein said air passageway includes a curved shape at said entrance opening, said curved shape extending from said interior of said inner stator casing toward said exit opening.

5 . The compressor of claim 4 , wherein said curved shape of said at least one air passageway includes a greater radius of curvature in a forward direction of said annular ring than in a rearward direction.

6 . The compressor of claim 1 , wherein said annular ring comprises a circumference, and wherein said at least one air passageway comprises a plurality of air passageways evenly distributed throughout said circumference of said annular ring.

7 . The compressor of claim 6 , wherein said annular ring is formed as a single, monolithic ring.

8 . The compressor of claim 6 , wherein said annular ring further comprises a front attachment portion for fixedly coupling with a forward stator vane of the two adjacent stator vanes, and a first aft attachment portion for fixedly coupling with an aft stator vane of the two adjacent stator vanes.

9 . The compressor of claim 8 , wherein said annular ring further comprises a second aft attachment portion for fixedly coupling with the inner stator casing, said first aft attachment portion and said second aft attachment portion disposed between the inner stator casing and said exit opening of said annular ring.

10 . The compressor of claim 1 , wherein the compressor further includes an outer stator casing surrounding the inner stator casing and the bleed cavity, and wherein the compressor further includes a piping system coupled to the outer stator casing.

11 . The compressor of claim 10 , wherein the piping system includes an adjustable orifice place configured to control an amount of air communication between the bleed cavity and the piping system.

12 . The compressor of claim 10 , wherein said adjustable orifice plate is disposed within an opening in the outer stator casing.

13 . A method for fabricating a multistage compressor for a gas turbine engine including a plurality of stator vanes attached to a plurality of vane platforms connected to a stator casing, said method comprising the steps of:
configuring the stator casing into an inner portion and an outer portion; forming at least one airflow slot into a monolithic annular ring, the at least one airflow slot extending radially from an inner circumference of the monolithic annular ring to an outer circumference of the monolithic annular ring; and disposing the monolithic annular ring between two adjacent vane platforms of the plurality of vane platforms such that the inner circumference of the monolithic annular ring substantially aligns in the axial direction with a longitudinal direction of the plurality of vane platforms.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of forming further comprises curving the at least one airflow slot from a forward portion of the monolithic annular ring near the inner circumference.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of forming further comprises increasing a width of the at least one airflow slot near the outer circumference to an amount greater than a width of the at least one airflow slot near the inner circumference.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a plurality of equally-sized airflow slots radially through the monolithic annular ring in an annularly even distribution.

17 . A diffuser for an aircraft engine compressor, said diffuser comprising:
an annular monolithic body having a annular front wall and an annular aft wall, said annular front wall and said annular aft wall each extending radially from an inner circumference of said annular monolithic body to an outer circumference of said annular monolithic body, said annular monolithic body having a thickness between said annular front wall and said annular aft wall; and a plurality of smooth air passageways disposed radially in said annular monolithic body between said annular front wall and said annular aft wall, said plurality of smooth air passageways configured to allow air communication between said inner circumference and said outer circumference of said annular monolithic body, wherein each of said plurality of smooth air passageways includes an inner sectional area that gradually widens from said inner circumference to said outer circumference.

18 . The diffuser of claim 17 , wherein each of said plurality of smooth air passageways is curved near said inner circumference.

19 . The diffuser of claim 17 , wherein said inner circumference is configured to align with a compressor casing that surrounds a main airflow path through said compressor.

20 . The diffuser of claim 19 , wherein said outer circumference is configured to terminate within said bleed cavity of said compressor at a location spaced away from said compressor casing.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Klasing Kevin Samuel
• Proctor Robert
• Ratzlaff Jonathan Russell
• Doerflein Thomas Matthew

Classifications

• F04D27/009 Primary

  by bleeding, by passing or recycling fluid · CPC title

• F05D2230/60

  Assembly methods · CPC title

• F04D29/321

  for axial flow compressors · CPC title

• F05D2220/32

  in gas turbines · CPC title

• F04D29/522

  especially adapted for elastic fluid pumps · CPC title