Process for testing a compressor or a combustor of a gas turbine engine using a large compressed air storage reservoir

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9604756-B1
Application number	US-201615200057-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jul 1, 2016
Priority date	Mar 29, 2011
Publication date	Mar 28, 2017
Grant date	Mar 28, 2017

Abstract

A process for testing a combustor of a gas turbine engine, where a large volume of compressed air is stored in a large reservoir of at least 10,000 m 3 such as an underground storage cavern, compressed air from the storage reservoir is passed through heat exchanger to preheat the compressed air to a temperature that would normally be discharged from a compressor, the preheated compressed air is burned with a fuel in the combustor, and additional compressed air from the reservoir is passed through an injector located downstream from the combustor to produce a decreased pressure such that a low atmospheric condition at the combustor exit is simulated.

First claim

We claim the following:

1. A process for testing a combustor of a gas turbine engine under low atmospheric conditions comprising the steps of:
filling an underground storage reservoir with compressed air;
securing a combustor to be tested on a test stand;
passing compressed air from the underground storage reservoir through a heater to increase a temperature of the compressed air;
passing the heated compressed air into a combustor for testing;
burning a fuel with the heated compressed air within the combustor; and,
passing additional compressed air from the underground storage reservoir into an ejector located downstream of the combustor to decrease a pressure at an exhaust of the combustor to simulate a low atmospheric condition.

2. The process for testing a combustor of a gas turbine engine under low atmospheric conditions of claim 1 , and further comprising the step of:
the step of heating the compressed air from the underground storage reservoir includes heating the compressed air without decreasing an oxygen level of the compressed air.

Assignees

• Brostmeyer Joseph D
• Memmen Robert L
• Florida Turbine Tech Inc

Inventors

• Brostmeyer Joseph D
• Memmen Robert L

Classifications

• G01M9/02

  Wind tunnels · CPC title

• G01M17/007

  Wheeled or endless-tracked vehicles (G01M17/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01M15/14 Primary

  Testing gas-turbine engines or jet-propulsion engines · CPC title

• F02C6/16

  for storing compressed air · CPC title

• B65D19/16 Primary

  Collapsible pallets · CPC title