초록 ▼

A gas turbine engine that can operate at a very high efficiency over a wide range of load conditions. In one important feature of the invention, combustion gases are discharged along two paths, one with constant energy and the other with energy that varies in accordance with the engine load. The con

A gas turbine engine that can operate at a very high efficiency over a wide range of load conditions. In one important feature of the invention, combustion gases are discharged along two paths, one with constant energy and the other with energy that varies in accordance with the engine load. The constant energy discharge drives a turbine that, in turn, operates a compressor for the engine at a constant, high efficiency. Alternatively, the compressor is driven at a speed that varies inversely with the engine load such that the engine operates at a high efficiency for all loads. In another, independent feature of the invention, the combustion occurs at a stoichiometric ratio of fuel and air, with the turbine blades being protected from the vastly increased combustion gas temperatures by an internal array of passageways through which cooling liquid, e.g., liquid fuel, and air are channeled. The fuel and air mix together to form a rich, turbulent pre-mix for ejection directly into the surrounding combustion chamber. This configuration can also be utilized to inject steam into the combustion chamber, to provide a Rankine cycle, with internal cogeneration. In yet another independent aspect of the invention, the compressor that supplies compressed air to the combustion chamber includes two counter-rotating radial impellers, with the second impeller further functioning as a diffuser for the first impeller.

대표청구항 ▼

A gas turbine engine comprising: means defining an annular combustion chamber in which fuel and air are mixed together and burned to produce combustion gases; a turbine having turbine blades rotatably driven by the combustion gases, the outer periphery of the turbine being encircled by the annular c

A gas turbine engine comprising: means defining an annular combustion chamber in which fuel and air are mixed together and burned to produce combustion gases; a turbine having turbine blades rotatably driven by the combustion gases, the outer periphery of the turbine being encircled by the annular combustion chamber, the turbine including means defining a plurality of cooling passageways through its blades, the passageways terminating in outlet ports at the outer peripheries of its blades; injection means for injecting liquid fuel into the turbine passageways for cooling the turbine blades and for subsequent entry into the combustion chamber via the outlet ports; a compressor rotatably driven by the turbine, for compressing air and directing it into the combustion chamber; discharge means defining first and second channels for discharging the combustion gases from the combustion chamber, the first channel discharging a portion of the combustion gases through the turbine, and the second channel discharging the remainder of the combustion gases along a path that bypass the turbine; and regulating means for regulating the relative proportions of combustion gases that the discharge means discharges through the respective first and second channels.