US20030192318A1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Catalytic combustor for substantially eliminating nitrous oxide emissions
Assignee: Boeing Co
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Filing: 2002-04-10
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2022-04-10
Abstract
Abstract A combustor for a gas powered turbine which employs a heat exchanger and a catalyst to combust a fuel without the emission of undesired chemical species. A gas powered turbine requires expanding gases to power the turbine blades. Fuel is combusted to produce the required gases. A catalyst is employed to lower the combustion temperature of the fuel. The catalyst is placed on a set of tubes in the heat exchanger such that a portion of the thermal energy may be transferred to the air before it engages the catalyst. After encountering the catalyst, the combusted fuel increases the temperature of the air to an auto-ignition temperature so that no other ignition source is needed to combust additional fuel.
Inventors
- 👤 Kenneth Sprouse
- 👤 Michael Moriarty
- 👤 David Matthews
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 21:48
CPC Classifications
F; F23; F23R; F23R3/00; F23R3/40
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
129 words
1 . A combustion system for use in a turbine which combusts a fuel in the presence of air, which substantially eliminates nitrous oxide emissions, comprising: a heat exchanger including: a catalyst pathway extending along a first axis; a cooling pathway extending along a second axis; wherein said first axis and said second axis are substantially parallel; wherein said catalyst pathway is in thermal contact with said cooling pathway; wherein the air is adapted to first flow through said cooling pathway and then through said catalyst pathway; a catalyst, placed within said catalyst pathway, and adapted to combust the fuel with the air; and wherein the air is adapted to first flow past said catalyst pathway and through said cooling pathway, thereby receiving thermal energy from said catalyst pathway.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
129 words
1 . A combustion system for use in a turbine which combusts a fuel in the presence of air, which substantially eliminates nitrous oxide emissions, comprising: a heat exchanger including: a catalyst pathway extending along a first axis; a cooling pathway extending along a second axis; wherein said first axis and said second axis are substantially parallel; wherein said catalyst pathway is in thermal contact with said cooling pathway; wherein the air is adapted to first flow through said cooling pathway and then through said catalyst pathway; a catalyst, placed within said catalyst pathway, and adapted to combust the fuel with the air; and wherein the air is adapted to first flow past said catalyst pathway and through said cooling pathway, thereby receiving thermal energy from said catalyst pathway.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
103 words
2 . The combustion system of claim 1 , wherein said catalyst pathway comprises a plurality of catalyst tubes, which form a plurality of catalyst tube columns each spaced apart transversally to said first axis and which define a plurality of channels adapted for allowing the air to flow therethrough; wherein said cooling pathway comprises a plurality of cooling tubes, which form a plurality of cooling tube columns each spaced apart transversally to said second axis; and wherein said cooling tubes extend substantially adjacent said catalyst tubes along said second axis for at least a portion of the length of said catalyst tubes.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
49 words
3 . The combustion system of claim 2 , wherein said catalyst tubes, said cooling tubes, and said channels define a flow path for the air such that the air is able to receive thermal energy from the catalyst tubes by flowing through said channels and said cooling tubes.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
4 . The combustion system of claim 1 , wherein said thermal energy allows the fuel to be combusted with said catalyst.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
5 . The combustion system of claim 1 , wherein said catalyst comprises a mixture of palladium and platinum.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
88 words
6 . The combustion system of claim 1 , further comprising: a heat exchange area; a pre-mix area for mixing a first portion of the fuel with the air; a main injector area comprising at least one injector for said catalyst tubes; wherein a second portion of the fuel is mixed with the air with said main injector; and wherein said main injector is adapted to mix the second portion of fuel with the air such that the temperature throughout the area of the injector is substantially equal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
23 words
7 . The combustion system of claim 1 , further comprising fins adapted to direct the flow of air around said catalyst tube.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
25 words
8 . The combustion system of claim 1 , wherein said cooling pathway includes a cooling fin and said catalyst pathway includes a catalyst fin.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
112 words
9 . A turbine, comprising: a compressor adapted to produce compressed atmospheric air; a combustion system for mixing and combusting a fuel injected into the compressed atmospheric air to produce expanding gases; a turbine which is powered by the expanding gases: wherein said combustion system comprises: a first fuel supply to supply fuel to the compressed atmospheric air; a heat exchanger comprising a catalyst section comprising a catalyst coated on the inside of said catalyst section, wherein the compressed air and the fuel flow through said catalyst section; and a second fuel supply to supply fuel to the compressed atmospheric air after the compressed atmospheric air has passed through said catalyst section.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
112 words
9 . A turbine, comprising: a compressor adapted to produce compressed atmospheric air; a combustion system for mixing and combusting a fuel injected into the compressed atmospheric air to produce expanding gases; a turbine which is powered by the expanding gases: wherein said combustion system comprises: a first fuel supply to supply fuel to the compressed atmospheric air; a heat exchanger comprising a catalyst section comprising a catalyst coated on the inside of said catalyst section, wherein the compressed air and the fuel flow through said catalyst section; and a second fuel supply to supply fuel to the compressed atmospheric air after the compressed atmospheric air has passed through said catalyst section.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
99 words
10 . The turbine of claim 9 , wherein said catalyst section comprises a plurality of said catalyst tubes each extending along a first axis; wherein said heat exchanger further includes a plurality of cooling tubes each extending along a second axis which is parallel to said first axis; wherein said catalyst tubes are arranged to form a plurality of columns spaced transversally to said first axis and defining a plurality of channels; and wherein said cooling tubes are arranged in a plurality of columns and extend a distance along said catalyst tubes and generally perpendicular to said channels.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
52 words
11 . The turbine of claim 10 , wherein said catalyst tubes, said cooling tubes and said channels define a flow path for the compressed atmospheric air such that the compressed atmospheric air is adapted to receive thermal energy from said catalyst tubes by flowing through said channels and said cooling tubes.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
39 words
12 . The turbine of claim 10 , wherein thermal energy is transferred to the compressed atmospheric air as it flows through said heat exchanger such that the fuel from the first fuel supply is combusted on said catalyst.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
91 words
13 . The turbine of claim 10 , further comprising: a heat exchange area; a pre-mix area for mixing a first portion of the fuel with the air; a main injector area comprising at least one injector for said catalyst tube; wherein a second portion of the fuel is mixed with the compressed atmospheric air in said main injector; and wherein said main injector is adapted to mix the second portion of fuel with the compressed atmospheric air such that the temperature throughout the area of the injector is substantially equal.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
26 words
14 . The combustion system of claim 10 , further comprising fins adapted to direct the flow of the compressed atmospheric air around said catalyst tube.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
19 words
15 . The combustion system of claim 10 , wherein said catalyst comprises a mixture of palladium and platinum.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
17 words
16 . The combustion system of claim 9 , wherein said catalyst section comprises a catalyst fin.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
108 words
17 . For a turbine, a method of combusting a fuel in the presence of atmospheric air while substantially eliminating the emission of nitrous oxide compounds, the method comprising: providing a heat exchanger comprising a plurality of pathways; placing a catalyst on at least a portion of an interior of a number of said pathways; forming a first fuel-air mixture by mixing a first portion of the fuel and the air; producing a auto-ignition air stream by combusting the first fuel-air mixture by contacting the first fuel-air mixture with the catalyst; and heating the air by transferring a portion of thermal energy from the pathways to the air.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
108 words
17 . For a turbine, a method of combusting a fuel in the presence of atmospheric air while substantially eliminating the emission of nitrous oxide compounds, the method comprising: providing a heat exchanger comprising a plurality of pathways; placing a catalyst on at least a portion of an interior of a number of said pathways; forming a first fuel-air mixture by mixing a first portion of the fuel and the air; producing a auto-ignition air stream by combusting the first fuel-air mixture by contacting the first fuel-air mixture with the catalyst; and heating the air by transferring a portion of thermal energy from the pathways to the air.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
58 words
18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising: forming a second fuel-air mixture by adding a second portion of fuel to the auto-ignition air stream; and producing an expanding gas by combusting said second fuel-air mixture, said expanding gas occurring when the fuel in the second fuel-air mixture reaches the temperature of the auto-ignition air stream.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
17 words
19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising powering a turbine with said expanding gas.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
24 words
20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said first fuel-air mixture has an equivalence ratio of between about 0.10 and about 0.30.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
24 words
21 . The method of claim 18 , wherein said second fuel-air mixture has an equivalence ratio of between about 0.40 and about 0.60.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
23 words
22 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said auto-ignition air stream has a temperature between about 1400° F. and 1600° F.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
35 words
23 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of heating the air comprises transferring a portion of the thermal energy produced in the pathways when the catalyst forms the auto-ignition air stream.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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