Cooling air profiling structures for a gas turbine

Claim 2

In a gas turbine power plant, having a bladed rotor portion and a combustion chamber where hot products of combustion are formed and directed to the rotor portion to motivate the same, at least one temperature profiling structure for directing cooling fluid into the path of the combustion products, said profiling structure comprising: a cooling fluid conduit; means for supporting said conduit relative to said combustion chamber; said profiling structure extending into said combustion chamber; means providing for relative thermal expansion among said combustion chamber, said supporting member, and said conduit; said supporting means secured to said conduit and said combustion chamber and comprising a tubular sleeve member encompassing the cooling fluid conduit; and said expansion means comprising a plurality of longitudinally extending slits along the sleeve member; said slits defining a plurality of longitudinally extending fingers; said fingers being flexible to allow for relative thermal expansion.

Claim 3

In a gas turbine power plant, having a bladed rotor portion and a combustion chamber where hot products of combustion are formed and directed to the rotor portion to motivate the same, at least one temperature profiling structure for directing cooling fluid into the path of the combustion products, said profiling structure comprising: a cooling fluid conduit; means for supporting said conduit relative to said combustion chamber; said supporting means secured to said conduit and said combustion chamber; said profiling structure extending radially into said combustion chamber; means providing for relative thermal expansion among said combustion chamber, said supporting member, and said conduit; the support means comprising a tubular support member encompassing the cooling fluid conduit; the radially inner end of said support member being secured to the radially inner end of the conduit; the expansion means including a plurality of slots extending longitudinally along the support member and disposed in a radial direction; said slots extending to the radially outer end of said support member; said slots thereby defining a plurality of longitudinally extending flexible finger structures; and said radially outer end of said support member being secured to the inner wall of the combustion chamber.

Claim 4

In a gas turbine power plant, having a bladed rotor portion and a combustion chamber where hot products of combustion are formed and directed to the rotor portion to motivate the same, at least one temperature profiling structure for directing cooling fluid into the path of the combustion products, said profiling structure comprising: a cooling fluid conduit; means for supporting said conduit relative to said combustion chamber; said supporting means secured to said conduit and said combustion chamber; said profiling structure extending radially into said combustion chamber; means providing for relative thermal expansion among said combustion chamber, said supporting member, and said conduit; the support means comprising a tubular support member encompassing the cooling fluid conduit; the radially inner end of said support member being secured to the radially inner end of the conduit; the expansion means including a plurality of slots extending longitudinally along the support member and disposed in a radial direction; said slots extending to the radially outer end of said support member; said slots thereby defining a plurality of longitudinally extending flexible finger structures; and said radially outer end of said support member being secured to the inner wall of the combustion chamber.

Claim 5

In an axial flow elastic fluid utilizing machine, said machine having a turbine portion and a combustion portion, said combustion portion having an outer wall structure partially defining a pressurized plenum chamber, an annular array of combustion chambers equally spaced from each other and from the rotational axis of the machine disposed within said plenum chamber, said combustion chambers each having a transition portion defining a flow path to supply hot products of combustion to said turbine portion, a plurality of temperature profiling structures for directing cooling fluid from within said plenum chamber into the path of the combustion products within the transition portion, said profiling structure comprising: a tubular cooling fluid conduit radially extending into an inner wall of said transition member; a large diameter tubular sleeve member encompassing said conduit for support thereof, said conduit and sleeve member being fastened together at their radially inner ends, the radially outer end of said sleeve member being securely fastened to the inner wall of the transition member, each of said sleeve members being free to expand in a radially inward direction and each of said conduit members being free to expand in a radially outer direction so that the expansions tend to negate each other resulting in said profiling structures remaining substantially in the same radial positions.

Claim 6

In an axial flow elastic fluid utilizing machine, said machine having a turbine portion and a combustion portion, said combustion portion having an outer wall structure partially defining a pressurized plenum chamber, an annular array of combustion chambers equally spaced from each other and from the rotational axis of the machine disposed within said plenum chamber, said combustion chambers each having a transition portion defining a flow path to supply hot products of combustion to said turbine portion, a plurality of temperature profiling structures for directing cooling fluid from within said plenum chamber into the path of the combustion products within the transition portion, said profiling structure comprising: a tubular cooling fluid conduit radially extending into an inner wall of said transition member; a large diameter tubular sleeve member encompassing said conduit for support thereof, said conduit and sleeve member being fastened together at their radially inner ends, the radially outer end of said sleeve member being securely fastened to the inner wall of the transition member, each of said sleeve members being free to expand in a radially inward direction and each of said conduit members being free to expand in a radially outer direction so that the expansions tend to negate each other resulting in said profiling structures remaining substantially in the same radial positions.

Claim 7

The structure recited in claim 3 wherein: a plurality of longitudinally slots extending along the sleeve member to the radially outer end of said sleeve member, said slots thereby defining a plurality of flexible finger structures, said finger structures providing for relative thermal expansion among said transition portion, said sleeve member, and said cooling fluid conduit in a circumferential direction.