Innovative Compressor Core Cooling Methods

The ability to reduce total coolant flows to meet increased cooling and life requirements in gas turbines is crucial to improving future aircraft propulsion capability. Existing compressor core cooling (CCC) techniques concentrate on rotor and casing thermal deflection matching during transients, but give limited compressor bore and cavity cooling. The proposed innovative CCC systems incorporate flow controllability and novel refrigeration schemes to reduce coolant temperatures (by up to 650 degrees F) combined with deliberate conveyance of some coolant flow to high temperature regions of latter compressor stage disks, rims, and blades. This project will evaluate novel CCC concepts and can provide hardware for demonstrating the preferred CCC configuration in a compressor development rig. Phase I will include appropriate cycle evaluations, establish the CCC system requirements and screen several alternative systems. More detailed technical evaluations (including CFD and FEA) of the most promising configurations will be conducted in Phase II, followed by detailed design and fabrication of the preferred system hardware. This hardware may be installed in the Advanced Concepts Evaluation (ACE) compressor rig and its effectiveness demonstrated for various operating conditions. The project is complementary to and will be coordinated with ongoing Pratt & Whitney (P&W) advanced technology projects and it meets the IHPTET initiative goals.