GB586912A - Turbine system - Google Patents

Abstract

586,912. Motor power plant; gas turbines. TURBO ENGINEERING CORPORATION. April 15, 1943, No. 6076. Convention date, May 2, 1942. [Classes 110 (i) and 110 (iii)] [Also in Groups XXVII and XXXIII] A turbine wheel driven by the exhaust gases of an I.C. engine is associated with or forms part of a turbine compressor combination which can operate as an independently driven gas turbine when the I.C. engine exhaust is reduced. The turbines may drive an electric generator and other auxiliaries or contribute power to the main drive or to a propulsion jet and the compressor may be used as a supercharger for the I.C. engine. In the plant shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the exhaust of an I.C. engine is delivered into a casing 16 of a turbine wheel 14 from which it passes through a heat exchanger 62 to an outlet 64 which may be propulsion jet. The exhaust may pass from the I.C. engine directly through a passage 80. An electric generator 2, a second turbine wheel 12 and an air-compressor 10 are mounted on the same shaft as the turbine wheel 14. Air for the compressor is taken in at 46 and delivered through a pipe 58 to the heat exchanger 62 and to a combustion chamber 72 which opens into the inlet 24 of the turbine wheel 12. When the I.C. engine exhaust is sufficient to drive the turbine 14 and generator 2, no fuel is supplied to the chamber 72 and the heat acquired by the compressed air in the exchanger 62 is sufficient to allow the combination 10, 12 to idle without being a load on the turbine 14. The speed of the generator 2 is kept steady by a governor 6 operating upon the byepass valve 82, the throttle valve 84 in the entry to turbine 14 and a fuel valve 77. Air supplied by a pump 8 passes through ducts 40, 42 and 44 for cooling the shaft bearing and the turbine wheels. Compressed air for an aeroplane cabin may be tapped cold at 88 and hot at 92 and a desired temperature can be obtained by adjusting the valves 90, 94. A valve 34 enables the turbines 12, 14 to work in series, the exhaust of the turbine 12 passing to the turbine 14. In a modification a single wheel replaces the wheels 12, 14, the I.C. exhaust acts on the inner portions of the blades and the air or gases from the chamber 72 on outer portions. In the'plant shown in Fig. 4, the exhaust of the I.C. engine 140 drives the turbine wheels 172, 170 in series and these carry compressor stages 166, 150. The compressed air is used to supercharge the I.C. engine when valve 176 is open and when valve 178 is open it passes to an ejector throat 156 where it mixes with the engine exhaust. This induces the combustion of any excess fuel in the exhaust and further fuel can be injected at 160. The wheel 172 is geared to the shaft of the airscrew 146 which is driven by the I.C. engine through an overrunning clutch 142. In another form, mechanical power is not taken off the turbines but their exhaust is used to energize a propulsion jet. Specification 520,045 and U.S.A. Specifications 1,926,225 and 1,959,703 are referred to.