GB722544A - Improvements in thermal engines for example jet propulsion units and gas turbine engines - Google Patents

Abstract

722,544. Gas-turbine plant; jet-propulsion plant. SOC. NATIONALE D'ETUDE ET DE CONSTRUCTION DE MOTEURS D'AVIATION. April 4, 1952 [May 30, 1951], No. 8721/52. Class 110 (3). [Also in Groups XII and XXVIII] The air supply to a jet-propulsion or gas-turbine engine with continuous combustion is partly or wholly compressed by forcing the air through a nozzle by means of a pulsating steam jet. The air supply to the ram jet propulsion unit shown is compressed in a diffuser 2 and then passed into a combustion chamber 3 through a nozzle 4 in which its pressure is increased by means of a pulsating steam jet 5. Water from a tank 10 is forced by means of a pump 9 through a combustion chamber jacket 11 having a helical partition 12 to a vaporizing coil 8 from which it passes through a pulsator 13 to the jet 5. The pulsator 13 may comprise a disc, rotating in a plane perpendicular to the conduit 5a, formed with a series of circumferentially aligned holes. Another form of pulsator, Fig. 3, comprises a cylindrical casing 14 mounted in the pipe 5a in which a rod 16 driven by an eccentric 18 reciprocates. A recess 20 in the rod co-operates with ports 15 to interrupt the flow of steam. To obtain a sharp cut-off and release of the steam, the width of the recess 20 is made smaller than that of the ports 15. The casing 14 is attached to the head 14b containing the eccentric by a nut 14c formed with two threads of opposite hand 14d and 14e so that rotation of the nut 14c allows the casing 14 to be moved closer to or farther from the head 14b to adjust the period during which steam is supplied. In a modification as applied to a gas-turbine plant, the pulsating steam jet is used to further compress the air leaving the compressor before it enters the combustion chamber. It is stated that the invention may also be applied to a plant in which a compressor is driven by a reciprocating or other engine.