US 6,981,846 B2 | ||
Vortex cooling of turbine blades | ||
George Liang, Palm City, Fla. (US) | ||
Assigned to Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc., Jupiter, Fla. (US) | ||
Filed on Mar. 02, 2004, as Appl. No. 10/791,575. | ||
Claims priority of provisional application 60/454120, filed on Mar. 12, 2003. | ||
Prior Publication US 2005/0265837 A1, Dec. 01, 2005 | ||
Int. Cl. F01D 5/18 (2006.01) |
U.S. Cl. 416—97R | 19 Claims |
1. Means for cooling the pressure side of a turbine airfoil, said airfoil having a wall defining the outer surface on said pressure side, a mid-chord passage defined by said wall for receiving coolant, a matrix formed by a plurality of cells extending in the longitudinal direction and the chord-wise direction in said pressure side, each of said cells comprising at least two cylindrical chambers spaced in the chord-wise direction and extending in the longitudinal direction being fluidly connected to said mid-chord passage, a first fluid connection interconnecting said mid-chord passage and one of said at least two cylindrical chambers, said first fluid connection being oriented to flow coolant into said one of said at least two cylindrical chambers at a tangent so as to create a swirling motion of the coolant and a second fluid connection interconnecting said one of said at least two cylindrical chambers and the other of said at least two cylindrical chambers, and said second fluid connection interconnecting said first fluid connection and said second fluid connection being oriented to flow coolant into said other of said at least two cylindrical chambers tangentially to create a swirling motion therein and a third fluid connection discharging coolant from said other of said at least two cylindrical chambers to adjacent said outer surface. |