A fully compounding rotorcraft includes a fuselage having first and second wings extending therefrom and configured to provide lift compounding responsive to forward airspeed. A twin boom includes first and second tail boom members that extend aftward from the first and second wings. An empennage is coupled between the aft ends of the tail boom members. An anti-torque system includes a tail rotor that is rotatably coupled to the empennage. An engine is disposed within the fuselage and is configured to provide torque to a main rotor assembly via an output shaft and a main rotor gearbox. An auxiliary propulsive system is coupled to the fuselage and is configured to generate a propulsive thrust to offload at least a portion of a thrust requirement from the main rotor during forward flight, thereby providing propulsion compounding to increase the forward airspeed of the rotorcraft.

A wind turbine rotor blade element includes a connection section with a front face, an inner and an outer surface. A plurality of connection assemblies each have (i) a metal insert with a longitudinal axis, a circumferential outer surface and a joining portion for connecting the rotor blade to a wind turbine rotor hub; and, (ii) a transition material aligned with the metal insert and having a tapering longitudinal section. The longitudinal section has an axial outer surface parallel to the longitudinal axis of the metal insert and an inclined outer surface at an angle with reference to the longitudinal axis. The connection assemblies are embedded in the connection section such that the joining portions of the metal inserts are accessible. The connection assemblies are arranged in an inner row closer to the inner surface of the connection section and an outer row closer to the outer surface thereof.

A fuel distribution device is provided wherein an axis is defined. The device comprises a body housing a distribution path for fuel; the distribution path has one inlet and a plurality of outlets; the inlet is located on the external surface of the body at an end of an inlet branch of the distribution path; the plurality of outlets are located on the external surface of the body at ends of a corresponding plurality of outlet branches of the distribution path; the inlet branch and the outlet branches are fluidly connected to a distribution space; and the outlet branches are arranged radially.

The heat exchanger is generally ring-shaped and includes a plurality of heat exchange modules (2), which are mutually independent, being distributed about the axis (A1) of the ring. The modules (2) are assembled with one another, being successively spaced apart in pairs, a space (E1) being created between two adjacent modules (2). At least one of the spaces (E1) receives at least one conductive heat-transfer element (7) extending between respective walls of at least two adjacent the modules (2) which are oriented facing one another.

A method of modifying an existing gas turbine to create a storage engine, the gas turbine having a combustor, a compressor section, and a turbine section, the method comprising modifying the compressor section of the gas turbine to form the storage engine such that air supplied to the combustor of the storage engine is heated by exhaust of the storage engine and is supplied from a remote source.

A portable system is disclosed for collecting a sample from exhaled breath of a subject. Drug substance in the exhaled breath are detected or determined. The sample is collected for further analysis using mass-spectroscopy. The system comprises a sampling unit and a housing arranged to hold the sampling unit, the sampling unit is adapted to collect non-volatile and volatile compounds of the at least one drug substance from the exhaled breath from the subject. The housing has at least one inlet for the subject to exhale into the housing to the sampling unit and at least one outlet for the exhaled breath to exit through.

A power generation system includes a manifold having multiple plenums, capable of receiving multiple solid rocket motors. Initiators are coupled to the manifold, and are operatively coupled to respective of the plenums, to selectively fire different groups of the rocket motors coupled to respective of the plenums. The rocket motors act in parallel, to provide thrust in a single direction. The initiators may activate ignition charges that are in the plenums. The plenums may be annular plenums, which may be located in an annular manifold. The plenums may be lined with an insulator material. A cover may be used to cover the plenums, and also to receive the rocket motors. The rocket motors may be solid-fuel rocket motors, with propellant grains and nozzles. The individual rocket motors may have separate ignition booster charges coupled to the plenum, which are ignited by the ignition charge.

A distributed control system for a turbomachine and method of operating the distributed control system are provided. In one aspect, a distributed control system includes a central controller and a distributed controller communicatively coupled thereto. The distributed controller has one or more associated local actuators and one or more associated local sensors. The actuators and the sensors are communicatively coupled with the distributed controller. If a communication link between the central controller and the distributed controller becomes faulty, the distributed controller enters an autonomous safety mode. In this mode, the distributed controller uses a combination of its own associated local sensors and past commands received from the central controller to autonomously govern its associated local actuators to maintain safe operation of the turbomachine.

A system includes a gas turbine engine of an aircraft, the gas turbine engine having a low speed spool, a high speed spool, and a combustor. The system also includes a low spool motor configured to augment rotational power of the low speed spool and a high spool motor configured to augment rotational power of the high speed spool. The system further includes a controller configured to cause fuel flow. The controller is configured to control a thrust response of the gas turbine engine to a thrust target between zero and a thrust level to move the aircraft during engine start and during engine idle. The controller is also configured to control the low spool motor to drive rotation of the low speed spool responsive to a thrust command while the controller does not command fuel flow to the combustor.

In an embodiment, a method of modifying an existing gas turbine to create a storage engine is provided. The gas turbine has a combustor, a compressor section, and a turbine section. The method comprises the step of modifying the compressor section of the gas turbine to form the storage engine. Air supplied to the combustor of the storage engine is heated by exhaust of the storage engine and is supplied from a remote source of air. Modifying the compressor section includes removing at least some of a plurality of rotatable airfoils of a compressor of the compressor section and introducing an increased capacity thrust bearing on a shaft line.