An air-breathing rocket engine in certain embodiments comprises an outer shell and an interior portion situated entirely within the front end of the outer shell. The interior portion includes a funnel-shaped intake and an annular primary combustion chamber between the inner front wall of the shell and the outer surface of the funnel-shaped intake. The intake has a central aperture that is in fluid communication with the throat and exhaust areas within the outer shell. A second circumferential gap is formed between the outer surface of the front inner wall and the inner surface of the front end of the outer shell and is in fluid communication with the throat and exhaust areas within the outer shell. One or more injector ports and one or more ignition ports are situated at the front end of the second circumferential gap.

An embodiment of a torch igniter for a combustor of a gas turbine engine comprises a combustion chamber oriented about an axis, a cap defining an axially upstream end of the combustion chamber and oriented about the axis, a tip defining an axially downstream end of the combustion chamber, a structural wall coaxial with and surrounding the igniter wall, an outlet passage defined by the igniter wall within the tip, and a cooling system. The cooling system comprises an air inlet formed within the structural wall, a first flow path disposed between the structural wall and the igniter wall, and an aperture extending through the igniter wall transverse to the flow direction. The aperture directly fluidly connects the first flow path to the combustion chamber.

A torch ignitor system includes a torch wall defining a combustion chamber therein with a flame outlet passing out of the torch wall downstream of the combustion chamber. A fuel nozzle is mounted to the torch wall to issue fuel into the combustion chamber. An ignitor is mounted to the torch wall, extending into the combustion chamber to ignite fuel issued from the fuel nozzle. A cooling passage is in thermal communication with the ignitor for cooling the ignitor with fluid passing through the cooling passage.

A method of operating and cleaning a torch ignitor for continuous ignition includes issuing a fuel-lean flow through a combustion chamber of a torch ignitor. The method also includes heating interior surfaces of the torch ignitor, wherein the fuel-lean flow reacts with carbon deposits on the interior surfaces to remove the carbon deposits.

An energy conversion apparatus may include an engine assembly, such as a monolithic engine assembly. The engine assembly may include a first monolithic body segment and a plurality of second monolithic body segments directly coupled or directly couplable to the first monolithic body segment. The first monolithic body segment may define a combustion chamber and a recirculation pathway in fluid communication with the combustion chamber. The recirculation pathway may be configured to recirculate combustion gas through the combustion chamber. The plurality of second monolithic body segments may respectively define at least a portion of a piston chamber and a plurality of working-fluid pathways fluidly communicating with the piston chamber.

An assembly is provided for a gas turbine engine. This assembly includes a combustor and a fuel conduit. The combustor includes a combustor wall that forms a peripheral boundary of a combustion chamber within the combustor. The fuel conduit extends along and is formed integral with the combustor wall. The fuel conduit is disposed outside of the combustion chamber.

Methods and apparatus for an additive, single-piece, bore-cooled combustor dome or liner are disclosed. An example combustor dome forms an integral part including: a plurality of first openings; a plurality of second openings; and a plurality of passages formed in the combustor dome connecting respective ones of the plurality of first openings with respective ones of the plurality of second openings. The combustor dome is configured to allow air to enter through the plurality of first openings and travel through the plurality of passages to exit through the plurality of second openings, the air to transfer heat from the combustion section.

A liner cooling device for cooling a liner of a gas turbine is provided. The liner cooling device may include a support portion disposed between a liner and a transition piece of a gas turbine and configured to include a cooling flow passage through which cooling air moves to the transition piece. The support portion includes a support member disposed between the liner and the transition piece and an auxiliary support member disposed in the cooling flow passage and having a hole through which the cooling air passes.

A manufacturing method is provided. During this method, a preform component is provided for a turbine engine. The preform component includes a substrate. A meter section of a cooling aperture is formed in the substrate. An internal coating is applied onto a surface of the meter section. An external coating is applied over the substrate. A diffuser section of the cooling aperture is formed in the external coating and the substrate to provide the cooling aperture.

An impingement cooling structure is provided. The impingement cooling structure includes a flow channel formed between a first wall and a second wall facing the first wall, a plurality of impingement cooling holes disposed in the first wall such that the plurality of impingement cooling holes are spaced apart from each other along the flow channel, and a flow diverter convexly protruding from a surface of the second wall in each space between injection axes of the plurality of impingement cooling holes.