Combustion chamber wall

Abstract

An annular wall for a combustion chamber of a turbomachine. The wall presents a hot side and a cold side and includes at least one primary hole for enabling a first flow of air flowing on the cold side of the wall to penetrate to the hot side of the wall to feed combustion of fuel inside the combustion chamber, and together with a plurality of cooling holes, each having a diameter no greater than 1 mm, to enable a second flow of air flowing on the cold side of the wall to penetrate to the hot side of the wall to cool the hot side of the wall. The plurality of cooling holes can also dilute combustion gas resulting from the combustion by using the flow of air penetrating to the hot side of the wall through the cooling holes.

Claims

1. An annular wall of a combustion chamber of a turbomachine, the wall having a cold side and a hot side and comprising: at least one primary hole for enabling a first flow of air flowing on the cold side of the wall to penetrate to the hot side of the wall to feed combustion of fuel inside the combustion chamber; and a plurality of cooling holes, each having a diameter no greater than 1 mm, to enable a second flow of air flowing on the cold side of the wall to penetrate to the hot side of the wall to cool the hot side of the wall, wherein the plurality of cooling holes are the only holes in an entirety of the annular wall that dilute combustion gas resulting from the combustion with a flow of air penetrating to the hot side of the wall in a dilution zone.

2. The annular wall according to claim 1, wherein the cooling holes present not less than 50% of a total surface area for passing air through the wall.

3. The annular wall according to claim 1, wherein the cooling holes represent at least 97% of a total surface area for passing air through the wall downstream from the at least one primary hole.

4. The annular wall according to claim 1, wherein each hole of the plurality of the cooling holes is oriented along an axis that in projection on the wall presents an angle of not less than 45 relative to a direction of a central axis of the wall.

5. The annular wall according to claim 4, wherein the angle is in a range of 85 to 95.

6. The annular wall according to claim 1, wherein each hole of the plurality of the cooling holes is oriented along an axis presenting an angle relative to the wall, the angle being no greater than 45.

7. The annular wall according to claim 6, wherein the angle is not less than 15.

8. The annular wall according to claim 1, wherein the annular wall includes a primary zone and a dilution zone downstream of the primary zone, the at least one primary hole being located in the primary zone, and the plurality of cooling holes being located in the dilution zone.

9. The annular wall according to claim 8, wherein the dilution zone only includes the plurality of cooling holes for passing flows of air from the cold side to the hot side of the annular wall.

10. The annular wall according to claim 1, wherein the at least one primary hole and the plurality of cooling holes are the only holes in the annular wall for passing flows of air from the cold side to the hot side of the annular wall.

11. A combustion chamber for a turbomachine comprising: an inner wall and an outer wall that are coaxial, the inner wall and/or the outer wall having a cold side and a hot side and comprising at least one primary hole for enabling a first flow of air flowing on the cold side of the wall to penetrate to the hot side of the wall to feed combustion of fuel inside the combustion chamber, and a plurality of cooling holes, each having a diameter no greater than 1 mm to enable a second flow of air flowing on the cold side of the wall to penetrate to the hot side of the wall to cool the hot side of the wall, wherein the plurality of cooling holes are the only holes in an entirety of the annular wall that dilute combustion gas resulting from the combustion with a flow of air penetrating to the hot side of the wall in a dilution zone.

12. A turbomachine comprising: a combustion chamber including at least one annular wall having a cold side and a hot side and including at least one primary hole for enabling a first flow of air flowing on the cold side of the wall to penetrate to the hot side of the wall to feed combustion of fuel inside the combustion chamber, and a plurality of cooling holes, each having a diameter no greater than 1 mm, to enable a second flow of air flowing on the cold side of the wall to penetrate to the hot side of the wall to cool the hot side of the wall, wherein the plurality of cooling holes are the only holes in an entirety of the annular wall that dilute combustion gas resulting from the combustion with a flow of air penetrating to the hot side of the wall in a dilution zone.

13. A method of diluting combustion gas in a combustion chamber of a turbomachine, the combustion chamber including at least one annular wall having a cold side and a hot side, the method comprising: enabling, via at least one primary hole in the annular wall, a first flow of air flowing on the cold side of the wall to penetrate to the hot side of the wall to feed combustion of fuel inside the combustion chamber; and enabling, via a plurality of cooling holes in the annular wall, each of the cooling holes having a diameter no greater than 1 mm, a second flow of air flowing on the cold side of the wall to penetrate to the hot side of the wall to cool the hot side of the wall, wherein the second flow of air penetrating to the hot side of the wall is the only flow of air in an entirety of the annular wall that serves to dilute the combustion gas in a dilution zone.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention can be well understood and its advantages appear better on reading the following detailed description of an embodiment given by way of non-limiting example. The description refers to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section of a turbomachine;

(3) FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section of a prior art combustion chamber;

(4) FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section of a combustion chamber in a first embodiment of the invention;

(5) FIG. 4A is a detail view of a wall of the FIG. 3 combustion chamber, in cylindrical projection; and

(6) FIG. 4B is a detail view of the same wall, in cross-section on line IVB-IVB.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) A turbomachine, and more particularly, a turboshaft engine 1, is shown diagrammatically by way of explanation in FIG. 1. In the flow direction of a working fluid, this engine 1 comprises: a centrifugal compressor 3; an annular combustion chamber 4; a first axial turbine 5; and a second axial turbine 6. In addition, the engine 1 also has a first rotary shaft 7 and a second rotary shaft 8 coaxial to the first rotary shaft 7.

(8) The second rotary shaft 8 connects the centrifugal compressor 3 to the first axial turbine 5 so that the expansion of the working fluid in the first axial turbine 5 downstream from the combustion chamber 4 serves to drive the compressor 3 upstream from the combustion chamber 4. The first rotary shaft 7 connects the second axial turbine 6 to a power take-off 9 located downstream and/or upstream from the engine, in such a manner that the subsequent expansion of the working fluid in the second axial turbine 6 downstream from the first axial turbine 5 serves to drive the power take-off 9.

(9) Thus, the compression of the working fluid in the centrifugal compressor 3, followed by heating of the working fluid in the combustion chamber 4, and by its expansion in the second axial turbine 6, enables a portion of the heat energy obtained by the combustion in the combustion chamber 4 to be converted into mechanical work that is extracted from the power take-off 9. In the engine shown, the driving fluid is air, with fuel being added thereto and burnt in the combustion chamber 4, which fuel may for example be a hydrocarbon.

(10) A prior art combustion chamber 204 is shown in FIG. 2. This combustion chamber 204 comprises an inner wall 211 and an outer wall 212, which walls are annular and coaxial, extending from an end wall 213 where the two walls 211 and 212 join together, to a combustion gas outlet. The combustion chamber 204 can be subdivided into a primary zone 204a in which fuel injectors 215 are situated, and a dilution zone 204b that is downstream from the primary zone 204a. In the example shown, the combustion chamber 204 is of the type presenting a bend 216 in order to limit its axial extent. Combustion chambers of this type are particularly widespread in turbomachines having centrifugal compressors, particularly when they are turboshaft engines, as shown in FIG. 1.

(11) The walls 211 and 212 of the combustion chamber 204 present holes of three different types, all three of which are used for passing flows of air from the cold side of the walls 211, 212 outside the combustion chamber 204, to the hot side of the walls 211, 212 inside the combustion chamber 204. Holes of a first type are said to be primary holes 217, situated in the primary zone 204a and serving to pass air that is used for feeding the combustion of the fuel injected by the injectors 215. Downstream from these primary holes 217, the walls 211, 212 also have holes of a second type known as dilution holes 218, serving to pass air that is used for diluting the combustion gas 220 that results from the combustion of the fuel as injected by the injectors 215 reacting with the air entering via the primary holes 217. The walls 211, 212 also have holes of a third type referred to as cooling holes 219, allowing air to pass that is used for cooling the hot side of each of the walls 211, 212. The three types of hole differ in particular in their different sizes. Thus, the primary holes 217, and above all the dilution holes 218 present diameters that are significantly greater than the diameter of the cooling holes 219. Whereas the cooling holes are distributed in large numbers over the surfaces of the walls 211, 212 with each of them having a diameter no greater than 1 mm, the dilution holes 218 have diameters of about 5 mm and more. Thus, when the engine is in operation, the air penetrating to the hot sides of the walls 211, 212 through the cooling holes 219 form a film 221 of relatively cool air that remains adjacent to the walls 211, 212 in order to protect them from the heat of the combustion gas 220, the air penetrating through the dilution holes 218 forming jets 222 that penetrate deeply into the combustion chamber 204 in order to become mixed with the combustion gas 220 in the dilution zone 204b.

(12) A combustion chamber 4 in an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 3. This combustion chamber 4 also has an inner wall 11 and an outer wall 12 that are annular and coaxial, extending from an end wall 13 where the walls 11 and 12 join together to a combustion gas outlet. The combustion chamber 4 may likewise be subdivided into a primary zone 4a in which fuel injectors 15 are situated, and a dilution zone 4b downstream from the primary zone 4a. In the embodiment shown, the inner and outer walls are spaced apart by a maximum radial distance h, and the depth of the primary zone along the direction of the central axis X of the combustion chamber is equal to said distance h. In the example shown, the combustion chamber 4 is likewise of the type presenting a bend 16 in order to limit its axial extent.

(13) Nevertheless, unlike the prior art combustion chamber 204, this combustion chamber 4 has only two types of hole for passing flows of air from the cold sides of the walls 11, 12 outside the combustion chamber 4 to the hot sides of the walls 11, 12 inside the combustion chamber 4: it has primary holes 17 and cooling holes 19. Thus, downstream from said primary holes 17, and in particular in the dilution zone 4b, the walls 11, 12 present practically no holes for passing air of a diameter greater than 1 mm. Although the walls 11, 12 may present certain other orifices, such as for example holes for endoscopic inspection of the combustion chamber 4, the cooling holes 19 represent at least 50% of a total surface area for passing air through the walls 11, 12 and at least 97% in the dilution zone 4b.

(14) In this combustion chamber 4, the specific dilution holes of greater diameter are absent, so the combustion gas 20 is diluted practically exclusively by the air that penetrates into the combustion chamber 4 through the cooling holes 19, with the film 21 of air adjacent to the walls 11, 12 mixing effectively with the combustion gas 20. In order to facilitate this mixing, in the embodiment shown, the cooling holes 19 are oriented so as to impel the air that penetrates into the combustion chamber 4 through these cooling holes 19 on a trajectory that is helical. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, in this embodiment, each cooling hole 19 is oriented along an axis that presents an angle relative to the wall 11, 12, the angle lying in the range 20 to 30, and having a projection on the wall that presents an angle of approximately 90 relative to the direction of the central axis X. The combustion chamber 4 that is shown thus manages to dilute the combustion gas 20 in uniform and effective manner, while omitting specific dilution holes of large diameter, thereby avoiding the drawbacks associated therewith.

(15) Although the present invention is described with reference to a specific embodiment, it is clear that various modifications and changes can be made to this example without going beyond the general scope of the invention as defined by the claims. For example, it is possible to envisage other angles and , and in particular in the ranges 45 and 1545. In addition, individual characteristics of the various embodiments mentioned may be combined to make additional embodiments. Consequently, the description and the drawings should be considered in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.