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CN-116917608-B - Fuel conditioning system and method for powering an aircraft turbine engine by low temperature tank fuel

CN116917608BCN 116917608 BCN116917608 BCN 116917608BCN-116917608-B

Abstract

A fuel conditioning System (SC) for supplying fuel (Q) from a low temperature tank (RC) to an aircraft turbine engine, the conditioning System (SC) comprising at least one pumping turbine (1), a first heat exchanger (31) configured to heat the fuel (Q) in a fuel Circuit (CQ) by circulating an air stream (A), and at least one heating turbine (2) configured to supply the air stream (A) to the first heat exchanger (31), the heating turbine (2) comprising an intake compressor (21), a combustion chamber (24) and an exhaust turbine (22) configured to drive the intake compressor (21), the combustion chamber (24) being supplied by air taken from the air stream (A) and the fuel (Q) from the fuel Circuit (CQ).

Inventors

  • PIERRE ALAIN LAMBERT
  • S. Malov

Assignees

  • 赛峰集团

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20220224
Priority Date
20210308

Claims (10)

  1. 1. A fuel conditioning System (SC) configured to supply a turbine engine (T) of an aircraft with fuel (Q) from a low temperature tank (RC), characterized in that the conditioning System (SC) comprises: -at least one pumping turbine (1) separate from the aircraft turbine engine (T) comprising a pump (11) and a turbine (12) for driving the pump (11), the pump (11) being configured to take the fuel (Q) from the low temperature tank (RC) and circulate it from upstream to downstream in a fuel Circuit (CQ) comprising a supply outlet (S) of the turbine engine (T), the turbine (12) being mounted in the fuel Circuit (CQ) so as to drive the turbine (12) in rotation by the circulation of the fuel (Q); -a first heat exchanger (31) provided upstream of the turbine (12) configured to heat the fuel (Q) in the fuel Circuit (CQ) by circulating a flow of air (a); -at least one heating turbine (2) separate from the aircraft turbine engine (T) configured to supply the air flow (a) to the first heat exchanger (31), the heating turbine (2) comprising an intake air compressor (21), a combustion chamber (24) and an exhaust turbine (22) configured to drive the intake air compressor (21), the combustion chamber (24) being fed by air in the air flow (a) and by fuel (Q) in the fuel Circuit (CQ).
  2. 2. The fuel conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a second heat exchanger (32) configured to heat the fuel (Q) in the fuel Circuit (CQ) by circulating the intake air flow of the heating turbine (2).
  3. 3. The fuel conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an auxiliary heat exchanger (33) configured to heat the fuel (Q) in the upstream portion of the fuel Circuit (CQ) by circulating the fuel (Q) circulating downstream of the turbine (12).
  4. 4. A fuel conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized by comprising an electric generator (51) configured to be driven by the heating turbine (2).
  5. 5. The fuel conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that the heating turbine (2) is configured to perform a brayton cycle.
  6. 6. A fuel conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that the pumping turbine (1) is completely immersed in the fuel (Q).
  7. 7. A fuel conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that the pumping turbine (1) is an expanding hydrogen turbine pump.
  8. 8. Assembly, characterized in that it comprises at least one low-temperature tank (RC), an aircraft turbine engine (T) and an adjustment System (SC) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, which communicates the low-temperature tank (RC) with the aircraft turbine engine (T).
  9. 9. The assembly according to claim 8, comprising at least one fuel buffer reservoir (7) configured to be fed by the regulation System (SC) and configured to be fed to the aircraft turbine engine (T).
  10. 10. A method of conditioning a fuel (Q) by means of a conditioning System (SC) according to any one of claims 1-7 to supply the aircraft turbine engine (T) with fuel (Q) from a low temperature tank (RC), characterized by the steps of: -a pump (11) of the pumping turbine (1) taking fuel from the low temperature tank (RC) and circulating said fuel in a fuel Circuit (CQ) from upstream to downstream, Circulating an air flow (A) of the heating turbine (2) so that the first heat exchanger (31) heats the fuel (Q) in the fuel Circuit (CQ), -Circulation of fuel (Q) in the fuel Circuit (CQ) driving rotation of a turbine (12) of the pumping turbine (1), -Feeding the combustion chamber (24) of the heating turbine (2) using air taken from the air flow (a) and fuel (Q) from the fuel Circuit (CQ).

Description

Fuel conditioning system and method for powering an aircraft turbine engine by low temperature tank fuel Technical Field The present invention relates to the field of aircraft comprising turbine engines supplied with fuel stored in a low-temperature tank. Background It is well known to store fuel, especially hydrogen, in liquid form to reduce the size and mass of aircraft tanks. For example, fuel is stored in the low temperature tanks of an aircraft at temperatures of about 20K to 22K (-253 ℃ to-251 ℃). In order to inject fuel into the combustion chamber of a turbine engine, the fuel is delivered and heated to achieve optimal combustion. Such a heating step is necessary, for example, to reduce the risk of icing of water vapour contained in the air stream circulating in the turbine engine, in particular to reduce the risk of icing at the turbine engine fuel injectors. In practice, the fuel heating step is energy-consuming and requires heat to be extracted from the heat source of the aircraft. For example, heat generated by the turbine engine (heat from the lubricating oil, heat from the turbine outlet, heat from the nozzle, etc.) may be used. Heat from the aircraft (air from the cabin, heat from electrical or electronic systems, etc.) may also be used. One problem is optimizing fuel heating while taking advantage of its cooling characteristics while ensuring high safety as the fuel is transported from the cold box to the turbine engine combustor. Referring to fig. 1 and 2, in the prior art, several arrangements have been proposed for directing fuel Q from a low temperature tank RC to a combustion chamber CC of a turbine engine T. As is known, the low temperature tank RC belongs to the aircraft baseline REF-A and the combustion chamber CC belongs to the turbine engine baseline REF-T. Subsequently, the terms "upstream" and "downstream" are defined with respect to the direction of circulation of the fuel Q from the low-temperature tank RC to the combustion chamber CC. Referring to fig. 1, which shows a first configuration, provided in succession from upstream to downstream with a pump 101 and a heat exchanger 102, the pump 101 belonging to a turbine engine baseline REF-T, the heat exchanger 102 taking heat from the turbine engine T, in particular at the nozzle of the turbine engine T, before injecting the fuel Q into the combustion chamber CC. The pump 101 is connected to the cold box RC by a transfer pipe 100, the transfer pipe 100 being provided with an interface between the two baselines REF-A, REF-T. This first structure has several drawbacks. First, the fuel Q of low temperature and low pressure is delivered to the pump 101 through the delivery pipe 100, and therefore the pump 101 must be thermally insulated, which is disadvantageous. In addition, the presence of the heat exchanger 102 in the nozzle of the turbine engine T may affect the performance of the turbine engine T. In addition, during the transition phase (start/stop), the length of the delivery tube 100 carries a significant risk of thermal fluid instability, which results in prolonged cooling or re-cooling, which is detrimental to the safety and operability of the turbine engine T. . Referring to fig. 2, A second configuration is shown that proposes to offset the pump 101 as close as possible to the low temperature tank RC, i.e. in the aircraft baseline REF-A, in order to reduce the size in the turbine engine baseline REF-T. The fuel Q is compressed at high pressure and low temperature in a delivery pipe 100' connecting the pump 101 with the exchanger 102. Similar to the previous case, the delivery tube 100' must be thermally insulated and must also be mechanically reinforced to withstand the high pressure of the fuel Q. In both configurations, since the temperature of the fuel Q in the delivery pipe 100, 100' is very low, only helium may be used as purge gas or conditioning gas when the fuel Q leaks. Helium must be avoided for commercial aviation applications because such fluids are costly noble gases. In the prior art of patent application EP3623604A1, a military propulsion turbine intended to operate at very high speeds is known, which turbine comprises a heat exchanger configured to extract heat from the exhaust gases to supply it to the fuel flow. The present invention therefore aims to at least partially eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks by proposing a new fuel conditioning system. Disclosure of Invention The invention relates to a fuel regulation system for supplying an aircraft turbine engine with fuel from a low-temperature tank, said regulation system comprising: -at least one pumping turbine comprising a pump and a turbine configured to drive the pump, the pump being configured to take fuel from a low temperature tank and circulate the fuel from upstream to downstream in a fuel circuit comprising a supply outlet of the turbine engine, the turbine being mounted in the fuel circuit to drive the turbine in rotation by the circulatio