US-12618362-B2 - Methods and apparatus to provide cross-diffuser bleed

Abstract

Systems, apparatus, articles of manufacture, and methods to provide for cross-diffuser bleed are provided herein. An example gas turbine engine includes a frame defining a cavity in a forward side of a diffuser of the gas turbine engine; a compressor including the diffuser, the diffuser defining a primary flow path to provide air flow to a combustor and including at least one conduit, the at least one conduit fluidly coupled to the cavity; and a downstream sink fluidly coupled to the cavity via the at least one conduit defining at least a portion of a bleed air path.

Inventors

• Edward James Walton
• Keith W. Wilkinson
• Michael Macrorie
• Caitlin Jeanne Smythe Almeida
• Michael T. Hogan
• Elizabeth Bennett

Assignees

• GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20240719

Claims (17)

1. 1 . A gas turbine engine, comprising: a frame defining a cavity in a forward side of a diffuser of the gas turbine engine; a compressor including the diffuser, the diffuser defining a primary flow path to provide air flow to a combustor, wherein the primary flow path includes at least one diffuser vane including a first conduit and a second conduit, the first conduit and the second conduit fluidly coupled to the cavity, and wherein the first conduit has a greater cross-sectional area than the second conduit; and a downstream sink fluidly coupled to the cavity via the first conduit and the second conduit defining at least a portion of a bleed air path.
2. 2 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , further including at least one passage fluidly coupled to the first conduit, the second conduit, and the downstream sink.
3. 3 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , further including a tube coupled to the diffuser, the tube fluidly coupled to the cavity via the first conduit and the second conduit.
4. 4 . The gas turbine engine of claim 3 , further including a port, wherein the tube extends through an entrance of the port to be fluidly connected to the downstream sink.
5. 5 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein a shape of a cross-section of the first conduit and/or the second conduit is one of circular, elliptical, or rectangular, respectively.
6. 6 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the compressor is a centrifugal compressor and wherein the bleed air path is located internal to the gas turbine engine.
7. 7 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the downstream sink is a first downstream sink and the bleed air path is a first bleed air path, the gas turbine engine further including a second downstream sink fluidly coupled to at least one more of the first conduit and the second conduit and a second bleed air path, wherein a first portion of a bleed air is to travel from the cavity to the first downstream sink via the first bleed air path and a second portion of bleed air is to travel from the cavity to the second downstream sink via the second the bleed air path.
8. 8 . The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the cavity receives bleed air from a flow path supplying the air flow to the primary flow path.
9. 9 . A diffuser for routing a bleed air within a gas turbine engine, the diffuser comprising: an inner shell; an outer shell; and a plurality of surfaces between the inner shell and the outer shell, the plurality of surfaces defining a plurality of discrete passageways, a first conduit and a second conduit positioned between directly consecutive passageways of the plurality of discrete passageways, the first conduit and the second conduit fluidly connected to a cavity positioned on a first side of the diffuser, and the first conduit and the second conduit fluidly connected to a downstream sink positioned on a second side of the diffuser, the first conduit and the second conduit defining at least a portion of a bleed air path, and the first conduit has a greater cross-sectional area than the second conduit.
10. 10 . The diffuser of claim 9 , wherein the first conduit and the second conduit are fluidly coupled to the downstream sink via at least one passage.
11. 11 . The diffuser of claim 9 , wherein the diffuser is coupled to a tube on the second side of the diffuser.
12. 12 . The diffuser of claim 9 , wherein a shape of a cross-section of the first conduit and/or the second conduit is one of circular, elliptical, or rectangular, respectively.
13. 13 . The diffuser of claim 9 , wherein the diffuser is additively manufactured.
14. 14 . The diffuser of claim 9 , wherein the downstream sink is a first downstream sink, the first conduit and the second conduit are between first directly consecutive passageways and a third conduit is between second directly consecutive passageways of the plurality of discrete passageways, a first portion of the bleed air to pass from the cavity to the first downstream sink via the first conduit and the second conduit and a second portion of the bleed air to pass from the cavity to a second downstream sink via the third conduit.
15. 15 . The diffuser of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of discrete passageways provide a primary flow path supplying air to a combustor.
16. 16 . The diffuser of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of surfaces is a plurality of surfaces of diffuser vanes, the first conduit and the second conduit positioned in at least one of the plurality of surfaces of diffuser vanes.
17. 17 . A bleed air system for an aircraft, the bleed air system comprising: a frame defining a cavity; a diffuser to provide air to a combustor via a primary flow path, the diffuser including: at least one diffuser vane in the primary flow path; and a first conduit and a second conduit in the at least one diffuser vane, the first conduit and the second conduit fluidly coupled to the cavity, the first conduit and the second conduit defining at least a portion of a bleed air path through the at least one diffuser vane, the first conduit has a greater cross-sectional area than the second conduit; a passage coupled to the first conduit and the second conduit at a first end of the passage; and a downstream sink coupled to the passage at a second end of the passage, the downstream sink fluidly coupled to the cavity via the first conduit, the second conduit, and the passage.

Description

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates generally to diffuser assemblies and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus to provide cross-diffuser bleed. BACKGROUND Typical aircraft propulsion systems include one or more gas turbine engines. For certain propulsion systems, the gas turbine engines generally include a fan and a core arranged in flow communication with one another. Additionally, the core of the gas turbine engine generally includes, in serial flow order, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. In operation, air is provided from the fan to an inlet of the compressor section where one or more axial compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Compressed air exiting the compressor section of the gas turbine engine typically has a high velocity. However, a typical combustion section of a gas turbine engine requires a high pressure, low velocity airflow to reduce the likelihood of flame-outs, to facilitate a stable and consistent burn, and to achieve an overall improved combustion process. Therefore, certain gas turbine engines include diffusers which are designed to recover the static pressure of compressed airflow by decreasing its velocity. Diffusers include a plurality of diffuser vanes to aid in reducing the velocity of the compressed airflow. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are routed from the combustion section to the turbine section. The flow of combustion gasses through the turbine section drives the turbine section and is then routed through the exhaust section, e.g., to atmosphere. A secondary purpose of the compressors, particularly the high-pressure compressor, is to provide bleed air (e.g., bleed) for use in other systems of the aircraft (e.g., cabin pressure, turbine cooling, air conditioning, sump pressurization, ice formation prevention, etc.). Bleed air is compressed air removed from the primary flow path in the compressor section, upstream of the fuel-burning sections of the gas turbine engine. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an example engine in which examples disclosed herein may be implemented. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of an example engine including an example bleed air system with an example diffuser in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the example diffuser of FIG. 2 in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the example diffuser of FIG. 2 taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 3 in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the diffuser of FIG. 2 taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 3 in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the diffuser of FIG. 2 taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 3 in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of another example bleed air system with another example diffuser in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another example bleed air system with another example diffuser in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another example bleed air system with another example diffuser in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of another embodiment of the diffuser of FIG. 2 in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 9 is a flowchart representative of an example process for routing bleed air within an engine using the diffuser of FIG. 2 in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. FIG. 10 is a flowchart representative of an example process of manufacturing the example diffuser of FIG. 2 in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts. The figures are not necessarily to scale. Instead, the thickness of the layers or regions may be enlarged in the drawings. Although the figures show layers and regions with clean lines and boundaries, some or all of these lines and/or boundaries may be idealized. In reality, the boundaries and/or lines may be unobservable, blended, and/or irregular. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific examples that may be practiced. These examples are described in sufficient detail to enable one skilled in the art to practice the subject matter, and it is to be understood that other examples may be utilized. The following detailed description is, therefore, provided to describ