EP4193049A1

EP4193049A1 - Heat engine with steam supply device

Info

Publication number: EP4193049A1
Application number: EP21765831.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Hermann Klingels; Oliver Schmitz
Original assignee: MTU Aero Engines AG
Current assignee: MTU Aero Engines AG
Priority date: 2020-08-05
Filing date: 2021-08-02
Publication date: 2023-06-14
Also published as: WO2022028652A1; US20230286661A1; WO2022028653A1; DE102021202602A1; DE102021201627A1; US12060830B2; EP4193048A1; DE102021201629A1; US20230366349A1; WO2022028651A1; DE112021004156A5; US20230332522A1; EP4193047A1; US11965462B2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a heat engine (1), in particular an aircraft engine (3), having a first compressor (10) for supplying a combustion chamber (11) of the heat engine (1) with air and a first turbine (12) arranged downstream of the combustion chamber (11) for driving the first compressor (10), wherein the heat engine also has at least one steam supply line (24) for supplying steam from a steam source (25) into the combustion chamber (11). The heat engine (1) also has a steam supply device (2), which has a second compressor (20) and is designed to compress the working gas further by means of the second compressor (20) as a function of a mass flow conducted through the steam supply line (24), before said working gas flows into the combustion chamber (11).

Description

Heat engine with steam supply device

The present invention relates to a heat engine which has a first compressor for supplying at least one combustion chamber of the heat engine with air, a first turbine for driving the first compressor and a steam supply device for supplying steam to the combustion chamber, an aircraft, in particular an airplane, with the heat engine and a Method of operating the heat engine.

WO 2019/223823 A1 discloses an aircraft propulsion system that represents a combination of a gas turbine cycle and a steam turbine cycle in one machine. In a steam generator arranged downstream of the turbine, steam is generated by means of exhaust gas energy, which is then fed to the area of the combustion chamber of the machine. The higher mass flow in the turbine due to the addition of steam results in an increase in output, and the efficiency of the gas turbine is improved by the heat recovery. After flowing through the steam generator, the moist exhaust gas passes through other components that serve to separate the water from the exhaust gas so that it is available for steam generation.

With an increasing proportion of steam in the working gas of the gas turbine, its specific output and also its thermal efficiency increase. Especially when a gas turbine with steam injection (as in WO 2019/223823 A1) is provided as an aircraft engine, a high proportion of steam in the working gas is therefore desirable. This allows a very high specific power to be achieved, which means that the size and weight of the components through which the working gas flows can be kept small.

At the same time, stable operation with little steam and even without steam should be possible, for example when starting or shutting down the machine, at very low partial loads or in the event of a fault when the steam system is not supplying any steam. the The machine should therefore be able to be operated both as a pure gas turbine and as a combination of gas turbine and steam turbine.

At important operating points (takeoff, climb, cruise), for example, a supply of approx. 30% by mass of steam can be aimed for. If one ignores the air mass flow branched off from the compressor for cooling purposes and the fuel mass flow fed into the combustion chamber, then in this case the mass flow of the turbine is about 30% greater than that of the compressor. At operating points without steam, the mass flow of the turbine is similar to that of the compressor. The turbine mass flow varies considerably because of the steam supply.

The narrowest cross-section in the flow channel of an engine downstream of the combustion chamber is usually the guide vane in front of the high-pressure turbine (directly downstream of the combustion chamber). As the pressure gradient across the turbine cascade increases, its Ab flow number increases and finally reaches the supersonic range. In this state, the speed of sound is reached in the narrowest cross-section of the blading and the cascade begins to block. This means that its maximum reduced mass flow rate is reached. The reduced mass flow that is achieved in the blocking state is called capacity and is directly related to the narrowest flow area. The capacity is therefore a fixed value that belongs to a turbine, which does not change between the operating points. In a conventional engine, the flow through the high-pressure turbine is critical over almost the entire operating range. At a given total pressure p and total temperature T, the natural mass throughput m no longer changes. The turbine therefore determines the mass throughput.

As described above, with a drive concept provided according to the invention, for example up to 30% additional mass flow of steam in the area be introduced into the combustion chamber. This would lead to the working point or the working line in the map of the upstream compressor being subject to strong fluctuations. With large amounts of steam, the compressor would be severely throttled, which would result in the risk of an unstable condition, the so-called "surge". Conversely, if no steam were supplied, the compressor would be de-throttled, which would cause the operating point in the map to drop In this working range, the pressure build-up would then be lower and the efficiencies significantly worse.

Designing the compressor for these conditions using conventional methods (e.g. using variable guide vanes in the compressor) is difficult and has many disadvantages. A great deal of variable geometry would be required and yet the difficulties of operating near the surge line or operating at low pressure build-up and poor compressor efficiency would still exist.

Another possibility to keep the position of the working line in the compressor map constant could be achieved by introducing a turbine with variable capacity. The disadvantage would be the high complexity and the strongly negative influence on the turbine efficiency.

Against this background, the object of the invention is to improve a heat engine with steam supply and its operation.

This object is achieved by a heat engine with the features of claim 1. Claims 12 and 13 protect an aircraft with a heat engine described here and a method for operating a heat engine described here. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a heat engine, in particular an aircraft engine, has at least a first compressor for supplying a combustion chamber of the heat engine with air and one downstream of the Combustion chamber arranged first turbine or high-pressure turbine for driving the first compressor. In other words, the heat engine has the typical main components of a gas turbine, namely a gas expansion turbine, an upstream first compressor and a combustion chamber in between, in which a fuel (e.g. kerosene or hydrogen) is burned. According to the present invention, the heat engine additionally has at least one steam supply line for supplying steam from a steam source into the combustion chamber and a steam supply device. The steam supply device comprises a second compressor arranged downstream of the first compressor and is set up to further compress the air delivered by the first compressor at least temporarily as a function of a steam mass flow conducted through the steam supply line before it enters the combustion chamber. In particular, the second compressor can be arranged upstream of the combustion chamber as the last/most downstream compressor stage^). Preferably, the steam supply device can be designed to operate the second compressor in such a way that when the supply of steam into the combustion chamber is increased, the latter causes a higher compression of the air and vice versa. More preferably, the steam supply device can be designed not to operate or to shut down the second compressor when no steam is supplied to the combustion chamber.

The vapor supply device can preferably be set up to drive the second compressor in such a way that the throttling state of the first compressor does not change when vapor is supplied, i.e. the stationary working line in the compressor characteristic map remains unchanged. The position of the working line is therefore independent of the amount of steam supplied. This means that if there is a change in mass flow at the outlet of the combustion chamber due to the supply of steam, the air pressure can be increased proportionally by the second compressor. For example, if no steam is supplied, there is no additional compression by the second compressor. With 10% steam supply into the combustion chamber (i.e. a mass flow

. ... . to the combustion chamber. .. , . > ... .. . . . .

Ratio - - « 1.1), the second compressor can be driven in front of the combustion chamber in such a way that it achieves a pressure ratio of 1.1 with steam supply 30%, the second compressor can be operated to achieve a pressure ratio of 1.3, etc.

In other words, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the engine can be operated in different operating states with different steam proportions in the mass flow from the combustion chamber. The steam supply device can be set up and designed in such a way that it operates the second compressor in such a way that the working line or the respective working point in the first compressor between two different operating states (e.g. 0% steam proportion and 20% steam proportion) by a maximum of 10%, in particular deviates by a maximum of 5%, in one version by a maximum of 1%, of the assigned pressure ratio and is identical in one version.

The present invention is based on the following idea: compared to the (higher) supply of steam in a first operating state. In a second operating state, the actual mass flow into and at the outlet of the combustion chamber or entry into at least one turbine is increased. Appropriate design and operation of the steam supply device and in particular the second compressor can at least partially compensate for this higher mass flow in terms of design and operation or the heat engine can be designed for both operating states at the same time, i.e. equally well in both operating states, in particular with advantageous efficiencies , low risk of compressor pumps.

Since the second compressor is not driven by a turbine downstream of the combustion chamber in the flow channel, its pressure increase can be decoupled from the engine core mass flow and the degree of compression can be flexibly adapted to the steam content and the external conditions.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the steam supply device can further have a steam turbine for driving the second compressor. In this case, at least part of the steam from the steam supply line is preferably passed through the steam turbine and relaxed in this before it enters the Combustion chamber flows. In this case, the second compressor and the steam turbine can preferably be seated on a common shaft. However, it is also possible to feed the output of the steam turbine into the second compressor in some other way, for example via a gearbox.

Driving the second compressor by the steam turbine or its drive power results in a self-regulating system, since the turbine is driven more with a higher steam mass flow, which in turn causes higher compression and thus levels the throttling condition of the upstream first compressor.

According to a further preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, the steam source can comprise an evaporator or heat exchanger which is set up to evaporate water with the exhaust gas heat of the heat engine. Corresponding systems are known, for example, from WO2019/223823 A or WO2020187345 A1, which are hereby incorporated into the description by reference. Briefly, a condenser can be used to recover water from the exhaust plume of the heat engine, which is then pumped into an evaporator where the water is vaporized, or supercritically heated, for delivery to the combustor (and steam turbine).

According to a further preferred aspect of the invention, part of the steam can flow from the steam supply line through the steam turbine and another part of the steam can be guided past the steam turbine into the combustion chamber via a bypass line. The power recovered from the exhaust heat during evaporation can significantly exceed the demand of the second compressor. By diverting part of the steam flow for the steam turbine (while the rest of the steam is routed past the turbine into the combustor), the steam supply device can, if designed appropriately, ensure that the pressure increase at the second compressor is proportional to the mass flow increase due to the steam supply. According to a further preferred aspect of the invention, the supply of steam into the steam turbine can be regulated by a steam control valve. This allows an even more flexible adjustment of the turbine output. Under certain circumstances, an operating mode can be desired in which the pressure change is temporarily not proportional to the change in mass flow due to the steam supply. If, for example, the heat engine is operated with increased temperature at the outlet of the combustion chamber when accelerating, it can be advantageous to increase the compressor output of the second compressor or its pressure ratio in order to lower the working line in the first compressor and thus reliably prevent dangerous compressor pumping. The steam control valve can preferably control a mass flow ratio between the steam turbine and the bypass line.

According to a further preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, the second compressor and/or the steam turbine can be arranged non-coaxially to the first compressor. The compressor and the steam turbine can preferably run on their own shaft, which is offset from the shaft of the first compressor. A staggered arrangement has the advantage that the compressor can be designed with a comparatively small hub ratio and thus with large blade heights. In addition, the turbomachine part of the aircraft engine can be built axially shorter.

According to a further preferred aspect of the invention, the heat engine can have at least one third compressor for supplying the combustion chamber and/or a fan (propulsor) and/or at least one further turbine, in particular for driving the third compressor and/or fans. More preferably, the fan can be connected to the shaft of the additional turbine via a (reduction) gear. In other words, the heat engine described above can form the core engine of an aircraft engine and can be supplemented by a fan, a low-pressure turbine and possibly another compressor module.

According to a further preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, the heat engine can have a second steam turbine through which steam from the steam supply line also flows. The power of the second steam turbine can be fed into a shaft of the heat engine or into an auxiliary unit. The reason for this is that the power recovered from the heat of the exhaust gas during the evaporation can exceed the demand of the second compressor. In order to use this excess power, it can be used in a second (third, fourth..) steam turbine for other purposes.

Further advantageous developments of the present invention result from the dependent claims and the following description of preferred embodiments. This shows, partially schematized:

1 shows a heat engine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 shows a heat engine according to a further embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 1 shows schematically a heat engine 1, which is based on the basic principle of the invention. The problem of the large working point or working line shift in the compressor 10 when steam is supplied from a steam source 25 to the combustion chamber 11 is solved by the heat engine 1 with a steam supply device 2 . The main components of the steam supply device 2 are a second compressor 20 which is driven by a steam turbine 21 .

Air that is conveyed by the compressor 10 of the heat engine 1 is routed to the compressor 20 of the vapor supply device 2 . The steam turbine 21 feeds its power into the compressor 20 and this is designed in such a way that the pressure increase is proportional to the change in mass flow due to the steam. There is thus a self-regulating mechanism which ensures that the position of the working line in the compressors located upstream does not change or does not change significantly when steam is fed into the combustion chamber 11 . That is to say, without steam being supplied to the steam turbine, the compressor 20 is not driven and also does not cause any increase in pressure. If steam is supplied, for example 30% of the air mass flow, so much power is fed in that the compressor achieves a pressure ratio of Pi=1.3. In In other words, the steam supply device 2 is designed such that when the mass flow in the turbine is 30% higher than the mass flow in the compressor, the second compressor 20 also increases the pressure in front of the combustion chamber by 30%.

In the example shown, it is accepted that the air conveyed by the first compressor 10 flows through the compressor 20 in steam-free operation. This causes pressure losses, which are not relevant, however, since these operating points are low partial load points.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the exhaust gas energy of the heat engine 1 is used to vaporize water, which is pumped by a feedwater pump 26 to the steam source 25, in this case to a steam generator (an evaporator/heat exchanger), and then passed through the steam line 24 to the steam turbine 21. The steam is brought to a pressure which is much higher than the pressure in the combustion chamber 11 . This increases the usable heat gradient. After the steam has expanded in the steam turbine 21 , the pressure in the exhaust steam line 23 must be greater than or at least equal to the pressure in the combustion chamber 11 .

The energy flow in the steam supply line 24 is greater than the power requirement for driving the compressor 20. Therefore, the steam turbine 21 is only supplied with as much steam that the power is sufficient to achieve the desired pressure increase in the compressor 20. The remaining steam is routed directly to the combustion chamber 11 via a bypass line 22 .

The air from the compressor 20 and the exhaust steam from the steam turbine 21 can be fed directly to the combustion chamber 11; it is also possible to mix both streams completely or partially beforehand. In the combustion chamber, the incoming air and vapor are mixed with fuel (K). The high-energy working gas produced by the combustion is expanded in the turbines 12 and 13. FIG. 2 shows an exemplary aircraft engine 3 with the heat engine 1 shown in FIG. 1 with the steam supply device 2 and some useful extensions. One could also say that the heat engine 1 of FIG. 1 forms the core engine of the aircraft engine 3 (with some slight adjustments). Elements with the same function have the same reference numbers as in Fig. 1.

A propulsor is added, in the example shown a fan 30, which is driven by a low-pressure turbine 13, optionally via an intermediate gearbox 31. Also optionally, a further compressor (low-pressure compressor or booster) 32 can be arranged in the direction of flow between the fan 30 and the first compressor 10 .

The steam supply device 2 is arranged in FIGS. 1 and 2 next to or offset from the main axis of the heat engine 1 or the aircraft engine 3 . It is basically irrelevant whether the arrangement is parallel, diagonal or transverse. In an alternative embodiment not shown here, a coaxial arrangement would also be conceivable. Since an engine with steam in the working gas achieves a very high specific power, the air mass flow for the compressors is low. With a coaxial arrangement of the steam supply device 2, this would result in very small blade heights in the compressor 20. This would result in high gap losses and the risk of pumping. The offset arrangement has the great advantage that the compressor 20 can be designed with a small hub ratio and thus with large blade heights. In addition, the turbomachine part of the aircraft engine can be built axially short.

As described above, the energy flow in the steam supply line 24 is greater than the power requirement for driving the compressor 20. For this reason, it can be advantageous to reduce the excess energy in an (optional) second steam turbine 28. In Fig. 2 a possible embodiment is shown schematically. The second steam turbine 28 is arranged here coaxially to the engine axis and feeds its power into a shaft of the aircraft engine via an optional second gearbox 27 . In the illustration, the steam turbine 28 is connected in series with the steam turbine 21, ie the steam from the steam source 25 (here the Steam generator) first flows through the second steam turbine 28 and then through the first steam turbine 21. A parallel connection of the steam turbines 21, 28 (not shown) is also conceivable. Instead of feeding power into an engine shaft, the steam turbine 28 could also be used to drive ancillary units or, for example, a generator.

The heat engine from FIG. 1 shows how the position of the working line of the working point in the compressor map can be kept constant by the steam supply device. With an appropriate design, the steam supply device 2 can also be used to specifically influence the position of the operating point. A steam control valve 29 is integrated into the steam supply line 24 for this purpose. With the steam control valve 29, the amount of steam of the steam turbine 21 can be varied. With an unchanged vapor mass flow to the combustion chamber, the pressure build-up in the compressor 20 can thus be regulated. The greater the bypass quantity, the lower the pressure build-up in the compressor 20, as a result of which the compressor 10 is throttled and its operating point moves in the direction of the surge limit. With a lower bypass quantity, exactly the opposite behavior.

This can be a great operational advantage, e.g. when accelerating the engine, the working line in the compressor map can be lowered and "pumping" can be prevented The dynamic behavior can be improved by influencing the operating points in the compressor map.

Reference List

1 heat engine

2 steam supply device

3 aircraft engine

10 first compressor (high-pressure compressor)

11 combustion chamber

12 first turbine (high pressure turbine / HPT)

13 more turbine (low-pressure turbine / NDT)

20 second compressor

21 steam turbine

22 bypass line

23 exhaust line

24 steam supply line

25 steam source / steam generator

26 feed water pump

27 second gear

28 second steam turbine

29 steam control valve

30 fans

31 gears

32 low-pressure compressor (NDV)

K fuel

Claims

patent claims

1. Heat engine (1), in particular an aircraft engine (3), with a first compressor (10) for supplying a combustion chamber (11) of the heat engine (1) with air and a first turbine (12) arranged downstream of the combustion chamber (11) for driving of the first compressor (10), the heat engine further comprising at least one steam supply line (24) for supplying steam from a steam source (25) into the combustion chamber (11), characterized by a steam supply device (2) which has a downstream of the first compressor ( 10) arranged second compressor (20) and which is set up to operate the second compressor (20) in such a way that it further compresses the air at least temporarily, depending on a mass flow conducted through the vapor supply line (24), before it flows into the combustion chamber (11).

2. Heat engine (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the steam supply device (2) is set up, at least in a first operating mode, to operate the second compressor (20) in such a way that the pressure increase of the air is proportional to the change in mass flow through the Combustion chamber (11) is fed steam.

3. Heat engine (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the steam supply device (2) is set up, at least in a second operating mode, to operate the second compressor (20) in such a way that the pressure increase in the air is not proportional to the change in mass flow through the steam fed into the combustion chamber (11), in particular the pressure increases more than an increase in the mass flow.

4. Heat engine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the steam supply device (2) also has a steam turbine (21) for driving the second compressor (20) and at least part of the steam from the steam supply line (24) through the Steam turbine (21) is directed and relaxed in this before it flows into the combustion chamber (11).

5. Heat engine (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the steam source (25) comprises an evaporator or heat exchanger (25) which is set up to evaporate water with the exhaust gas heat of the heat engine (1) and / or to heat supercritically.

6. heat engine (1) according to claim 5, characterized by a water recovery system for recovering condensed water from the exhaust gas of the heat engine with at least one second heat exchanger.

7. Heat engine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that part of the steam from the steam supply line (24) flows through the steam turbine (21) and another part of the steam via a bypass line (22) to the steam turbine (21 ) is passed into the combustion chamber (11).

8. Heat engine (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a steam control valve (29) which regulates the supply of steam into the steam turbine (21), in particular a mass flow ratio between the steam turbine (21) and bypass line (22).

9. Heat engine (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second compressor (20) and / or the steam turbine (21) is not arranged coaxially to the first compressor (10) / are.

10. Heat engine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by at least one third compressor (32) and/or fan (30) for supplying the combustion chamber and/or by at least one further turbine (13), in particular for driving the further compressor and/or Fans, in particular via a gear (10).

11. Heat engine according to one of claims 4 to 10, characterized by a second steam turbine (28), which is flowed through by steam from the steam supply line (24) and feeds the power into a shaft of the heat engine or into an auxiliary unit. 15

12. Aircraft, characterized by at least one heat engine according to one of claims 1 to 11.

13. Method for operating a heat engine according to one of claims 1 to 11, wherein at least temporarily steam is fed into the combustion chamber (11) via the steam supply line (24) and the second compressor (20) is operated as a function of the steam mass flow supplied in order to to compress the air further.