Impingement cooling system for a turbine blade

1. A turbine blade, comprising:

a generally elongated blade having a leading edge, a trailing edge, and a tip at a first end, a root coupled to the blade at an end generally opposite the first end for supporting the blade, at least one cavity forming a cooling system in the blade, and an outer wall defining the at least one cavity forming the cooling system;

wherein the cooling system comprises a leading edge cooling channel formed from pressure side cooling channels extending radially within the elongated blade and suction side cooling channels extending radially within the elongated blade and separated from the pressure side cooling channels by a rib;

wherein the pressure side cooling channels each include at least one impingement orifice providing a fluid pathway between the pressure side cooling channels and other portions of the cooling system; and

wherein the suction side cooling channels each include at least one impingement orifice providing a fluid pathway between the suction side cooling channels and other portions of the cooling system.

2. The turbine blade of claim 1 , further comprising at least one gill hole in the outer wall providing a fluid pathway between at least one of the suction side cooling channels and an outer surface of the turbine blade and positioned to exhaust a cooling fluid in a general downstream direction.

3. The turbine blade of claim 1 , further comprising at least one gill hole in the outer wall providing a fluid pathway between at least one of the pressure side cooling channels and an outer surface of the turbine blade and positioned to exhaust a cooling fluid in a general downstream direction.

4. The turbine blade of claim 1 , wherein the at least one impingement orifice in the suction side cooling channels comprises a filleted inlet and a filleted outlet.

5. The turbine blade of claim 1 , wherein the at least one impingement orifice in the pressure side cooling channels comprises a filleted inlet and a filleted outlet.

6. The turbine blade of claim 1 , wherein the at least one impingement orifice in the pressure side cooling channels is positioned proximate to the rib separating the pressure side cooling channels from the suction side cooling channels to pass cooling fluids along the rib to form a vortex.

7. The turbine blade of claim 1 , wherein the at least one impingement orifice in the suction side cooling channels is positioned proximate to the rib separating the pressure side cooling channels from the suction side cooling channel to pass cooling fluids along the rib to form a vortex.

8. The turbine blade of claim 1 , wherein the suction side cooling channels are offset from the pressure side cooling channels in a spanwise direction.

9. The turbine blade of claim 1 , wherein there are five suction side cooling channels and three pressure side cooling channels.

10. The turbine blade of claim 1 , wherein the at-least pressure side cooling channel channels comprise a plurality of channels aligned in a spanwise direction along the leading edge.

11. A turbine blade, comprising:

a generally elongated blade having a leading edge, a trailing edge, and a tip at a first end, a root coupled to the blade at an end generally opposite the first end for supporting the blade, at least one cavity forming a cooling system in the blade, and an outer wall defining the at least one cavity forming the cooling system;

wherein the cooling system comprises a leading edge cooling channel formed from a plurality of pressure side cooling channels extending radially within the elongated blade and a plurality of suction side cooling channels extending radially within the elongated blade, offset spanwise relative to the pressure side cooling channels, and separated from the pressure side cooling channel by a rib;

wherein the pressure side cooling channels include at least one impingement orifice providing a fluid pathway between the pressure side cooling channels and other portions of the cooling system; and

wherein the suction side cooling channels include at least one impingement orifice providing a fluid pathway between the suction side cooling channels and other portions of the cooling system.

12. The turbine blade of claim 11 , further comprising at least one gill hole in the outer wall providing a fluid pathway between at least one of the suction side cooling channels and an outer surface of the turbine blade.

13. The turbine blade of claim 12 , further comprising at least one gill hole in the outer wall providing a fluid pathway between at least one of the pressure side cooling channels and an outer surface of the turbine blade, wherein the gill holes in the suction side cooling channels and the pressure side cooling channels are positioned to exhaust a cooling fluid in a general downstream direction.

14. The turbine blade of claim 11 , wherein the at least one impingement orifice in the suction side cooling channels comprise a filleted inlet and a filleted outlet.

15. The turbine blade of claim 11 , wherein the at least one impingement orifice in the pressure side cooling channels comprise a filleted inlet and a filleted outlet.

16. The turbine blade of claim 11 , wherein the at least one impingement orifice in the pressure side cooling channel is positioned proximate to the rib separating the pressure side cooling channel from the suction side cooling channel to pass cooling fluids along the rib to form a vortex, and the at least one impingement orifice in the suction side cooling channel is positioned proximate to the rib separating the pressure side cooling channel from the suction side cooling channel to pass cooling fluids along the rib to form a vortex.

17. The turbine blade of claim 11 , wherein there are five suction side cooling channels and three pressure side cooling channels.