IP Library Granted Patent US 12,416,408
Granted Patent B2
US 12,416,408 · App. 18/673,532 · Granted Sep 16, 2025

Combustor size rating for a gas turbine engine using hydrogen fuel

Inventors: Michael A. Benjamin (Cincinnati, OH); Manampathy G. Giridharan (Mason, OH)
Assignee: General Electric Company
F23R3/14F02C3/22
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,416,408
App. No.
18/673,532
Granted
Sep 16, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A gas turbine engine includes a hydrogen fuel delivery assembly configured to deliver a hydrogen fuel flow, a compressor section configured to compress air flowing therethrough to provide a compressed air flow, and a combustor including a combustion chamber having a burner length and a burner dome height. The combustion chamber is configured to combust a mixture of the hydrogen fuel flow and the compressed air flow. The combustion chamber can be characterized by a combustor size rating between one inch and seven inches. In more detail, the combustion chamber can be characterized by the combustor size rating between one inch and seven inches at a core air flow parameter between two and one half kN and sixty kN, in which the combustor size rating is a function of the core air flow parameter.

Claims (32)

1. A gas turbine engine comprising:

a hydrogen fuel delivery assembly configured to deliver a hydrogen fuel flow;

a compressor section configured to compress air flowing therethrough to provide a compressed air flow; and

a combustor section including a fuel nozzle assembly and a combustor configured to operate without diluent and including an inner liner, outer liner, and a combustion chamber, and the combustion chamber characterized by a combustor size rating between one inch and seven inches at a core air flow parameter between two and one half kN and sixty kN,

wherein the combustor size rating is a function of the core air flow parameter, and

wherein the combustor size rating is defined by:

L

2

H

wherein H is a maximum height of the combustion chamber measured by a forward line extending from an inner surface of the outer liner to an inner surface of the inner liner and L is a length measured from a midpoint of the forward line to a midpoint of an aft line, the aft line extending from the inner surface of the inner liner to the inner surface of the outer liner at a leading edge of a turbine nozzle,

and, wherein the core air flow parameter is defined by:

Thrust

Bypass

Ratio

and, the fuel nozzle assembly comprising:

a fuel nozzle defining a longitudinal axis and a radial axis orthogonal thereto, and the fuel nozzle including a fuel passage terminating at an outlet, the fuel nozzle including a nozzle tip; and

a nozzle cap including a set of openings and provided within the fuel passage, wherein at least one opening of the set of openings has a centerline oriented at a tangential angle relative to the radial axis.

2. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the combustor size rating is between two inches and three and one quarter inches at a core air flow parameter between two and one half kN and fifty kN.

3. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the combustor size rating is based on a thrust of the gas turbine engine.

4. The gas turbine engine of claim 3 , wherein the thrust is between sixty kN and five hundred kN.

5. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the set of openings are arranged into rows defined circumferentially relative to the longitudinal axis.

6. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the at least one opening includes another opening at a center of the nozzle cap, wherein the centerline of the another opening is oriented at zero degrees relative to the longitudinal axis.

7. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , further comprising a nozzle lip defined between the nozzle cap and the nozzle tip.

8. The gas turbine engine of claim 7 , wherein the nozzle lip includes an axial portion and a diverging portion.

9. The gas turbine engine of claim 7 , wherein the nozzle tip defines a lip length and the fuel nozzle defines a nozzle diameter, and a ratio of lip length to nozzle diameter is less than five.

10. The gas turbine engine of claim 7 , wherein the nozzle tip defines a lip length and each opening of the set of openings defines an opening diameter, and a ratio of lip length to opening diameter is between less than or equal to fifty.

11. The gas turbine engine of claim 7 , wherein the nozzle lip includes a first diverging portion defined on an exterior surface of the fuel nozzle, a second diverging portion defined on an interior surface of the fuel nozzle, or a combination thereof.

12. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , wherein the nozzle cap is curved as concave or convex relative to a flow direction through the fuel passage.

13. The gas turbine engine of claim 1 , further comprising a central passage extending within the fuel passage and extending through the nozzle cap.

14. The gas turbine engine of claim 5 , wherein the set of openings include the at least one opening and multiple openings, wherein the multiple openings include a respective centerline and a respective radius axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, wherein each of the multiple openings of the set of openings have a respective tangential angle measured between the respective radius axis and the respective centerline.

15. The gas turbine engine of claim 14 , wherein the respective tangential angle of the multiple openings of the set of openings increases as a radial distance from the longitudinal axis increases.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 24, 2024
From: BENJAMIN, MICHAEL A.; GIRIDHARAN, MANAMPATHY G.
To: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
Reel/Frame 067517/0160 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation In Part 17457559 · Dec 3, 2021
Related Publication 20240310048A1 · Sep 19, 2024
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