Gas turbine engine with liquid metal cooling
View Patent ↗A gas turbine engine with a closed loop liquid metal cooling fluid system for cooling stator vanes within the turbine, in which the stator vanes include a liquid metal cooling passage lined with Tantalum or Molybdenum and a liquid metal cooling fluid of Bismuth or Lead or Zinc or Tin or alloy mixtures of these metals.
1. An industrial size gas turbine engine comprising:
a compressor;
a turbine rotatably connected to the compressor;
a combustor to receive compressed air from the compressor and produce a hot gas flow that enters the turbine;
a first stage turbine stator vane of the industrial size gas turbine engine made from a base material of either a ferrous alloy, a nickel alloy or a cobalt alloy;
a closed loop liquid metal cooling circuit passing through the first stage turbine stator vane to provide cooling;
a heat exchanger to transfer heat from the first stage turbine stator vane and into the compressed air entering the combustor;
the closed loop liquid metal cooling circuit within the first stage turbine stator vane having a liner made substantially of Molybdenum or Tantalum to prevent contact of the liquid metal with the base material of the first stage turbine stator vane; and,
the liquid metal cooling fluid includes Bismuth or Lead.
2. The industrial size gas turbine engine of claim 1 , and further comprising:
the closed loop liquid metal cooling circuit also passes through a second stage stator vane to provide cooling.
3. The industrial size gas turbine engine of claim 1 , and further comprising:
the liquid metal cooling fluid passage within the vane includes an insert secured within the first stage turbine stator vane.