POCKETED AIR AND FUEL MIXING TUBE

• Main Authors: PARSANIA NISHANT GOVINDBHAI, BOARDMAN GREGORY ALLEN
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 03.11.2011
• Subjects: AIR INTAKES FOR JET-PROPULSION PLANTS; BLASTING; COMBUSTION APPARATUS; COMBUSTION ENGINES; COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL; COMBUSTION PROCESSES; CONTROLLING FUEL SUPPLY IN AIR-BREATHING JET-PROPULSION PLANTS; GAS-TURBINE PLANTS; GENERATING COMBUSTION PRODUCTS OF HIGH PRESSURE OR HIGHVELOCITY, e.g. GAS-TURBINE COMBUSTION CHAMBERS; HEATING; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS; INTERNAL-COMBUSTION PISTON ENGINES; LIGHTING; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; WEAPONS

An improved mixing tube design and fuel nozzle that allows for a more uniform and thorough mixing of fuel and air being fed to the combustor of a gas turbine engine, wherein each of a plurality of mixing tubes comprises a pair of concentric hollow cylinders that define a ring-like, annular path for the flow of fuel between the two hollow cylinders in each mixing tube, a plurality of air injection slots formed in the concentric hollow cylinders defining corresponding air flow paths from the outside into the interior of each mixing tube, and one or more fuel injection ports formed in selected ones of the plurality of air injection slots that allow for the flow of fuel from the annular path formed by the hollow cylinders into the air flow path, resulting in significantly better mixing and improved thermodynamic behavior of the fuel and air mixture downstream of the nozzle and upstream of the combustor.