Methods and apparatus for cooling gas turbine rotor blades

Methods and apparatus for cooling rotor blades of a gas turbine are provided. The turbine blade has an airfoil connected to the platform and a dovetail extending from the platform. A main cooling circuit extends through the dovetail and into the airfoil. The main cooling circuit includes an exit for...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Itzel, Gary Michael, Jacala, Ariel Caesar Prepena, Lewis, Doyle C, Sims, Calvin Levy
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 07.04.2009
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Summary:Methods and apparatus for cooling rotor blades of a gas turbine are provided. The turbine blade has an airfoil connected to the platform and a dovetail extending from the platform. A main cooling circuit extends through the dovetail and into the airfoil. The main cooling circuit includes an exit for main cooling flow from the airfoil to exit out through the dovetail. In one aspect, the method includes the steps of extracting a portion of the coolant flowing through the main cooling circuit into a platform cooling circuit. After cooling a portion of the platform, the platform cooling flow splits with one portion of the flow rejoining the main cooling circuit and is used to cool the airfoil. The rest of the platform cooling flow continues to cool the platform and then returns to the main cooling circuit to flow through the exit.