US 12,221,905 B1
Turbine engine including a steam system
Arthur W. Sibbach, Boxford, MA (US); Robert R. Rachedi, Morrow, OH (US); Brandon W. Miller, Middletown, OH (US); Jeffrey D. Rambo, Mason, OH (US); and Daniel A. Niergarth, Norwood, OH (US)
Assigned to GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, Evendale, OH (US)
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
Filed on Aug. 7, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/366,256.
Int. Cl. F01K 21/04 (2006.01); F01K 7/16 (2006.01); F02C 6/00 (2006.01)
CPC F01K 21/047 (2013.01) [F01K 7/16 (2013.01); F02C 6/00 (2013.01); F05D 2220/72 (2013.01); F05D 2240/35 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A turbine engine for an aircraft, the turbine engine comprising:
a fan shaft coupled to a fan;
a combustor positioned in a core air flowpath that combusts compressed air and fuel to generate combustion gases;
a core shaft;
a turbine positioned downstream of the combustor to receive the combustion gases and to rotate the turbine, the turbine being drivingly coupled to the core shaft to rotate the core shaft when the turbine rotates, wherein rotation of the core shaft causes the fan shaft to rotate; and
a steam system that extracts water from the combustion gases, vaporizes the water to generate steam with a boiler, and injects the steam into the core air flowpath, the steam system comprising:
one or more water storage devices that store the water therein prior to the water vaporizing to generate the steam, the one or more water storage devices including an overflow drain fluidly coupled to at least one of a drain nozzle, a fan bypass nozzle, or one or more core exhaust nozzles, wherein the one or more water storage devices include a first state in which the water flows through the overflow drain and the at least one of the drain nozzle, the fan bypass nozzle, or the one or more core exhaust nozzles out of the turbine engine to increase or maintain a level of the water in the one or more water storage devices at a maximum water level as the water flows through the one or more water storage devices, and a second state in which an input of the water into the one or more water storage devices is less than an output of the water from the one or more water storage devices to the boiler such that the water is prevented from flowing through the overflow drain and the one or more water storage devices decrease the level of the water in the one or more water storage devices as the water flows through the one or more water storage devices to the boiler.