US 12,326,118 B2
Gas turbine engines with a fuel cell assembly
Paul Hadley Vitt, Liberty Township, OH (US); Matteo Renato Usseglio, Turin (IT); and Brian Lewis Devendorf, Georgetown, MA (US)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Evendale, OH (US); and GE Avio S.r.l., Rivalta di Torino (IT)
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US); and GE Avio S.r.l., Rivalta di Torino (IT)
Filed on Sep. 16, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/946,499.
Prior Publication US 2024/0093644 A1, Mar. 21, 2024
Int. Cl. F02C 7/22 (2006.01); B64D 41/00 (2006.01); F02C 6/00 (2006.01); F02C 6/10 (2006.01); F02K 3/072 (2006.01)
CPC F02C 7/22 (2013.01) [F02C 6/00 (2013.01); F02C 6/10 (2013.01); B64D 2041/005 (2013.01); F02K 3/072 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An aircraft engine comprising:
a compressor section comprising a compressor;
a turbine section downstream of the compressor section, the turbine section including a turbine having turbine blades arranged in counter rotating stages, the turbine blades including one or more stages of first-direction turbine blades and a single stage of second-direction turbine blades located downstream of the first-direction turbine blades, wherein the single stage of second-direction turbine blades is directly downstream of the first-direction turbine blades and is the only stage of second direction turbine blades of the turbine, and wherein a first shaft couples the one or more stages of first-direction turbine blades to a gearbox and a second shaft couples the single stage of second-direction turbine blades to the gearbox;
one or more fluid supply lines;
a fuel cell assembly fluidly coupled to the one or more fluid supply lines for receiving one or more input fluids, the fuel cell assembly in fluid communication with the turbine section to provide one or more output products to the turbine section; and
a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the turbine downstream of the counter rotating stages of turbine blades to receive exhaust gases from the turbine, the heat exchanger thermally coupled to the one or more fluid supply lines of the fuel cell assembly.