Patent ID: 11939913
Assignee: RTX CORPORATION
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  Y | IPC F

Claim 5:
6. A method comprising:
transferring heat from a turbine exhaust stream of a turbine engine in an open-loop configuration to an exhaust heat exchanger, the heat transfer resulting in a cooled turbine exhaust stream, wherein the turbine engine comprises a compressor section, a combustor section having a burner, a turbine section, and a nozzle in the open-loop configuration, and wherein the compressor section and the turbine section are mechanically coupled by a first shaft;
extracting heat from the exhaust heat exchanger into a bottoming-cycle apparatus comprising a bottoming-cycle compressor and a bottoming-cycle turbine coupled to a second shaft independent of the first shaft, wherein the bottoming-cycle turbine is arranged in a closed-loop configuration to expand a bottoming-cycle fluid and drive power to the second shaft after receiving heat transfer from the cooled turbine exhaust stream; and
compressing the cooled turbine exhaust stream to increase a pressure of the cooled turbine exhaust stream prior to exiting a nozzle of the turbine engine, wherein the cooled turbine exhaust stream is compressed by an exhaust compressor mechanically coupled to the turbine section by at least one shaft of the turbine engine.