Patent ID: 11940151
Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  Y | IPC F

Claim 17:
18. A method for controlling nitrogen oxides present within a combustor of a turbine engine, the method comprising:
injecting a fuel and a compressed air mixture into a combustion chamber of the combustor through a fuel injector, the combustion chamber extending between a first end and a second end downstream of the first end, the combustion chamber at least partially defined by a combustor liner comprising an inner liner and an outer liner;
mixing the compressed air and the fuel to define a fuel/air mixture;
igniting the fuel/air mixture in a primary zone of the combustion chamber to define a flame and to generate combustion gasses;
flowing the combustion gasses through the combustion chamber from a plurality of circumferentially spaced, discrete cups at the first end of the combustion chamber to a single annular geometry at the second end of the combustion chamber, wherein the discrete cups are fluidly coupled to each other by circumferentially spaced openings that gradually widen as the combustor liner extends from the first end of the combustion chamber to the second end of the combustion chamber;
and exhausting the combustion gasses at a combustor outlet,
wherein a first maximum radial distance between the outer liner and the inner liner is larger than the circumferentially spaced openings between adjacent discrete cups of the plurality of circumferentially spaced, discrete cups at the first end, and
wherein a second maximum radial distance between the outer liner and the inner liner is same as the circumferentially spaced openings between adjacent discrete cups of the plurality of circumferentially spaced, discrete cups at the second end.