Patent ID: 11970971
Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC DEUTSCHLAND HOLDING GMBH
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 16:
17. A method of providing heat from a gear box of a turbofan engine to a first engine component and a second engine component of the turbofan engine to reduce ice buildup or ice formation, the turbofan engine defining an axial direction and a radial direction and comprising a fan and a turbomachine operably coupled to the fan for driving the fan, the method comprising:
receiving, by one or more computing devices, an input indicating a change in a condition of a portion of the turbofan engine; and
in response to a type of the received input indicating the change in the condition of the portion of the turbofan engine, selectively providing, by the one or more computing devices, the heat from the gear box to one of the first engine component and the second engine component, wherein selectively providing, by the one or more computing devices, the heat from the gear box to one of the first engine component and the second engine component comprises:
recirculating a phase change material through a first heat transfer component and second heat transfer component fluidly coupled together in a closed loop, the first heat transfer component having a hot interface in thermal communication with the gear box and a cold interface in thermal communication with the one of the first engine component and the second engine component, wherein the hot interface is in thermal communication with the gearbox, wherein the first heat transfer component comprises one of a heat pipe or a graphene rod, and wherein the second heat transfer component comprises the other of the heat pipe or the graphene rod, and wherein the phase change material is in an at least partial vapor phase at the hot interface and condenses into a liquid phase at the cold interface, wherein the phase change material releases latent heat of the phase change material to heat the engine component.