Patent ID: 11913376
Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  Y | IPC F

Claim 0:
1. A method of operating a gas turbine engine that includes (a) a compressor section, including (i) a compressor rotor shaft assembly including a plurality of compressor rotors longitudinally spaced apart from each other via respective ones of a plurality of shaft sections of a rotor shaft, each compressor rotor of the plurality of compressor rotors having a plurality of rotor vanes extending radially outward therefrom and being circumferentially spaced about the compressor rotor, and (ii) a stator shroud assembly including a stator shroud surrounding the compressor rotor shaft assembly, a compressor flow passage being defined between the compressor rotor shaft assembly and the stator shroud casing, (b) a pressurized air source that generates a flow of pressurized air to be provided to the compressor section, (c) a plurality of pressurized airflow nozzles connected with the pressurized air source and are configured to provide a flow of pressurized air into the compressor flow passage as a primary driver source to cause the compressor rotor shaft assembly to rotate during a shutdown phase of the gas turbine engine, (d) a controller, (e) a core engine outer casing arranged radially outward of the stator shroud casing, the pressurized air source being arranged between the stator shroud casing and the core engine outer casing, (f) an air intake duct connected to an inlet through the core engine outer casing and connected to the pressurized air source, and (g) a pressurized air duct connecting the pressurized air source to the plurality of pressurized airflow nozzles, the method comprising:
initiating, by the controller, control of the shutdown phase, the control of the shutdown phase comprising:
(a) checking, by the controller during the shutdown phase, at least one condition of the compressor section of the gas turbine engine;
(b) actuating, by the controller and based on a result of the checking the at least one condition, the pressurized air source to begin providing the flow of pressurized air to flow from the pressurized air source to the plurality of pressurized airflow nozzles;
(c) directing, by the plurality of pressurized airflow nozzles, the flow of pressurized air into the compressor flow passage;
(d) causing, by the directing of the flow of pressurized air into the compressor flow passage, the compressor rotor shaft assembly to rotate;
(e) monitoring, by the controller, the at least one condition of the compressor section while the compressor rotor shaft assembly rotates;
(f) determining, by the controller, whether a threshold value of the at least one condition has been met in the monitoring; and
(g) terminating, by the controller, the control of the shutdown phase when the threshold value of the at least one condition has been met.