Patent ID: 6254333
Filing Date: 2001-07-03
Classification: F01D,F05D,Y02T,Y10T

Abstract:
A method for cooling a turbine section of a rotary machine having a working medium flowpath, the turbine section including an array of coolable stator vanes, each stator vane having an airfoil extending radially outwardly into the working medium flowpath, the airfoil having a leading edge, a trailing edge and flow directing surfaces which extend between the edges and which include a suction surface and a pressure surface, the stator vane having a platform which bounds the working medium flowpath which has a suction side, a pressure side, a leading edge region and a trailing edge region, the trailing edge region having a serpentine passage in the trailing edge region for cooling fluid, comprising:flowing cooling fluid to the rearmost, last leg of the passage;flowing cooling fluid entering the passage along a flowpath which extends laterally in the rearmost leg; then,forming a stream of cooling fluid which is oriented in the lateral direction and which has at least thirty percent of the flow entering the passage; and,discharging said stream of cooling fluid from the interior of the platform in the lateral direction;impinging the stream on the suction side of the platform of the adjacent vane in the trailing edge region;wherein the cooling fluid provides impingement cooling to the suction side of the platform of the one vane and provides convective cooling in the serpentine passage to the trailing edge region of the adjacent vane.