Patent Description:
The present disclosure relates to rim-rotor turbomachinery where the combustion process predominantly takes place at high g-field forces and the turbine is radially supported by a composite, including carbon, reinforced rim-rotor that empowers the use of ceramics. Both technologies enable the increase of temperature including in a recuperated Brayton cycle to achieve high efficiency while maintaining low NOx levels. The rotary turbomachinery is perfectly suited for both compression and/or expansion in which severe conditions of high temperature, high oxygen or other flammable fluids, and/or highly saturated fluids creating abrasion are present independent of any integral combustion process/methods, notably the inventive high g-field combustion.

Due to a variety of factors including global warming issues, fossil fuel availability and environmental impacts, crude oil price and availability issues, alternative combustors with or without power generation methods must be developed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions.

When considering power generation cycles such as the recuperated Brayton cycle, it is recognized in the art that increasing cycle efficiency requires increasing combustion temperature, yet it is also known that increasing combustion temperature is accompanied by an increasing challenge of maintaining NOx emissions below environmental requirements. Typical gas turbines use lean premixed combustion to minimize the maximum flame temperature within the combustor and hence reduce NOx emissions. However, for recuperated cycles these combustors are limited to air preheat temperatures below the autoignition temperature of the fuel-air mixture to avoid instabilities which can ultimately lead to catastrophic failure of the combustor. Lean premixed combustors are thus restricted to lower recuperated cycle temperatures, lower cycle efficiencies and higher carbon dioxide emissions.

Mobile applications require compactness, minimal weight and volume.

Furthermore, another challenge with increasing the temperature of a recuperated Brayton cycle lies in the turbine itself, where typical alloys require large amounts of cooling to be able to withstand high gas temperatures. This is even more challenging for small scale turbines (< <NUM> MW) where film cooling is very hard to implement and significantly reduces cycle efficiency. Attempts have been made to use ceramics, such as Silicon Nitride and Silicon Carbide, for gas turbines since these materials can withstand very high temperature, but due to their brittleness they show reliability issues. Prior attempts have been made to build ceramic turbines contained in a rim-rotor, such as <CIT>, but do not propose a viable cooling solution for the composite rim-rotor, which is limited by glass transition for carbon-polymer composites, or oxidation for carbon-carbon composites. In this specific case, cooling air goes through long slender blades operating beyond <NUM> C, meaning the air is inevitably pre-heated, and thus, unless massive mass flows are used, cannot perform any meaningful cooling to a composite rim-rotor having a maximum operating temperature in the <NUM>-350C range, making the approach useless for high-efficiency applications. These attempts have also been limited to purely axial turbine designs, which do not take full advantage of the rim-rotor that could be used for hub-less designs allowing inversed radial, axial or mixed flow configurations that optimize the temperature distribution of the engine packaging by keeping the hot gases on one single side of the turbine wheel, therefore separating structural and thermal loops.

Furthermore, when considering rim-rotor machinery, there is a significant challenge in matching the large displacement of the rim-rotor to the small displacement of a rigid hub. The rim-rotor also needs to be thermally insulated from the hot combustion gases, with ceramics being a choice candidate due to their low conductivity and high temperature resistance. Prior art exists showing attempts to design and build flexible, compliant hubs for rim-rotor machinery as well as thermal protection layers for the rim-rotor. Some of this prior art has been limited to conceptual designs with no experimental validation (GE, Stoffer <NUM>), or component failure during experimental validation (R. Kochendorfer <NUM>). These designs failed due to tensile loading of ceramics components under circumferential stress, and hence an improper use of the rim-rotor design to reduce, or even eliminate, the tensile stresses.

Accordingly, there is a need for a compact, low NOx combustor that can operate at high air preheat temperatures without the risk of instabilities or failures, that could be used in industrial (furnaces, heaters) and power applications such as distributed CHP, aerospace and automotive applications. For maximum efficiency and emissions benefits in power applications, this combustor would need to be used with rim-rotor ceramic turbomachinery allowing high combustion temperatures, and hence high cycle efficiency.

The present invention provides a rim-rotor rotating assembly according to claim <NUM>. Advantageous features are defined in the dependent claims.

Traditional flame propagation mechanism in combustion reactions is driven by turbulent mixing, buoyancy forces between reactants and products, and species diffusion. Under normal low g-field conditions, the buoyancy forces are very small and do not significantly contribute to the flame propagation. However, at high g-fields (at a minimal embodiment of g-field greater than <NUM>,<NUM>'s in which buoyant forces obtain meaningful mixing, and at the preferred embodiment of g-field greater than <NUM>,<NUM>'s in which buoyant forces are dominant), buoyancy forces between combustion products and reactants (or fuel and air) dominate the flame propagation mechanism by greatly increasing the Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities between the fluids, improving mixing between products and reactants and hence increasing the heat release rates. High g-field is the key element for fast mixing and thus short reaction distances and residence times. Furthermore, it is expected that a high g-field rotating combustor would be most beneficial for small scale turbomachinery (< 1MW) because for a given turbine tip speed the g-field is inversely proportional to the machine radius. This results in g-fields in the <NUM>,<NUM>'s for turbines in the <NUM> scale, and in over <NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>'s for turbines in the <NUM> scale.

Conventional turbines normally use internally supported blades, i.e. blades that are supported at their root connected to a hub whose diameter is smaller than the root radius of the blade. Such configurations result in the blades being loaded under tensile stress due to the centrifugal forces occurring during rotation, which limits the blades to being made of materials having high tensile strength. These materials are typically metallic alloys that are limited to relatively low temperatures. High temperature materials such as ceramics cannot be used in conventional turbines due to their low tensile strength and high brittleness: any small crack present in the blade will rapidly grow and lead to failure of the turbine due to the tensile loading of the blades. To increase the efficiency of a recuperated Brayton cycle, it is desirable to increase the turbine inlet temperature to levels significantly higher than the maximum allowable blade temperature for metallic alloys. Conventional turbines can achieve this by using blade cooling strategies, but the manufacturing difficulties and efficiency penalties limits it's use to large-scale turbines (> <NUM> MW). For small scale turbines, the only viable approach to increase the turbine inlet temperature is to use ceramic blades, which is only possible using a rim-rotor turbine by holding the blades on their outer radius, the blades are loaded in compression which inhibits crack growth in ceramics. A rim-rotor turbine thus greatly increases the reliability of ceramic blades, which allows an increase in turbine inlet temperatures without the added complexity and cost of blade cooling.

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying figures.

<FIG> depicts a high g-field combustor where the combustion reaction is driven by buoyant forces caused by a centrifugal acceleration field and the density difference between combustion products <NUM> and premixed reactants <NUM>. The g-field can also be used for the mixing of air <NUM> and fuel <NUM> to achieve a homogeneous reactants mixture <NUM> before ignition: fuels heavier than air could be injected on the inner radii and lighter fuels on the outer radii to provoke mixing. High g-field is the key element for fast mixing, short reaction distances and short residence time. In the various contexts of use of a combustor, both cold and highly pre-heated air inlet situations exist. For cold air inlet (below fuel auto-ignition temperature), both non-premixed and premixed combustion need a flame holding device <NUM> and an ignition device that can be within the g-field <NUM> or external to the g-field <NUM>. Prior art (<CIT>) has shown that ignition devices such as glow plugs, spark plugs, sparkles or pilot flames can be used. For hot air inlet (above fuel auto-ignition temperature), only non-premixed combustion is possible and has no need for a flame holding device <NUM> nor an internal ignition device <NUM> within the combustor. A flame holding device <NUM> and internal ignition device <NUM> may optionally be used for start-up modes until the temperature exceeds the fuel auto-ignition temperature when using a heat-exchanger to pre-heat the combustion air from the exhaust gases.

<FIG> is an embodiment of a high g-field combustor in a rotating configuration <NUM>. The g-field is imposed by rotating the combustor around an axis, driving the heavier reactants <NUM> or air <NUM> outwards of the rotating axis and the hot combustion products <NUM> or fuel <NUM> inwards of the rotating axis. Multiple flame-holding devices such as an upper flame-holder <NUM>, a vertical flame-holder <NUM> and a lower flame-holder <NUM> in reference to the g-field direction can be used to stabilize the flame within the combustor. The rotating combustor <NUM> can be operable with either premixed cold air inlet, non-premixed cold air inlet or non-premixed hot air inlet, with the fuel injection for non-premixed configuration occurring either just before or within the rotating frame.

The location of the chemical reaction within the combustor can be shaped by carefully placing multiple injection points in each flow channel of the main combustor. <FIG> shows the multiple location scenarios including: A) injection points within the rotating combustor (e.g. from the blades surface <NUM>, from the shroud <NUM> inner surface <NUM>, from the flame-holders <NUM> or from the hub <NUM> outer surface <NUM>, with fuel being transferred to the rotating frame either from the hub or the shroud), B) injection points within the interface or gap <NUM> between the static inlet and rotating combustor, or C) injection points within the static inlet <NUM> or ahead of the static inlet from holes <NUM> in the channel walls. The inventive high g-field rim-rotor is the only configuration that enables injecting fuel from the shroud side, which is good for high g-field combustion since the combustion products <NUM> will naturally flow across the main flow. Preferably, most of the combustion is done in the rotating frame <NUM> to limit Rayleigh pressure losses associated with high speed flows. The hub and shaft may be an integral piece.

<FIG> shows two embodiments that can be used to design a rotating combustor <NUM>: A) combustion can take place only in the combustor <NUM> at a constant pressure or B) combustion can be initiated and stabilized in the combustor <NUM> and can "continuously" take place during a pressure expansion in an expansion device such as a turbine <NUM> in which work is extracted by means of shaft power. It is understood that "continuous" combustion is when at least <NUM>% of the combustion occurs concurrently with expansion, though preferably continuous combustion is at least <NUM>% of the combustion occurs concurrently with expansion, particularly preferred is continuous combustion is at least <NUM>% occurs concurrently with expansion, specifically preferred is continuous combustion is at least <NUM>% occurs concurrently with expansion. And the absolute best configuration is in which <NUM>% of the combustion takes place concurrently with expansion to achieve full/complete isothermal expansion for the highest thermodynamic efficiency of a shaft power device.

<FIG> depicts a high g-field combustor in a static <NUM> configuration. Reactants <NUM> or air <NUM> enter the combustion chamber and are submitted to centrifugal acceleration due to the curvature of the combustion chamber. An outward positioned flame-holder <NUM> located in the curvature, hence in the g-field, is used to stabilize the flame in the case of premixed combustion. For non-premixed combustion, fuel injection <NUM> is done within the g-field without a flame-holder (or optionally with a flame-holder solely as a pilot flame-holder or for enhanced flame stabilization). The colder, denser reactants <NUM> are driven towards the outer radius of the channel whereas the hotter, less dense combustion products <NUM> are driven inwards. The static configuration can be operable with either cold air or premix inlet, or hot air inlet. For cold intake, an internal ignition device <NUM> such as a spark plug can be used to ignite the mixture. For hot intake, the ignition device <NUM> may optionally be used during start-up modes.

<FIG> is an embodiment of a static high g-field combustor <NUM>, where the g-field is created in a non-rotating reference frame by turning the flow around an axis <NUM> that is perpendicular to the inlet/outlet flow axis <NUM>, is the latter also being the rotation axis of turbomachinery at the combustor outlet. Previous attempts of similar combustors have been limited to swirling type combustors using channels wrapped around the turbine axis of rotation in a way such that the channels and the turbine basically have the same radii and are concentric. This limits the radius of curvature that can be used for the combustor, and results in a sub-optimal combination of velocity, pressure losses, and number of g's. A first order model can be drawn to illustrate this sub-optimal operation. The radius of curvature of a static g-field combustor rc, depends on the flow Mach number M, inlet temperature Tin, and desired acceleration a, such that <MAT> where R and y are gas properties. When designing for ideal design parameters, for example preferred design values of M < <NUM> and a > <NUM>,<NUM>'s, and a fixed inlet temperature Tin, the radius of curvature is found to be unrelated to the turbine radius such as in prior art. Hence prior art designs imply sub-optimal solutions by constraining the radius to be equal to the radius of the turbine. The embodiment shown in <FIG> allows the use of different flow radius for the high g-combustor and the turbine. The preferred ratio of turbine radius to combustor radius is greater than <NUM>, the particularly preferred ratio of turbine radius to combustor radius is greater than <NUM>, and the specifically preferred ratio is greater than <NUM>. The larger power rating of the turbomachinery yields a higher turbine radius to combustor radius ratio.

<FIG> shows a cutaway of a preferred embodiment of a static g-field combustor <NUM>. To generate high g-fields in static combustors, preference is to have a small radius rather than increasing the velocity to limit Fanno and Rayleigh losses. Preference is for the radius of combustion chamber <NUM> to always be equal or smaller than the radius <NUM> of the turbine <NUM> preferably by at least <NUM>%.

<FIG> show the results of CFD analysis of methane non-premixed combustion at a g-field of <NUM>,<NUM>'s. NOx concentration in ppm is shown in <FIG> and temperature contour in degrees Kelvin is shown in <FIG>. In the simulations, the g-field is imposed on the reference frame as gravity and fuel injection is done in hot air at <NUM> to achieve non-premixed combustion at overall lean conditions. The results show that very low NOx concentration below <NUM> ppm is achieved even for combustion temperatures above <NUM> due to very good mixing resulting in low residence time at near-stoichiometric conditions.

<FIG> and <FIG> show the CFD analysis under the same conditions but at a lower g-field of <NUM>,<NUM>'s. The results show that the temperature is higher than <NUM>, resulting in high NOx concentration above <NUM> ppm, which is due to poor mixing and long reaction lengths at lower g-fields resulting in higher residence time at near-stoichiometric conditions. High g-field clearly enables a reduction in NOx concentration as well as combustor compactness by at least <NUM>%. The preferred embodiment of the invention has g-fields of at least <NUM>,<NUM>'s in order to have a short combustion distance and corresponding low NOx emissions. The preferred embodiment further maintains a flow Mach number below <NUM> in order to limit Fanno and Rayleigh losses.

A high radiant combustion process would emit combustion energy in the form of emitted radiation outside of the combustion chamber. High emissivity is preferred (preferably with emissivity greater than <NUM>%, particularly preferred with emissivity greater than <NUM>%, and specifically preferred with emissivity greater than <NUM>%) when the high g-field combustor is utilized for industrial applications including: top cycle or bottom cycle for high radiant processes or industrial processes that can achieve higher production throughput by high radiant heat transfer (e.g., steel, glass, cement, etc.) or higher efficiency in the combination of solid-state energy conversion (e.g., thermophotovoltaic, thermoelectric, photovoltaic, etc.). A standalone high radiant and high g-field combustor with solid-state energy conversion significantly increases emitted energy while uniquely limiting the production of NOx formation. It is understood that the radiated/emitted energy is enabled by using designs with radiation transparent materials and/or by providing an obstacle free path. Such a design is shown in <FIG> where a static high g-field combustor <NUM> has a radiation transparent container <NUM> that allows high radiant combustion.

<FIG> shows a method of maintaining combustor performance, both static <NUM> and rotating <NUM>, during load and/or rpm variations by blocking the number of stator <NUM> channels, with the objective being to keep pre-heated air temperature above fuel ignition temperature under all load condition when using a hot air combustor. Flow can be blocked with a slide valve or a butterfly valve <NUM> for at least one of the combustor channel passage, preferably all channel passages could be turned ON/OFF individually or collectively. An advantage here is that combustor performance can remain independent of load since each individual (or group of) combustor passage(s) can see a relatively constant mass flow rate. This is a key inventive feature of the highly compact high g-field combustor.

<FIG> shows variable stator guide vanes <NUM> that can be used to change the flow's angular momentum at the stator <NUM> exit. The fuel injection system consists of multiple injection points <NUM> that can be turned ON/OFF individually or collectively as a subset of the total fuel injection points for flow modulation depending on operating conditions. Preferred injection point locations are: after the compressor and optional recuperator but before the main combustion chamber, one in each combustor channel of the main combustion chamber, and finally, after the turbine but before the recuperator. In all cases, injectors can be placed in curved channels and benefit from the piping's natural curvature (e.g. recuperator) to generate high g-fields. Another key feature of the invention is to place injectors to provide precise control of system ramp-up and ramp-downs for temperature control to mitigate thermal shock resistance issues on critical components (e.g. notably components made with ceramic materials). It is understood that the injectors will include an igniter such as when the autoignition temperature of the fuel is not reached or to alter the temperature profile within the high g-field combustor.

<FIG> shows the system combining the high g-field combustor <NUM> with a ceramic rim-rotor turbomachinery turbine <NUM>, providing a very compact system with high thermodynamic efficiency capability. The short combustion length of the high g-field combustor together with a high temperature rim-rotor turbomachinery turbine consisting of at least one or more composite rings, at least two blades, a counter-flux thermal insulation substrate and whereby the at least two blades are retained under compressive loading, create a very short gas path between precombustion and post-expansion, therefore reducing thermal loss by at least <NUM>% when compared to traditional combustor.

<FIG> shows the proposed construction of the rim-rotor turbomachinery turbine <NUM>, which consists of an external rim-rotor <NUM> with its annular body, supportive shield <NUM>, counter-flux thermal insulation substrate <NUM> and at least two aerodynamic blades <NUM>, connected to a shaft through opposing arrays of radially compliant springs in the radial-axial plane <NUM><NUM>. The radial-axial plane is also known as the meridional plane, and is the plane in which lies the rotational axial and a radial axis of a point, object, etc. The external rim-rotor <NUM> can be made from an arrangement of one or more composite rings in the axial and/or radial axis and has the primary function of maintaining the at least two blades under compression loading. The radially compliant hub <NUM><NUM> requires at least one array of such compliant springs in order to provide adequate stiffness in all axis in order to be dynamically stable. The at least two blade <NUM> are in physical communication to the shaft through the at least one rotating array of radially compliant springs comprised of an at least one cantilevered beam in the radial - axial plane, whereby the at least two radially compliant springs are in physical communication with the at least two blades at the first axial position, and to the hub at a second axial position, and whereby the first axial position is different from the second axial position and the second axial position is located at a distance from the shaft greater by at least <NUM> inches from the first axial position. The radial compliance is adjusted by the length of the cantilever beams in the radial-axial plane. The stiffness can be selected by adjusted the thickness and profile of the beams, and if required a second set of beams can be added to largely increase the stiffness of the assembly. If required, the second set of beams can be joined by friction, permanently joined or made in a single piece. In the event where the spring in contact with the blade exceeds its material maximum temperature, cooling features that provide cooling flow directly under the blade <NUM> is the most effective method to maintain the hub structural integrity.

The rim-rotor <NUM> is insulated by a counter-flux thermal insulation substrate <NUM>, physically located between the rim-rotor and the at least two blades in order to maintain its temperature below its maximum operating temperature. The counter-flux thermal insulation substrate consist of at least two cooling channels, whereby the cooling fluid circulates, having a channel inlet and a channel outlet, whereby the center of the channel inlet <NUM> is located at a channel inlet distance "DI" <NUM> from the rim-rotor inner surface to the channel inlet, whereby the channel outlet distance is located at a channel outlet distance "DO + DI" <NUM> from the rim-rotor inner surface, and whereby the channel inlet distance is at least <NUM> inches greater than the channel outlet distance. The cooling channels further have at least a portion of the channels that have a segment <NUM> that is at an angle between +<NUM> and -<NUM> from the radial axis. This configuration provides that at least a portion of the cooling flow is being directed radially toward the rotating axis (inward), which is against the dominant temperature gradient, therefore against the dominant conductive heat flux in the channel walls (i.e. counter-flux). Means of producing such radially inward flows are illustrated in <FIG>. The insulation substrate <NUM> with at least a portion of the channels that have Z-shape channels <NUM>, U-shape channels <NUM>, micro-channel or micro-holes <NUM>, porous material construction <NUM>, or an arrangement of such. The substrate can be made from metals (e.g. titanium, superalloys), ceramics (e.g. Si3N4, SiC, Mullite, Al2O3, SiO2, ZrO2), blend of ceramics, ceramic coatings or a mix of those options. Superalloys are known in the art as high-performance alloys, being an alloy that exhibits several key characteristics: excellent mechanical strength, resistance to thermal creep deformation, good surface stability and resistance to corrosion or oxidation. In the case where porous material is used, open porosity is required to allow the cooling flow to circulate towards the main gas path. Low porosity, between <NUM>% and <NUM>% by mass, is preferred for material between the rim-rotor and the blade that are subject to compression loading. Higher porosity, between <NUM> and <NUM>% by mass, is preferred where the insulation substrate is not in contact with the blade in order to reduce the substrate mass. Intricate small sizes required by the substrate optimal features consist of cooling channels of characteristic dimension between <NUM> and <NUM> inches. Preferred micro-holes dimensions are <NUM> to <NUM> inches.

<FIG> shows example of design implementing the advantages of additive manufacturing. By removing material at selected section(s), the insulation substrate consisting of a continuous monolithic material ring with intricate radially inwards flow channels <NUM> provides the low circumferential stiffness required to follow the rim-rotor circumferential expansion without breaking. This configuration is especially adapted to the additive manufacturing (also known as 3d printing manufacturing and used interchangeably throughout), but can also be fabricated using substractive manufacturing methods. This configuration also introduces radial micro-holes at selected position <NUM>. A insulation substrate made of at least one layer of individual bricks <NUM> with complex cooling channels, which can also be produced with additive manufacturing or other manufacturing method, prevent the counter-flux thermal insulation layer from breaking due to rim-rotor circumferential expansion while undergoing centrifugal loading. In specific configurations, the optimal insulation substrate can be made with the same material as the at least two blades, and therefore the insulation substrate bricks or ring can be joined of directly fabricated together with at least one blade <NUM> by different method including soldering, casting, machining, additive manufacturing, diffusion bonding or laser welding. In given specific configuration, it is important to introduce a supportive shield <NUM> between the rim-rotor and the insulation substrate to distribute uniformly the centrifugal forces between substrate features and the rim-rotor, reducing the stress concentration at the contact of surfaces. The supportive shield <NUM> may provide axial constraints for the insulation substrate by incorporating at least one side will with positive locking features. The supportive shield <NUM>, may also provide an effective mean of integrating different type of seals <NUM> having therefore a sealing function between the main flow and the cooling flow inlet to avoid hot gas being directed to the cooling channels and to reduce by at least <NUM>% the amount of cooling fluid leaking in a non-cooling channel region (i.e., the main gas path), especially in configuration(s) where the insulating substrate is built from bricks and has tangential breaks or gaps. In addition, the supportive shield <NUM> is used in given embodiment(s) to provide a tightly controlled axial gap in front of one or more of the exit of the insulation substrate <NUM>, which provides an effective mean of controlling the flow rates of small cooling flows. Gaps between the insulation substrate cooling channel outlet and the supportive shield ranging between <NUM> and <NUM> inches creates a flow area that provides adequate regulation of the cooling fluid flow rate. The supportive shield <NUM> can consist of one or more part to complete its function.

In order to reduce the amount of cooling flow, which directly impacts the efficiency of the turbomachinery, the counter-flux thermal insulation substrate is preferred to the prior art where only a mix of axial and tangential cooling flow is used. In a configuration where the rim-rotor in wounded from carbon fiber in a polymer matrix, the maximum operating temperature of the insulation substrate <NUM> is much greater than the maximum operating temperature of the rim-rotor <NUM>, therefore the cooling flow exiting the insulation substrate which has inward radial feature allows the cooling flow to get up to the maximum temperature of the substrate and extract considerably higher amount of heat, having effectively a higher calorific capacity for a given flow rate. The axial and tangential cooling flow of the prior art is in direct or indirect thermal contact with the rim-rotor <NUM> until the channel exit, which limits the temperature of cooling flow to the maximum temperature of the rim-rotor itself, extracting less heat, and therefore requiring considerably higher amount of cooling flow. Furthermore, the cooling channel air flow is also self-stabilized due to the high-g field where the density difference between hot and cold fluid is such that the coldest fluid is sent toward the cooling channels inlet, and therefore protects the rim-rotor, while the hottest fluid is sent toward the cooling channel exit. The counter-flux insulation substrate would reduce the cooling flow required from approximately <NUM>+% to less than <NUM>% of the main flow, therefore by at least a <NUM>% reduction in cooling flow up to the optimal and specifically preferred cooling flow reduction by at least <NUM>%. Based on approximately <NUM> point of cycle efficiency loss per <NUM>% of main flow used for cooling, the counter-flux insulation substrate results in efficiency gain of <NUM>+ point on the cycle, therefore by at least a <NUM>% of cycle efficiency up to the optimal of at least a <NUM>% of cycle efficiency in the specifically preferred embodiment.

In addition to the benefit of the increase calorific capacity, the radial inward features allow at least a portion of the cooling flow to be used as transpiration cooling (preferably <NUM>%, up to the optimal of <NUM>% in the specifically preferred embodiment), effectively injecting cold air between the main gas path and the insulation substrate. This creates the film-cooling effect, defined by an insulating layer of cold air between the surface of the insulating substrate and the hot main flow to reduce wall temperatures and thus heat flux. This effect is typically used on turbine blades or static shroud surfaces, which are not radially inward in the rotating frame like in this embodiment. The high centrifugal forces, combined with the density difference between the injected cooling flow that is relatively cold and the main gas flow that is hot, provides a highly beneficial stabilizing effect on the film-cooling layer by generating stratification between the hot and cold gases therefore limiting mixing to a lower level. This lower level of mixing keeps a colder gas temperature near the insulating substrate inner wall, therefore reducing the heat transfer to the insulating substrate and the subsequent radially outward component (i.e. the rim-rotor). The film cooling itself, and the stabilization of the film cooling due to high centrifugal forces, are essential distinctions from rim-rotor prior art to insulate the thermal flux from the primary gas flow to the rim-rotor and provides about <NUM>% of the benefit claimed by the insulating substrate. Furthermore, the inventive transpiration cooling utilizing a cooling flow inlet at a radius closer to the rim-rotor eliminates above <NUM>% of the thermal stress gradient within the turbine blades compared to a configuration where the cooling flow inlet is further away from the rim-rotor, being from the hub and through the blades in the prior art, which is particularly important in ceramic blades that are subject to thermal shock.

Another advantage of this embodiment is the ability to design the cooling channels to direct the cooling flow to the higher heat flux region, which is typically the contact surface between the blade and the insulation substrate <NUM>. It is preferred that the ratio between the cooling flow directed to the channels thermally connected to the contact surface of the blade and the total cooling flow is sized to match the heat flux ratio between the conduction from the blade and the convection under the insulation substrate. The heat flux ratio for this configuration is typically <NUM>%, therefore the recommended cooling flow ratio directed over the blades is between <NUM> and <NUM>%. All cooling flow can then be directed through the at least one main channel the front (or inlet side) <NUM>, to the back <NUM> (opposite from the front side), or radially into the main flow through at least two orifices <NUM>. Specific configurations requires that at least <NUM>% of the totality of cooling fluid exits the at least one main channel through the at least two orifices located on the insulation substrate inner wall.

Another embodiment of a rim-rotor turbomachine further comprised of a rim-rotor cavity <NUM>, a rotating boy and a static housing, utilizes fuels or inert gases to protect components from oxidative degradation at high temperature. In particular when oxidation sensitive rim-rotor materials such as carbon-fiber polyimide or carbon-carbon composites are used. The rim-rotor cavity <NUM> is filled with non-oxidative gases such as inert gases (nitrogen, helium) or non-oxidative fuels (e.g. hydrogen, methane, propane) to limit/prevent oxidation of the material. The fuels or inert gases will also concurrently reduce windage drag of rotating components. In particular, the rim-rotor <NUM> surfaces are moving at high relative velocities and generate frictional drag with fluids from surrounding environment. Drag is a function of gas density, hence filling the rim-rotor cavity <NUM> with gases having molecular weight preferably <NUM>% lower than air, and specifically preferably <NUM>% lower than air (e.g., methane, helium, hydrogen) minimizes drag. In order to minimize drag, whether the cavity contains air or other gases, the optimal radial and axial gap(s) <NUM> that minimizes windage losses is between <NUM> to <NUM> inches. The actual gap is a balance between viscous losses at a small gap and turbulence induced losses at large gaps.

A major obstacle in a functional rim-rotor turbine is due to the larger radial deformation between an annular rim-rotor and a classical prior art filled hub submitted to high rotational speed. The radial elongation of the rim-rotor is from <NUM> micron up to <NUM>% of the rim-rotor inner radius and between <NUM> to <NUM> times larger depending on materials and exact geometries than the radial elongation of a filled hub. An innovative measure is to allow relative motion at the interface between the blades and the hub in a controlled manner in order to allow blades to follow the radial displacement of the rim-rotor while maintaining a sufficiently rigid connection between the blades and the hub to withstand dynamic effort during operation. The rigidity of the hub assembly in the radial-axial plane being at least <NUM> times larger than the shaft bending rigidity in the case of supercritical rotor to ensure the modal vibration due to the shaft rigidity do not excite the hub components. This has the advantage of decoupling the flexibility and the strength requirement of the hub. Decoupling the flexibility and the strength into two components also provides better material options for the hub to resist the high temperature at the contact point with the blade roots, and the potential to insulate the flexible component from the blade root.

The present disclosure also describes a plurality of rim-rotor turbine rotating assembly configurations in which the plurality of blades are operatively connected to the hub by a sliding contact with the hub. The sliding contact allows a radial motion and may allow axial motion as well, between the blades and the hub to compensate for rim-rotor radial deformation under centrifugal loads. In these embodiments, the blades may be ceramic blades, and may have their centers-of-mass at a smaller radius than the rim-rotor radius of gyration, to cause the blades to move radially into contact with the rim-rotor due to centrifugal forces, while the blades remain in operative contact with the rim-rotor (i.e., whether the contact is direct or not, it is the rim-rotor that blocks the blades from further radially outward movement. These configurations are described with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> depicts an axial rim-rotor turbine rotating assembly <NUM>, which includes a rim-rotor <NUM>, a set of at least <NUM> blades <NUM> with inner shroud <NUM> and a blade root <NUM>, an insulation substrate <NUM> interfacing the blades <NUM> to a remainder of the rim-rotor <NUM>, a hub <NUM>, and a spring-mass retainer <NUM>. The substrate <NUM> may be present in the rim-rotor <NUM> to release heat of the blades <NUM>, but it is contemplated to have the rim-rotor <NUM> without the substrate <NUM>. <FIG> schematically illustrates the concept of the rim-rotor turbine rotating assembly <NUM> of <FIG>. The individual blades <NUM> are not retained by the hub like a classical gas turbine blade, and they are free to move radially to follow the radial expansion <NUM> of the rim-rotor under rotation and maintain radial contact at their tips with the rim-rotor or intermediate component (i.e. insulation component). To ensure the turbine maintains its integrity under rotation and transfers the power to the turbine drive shaft connected to the hub, it is necessary that the blades stay in contact with the hub with high rigidity achieved by forcing the blades to move following a sliding plane <NUM> between the blade root <NUM> and the hub slots bottom surface <NUM>. The sliding plane is angled from the turbine axial axis which results in a preselected axial blade movement based on its radial displacement <NUM>. The minimum angle <NUM> is based on the static coefficient of friction between the blade and hub material to ensure the blade will not jam on speed ramp down. A high angle <NUM> reduces the static friction necessary at maintaining a high rigidity under dynamic vibration. Therefore, angles between <NUM> and <NUM> degree are possible depending on materials and rigidity needs, with a preferred value of <NUM> degrees that provides sufficient margin on the static friction to avoid ceasing on rotational speed ramp down while ensuring the static friction is sufficient to avoid sliding due to unbalance forces. To maintain the blade root in contact with the sliding plane, an axial force may be applied on the blade, preferably on the blade root backface <NUM>. This axial force is created by a spring-mass component <NUM> in contact with the blade root and with a retainer part <NUM>, depicted here by a nut, creating a spring effect resulting in an axial force on the blades root. To allow an axial relative position and motion of each blades while maintaining contacts, the spring-mass component has partial radial cuts <NUM> creating an individual beam spring <NUM> per blade attached to a spring-mass center ring <NUM> by each beam feet <NUM>. As the turbine starts spinning, the blades start moving axially reducing the spring preload. To ensure sufficient force is maintained on the blade root during high rotational speed, an offset mass <NUM> may be added at the end of the spring beam causing an angle <NUM> between the spring head center of mass <NUM> and the radial axis, resulting in an increase of axial force on the blade root when rotational speed increases (shown on the sliced cut view of the spring-mass <NUM>). To ensure sufficient force is applied by the spring-mass during rotation, the mass head is between <NUM> and <NUM> % of the blade assembly mass it makes contacts and where the angle <NUM> is between <NUM>° and <NUM>°, with a preferred angle of <NUM>° which limits the radial forces being transferred while the creating sufficient axial forces for the assembly rigidity criteria. This configuration uses oxidation-resistant material at gas temperature above <NUM> such as ceramics for the blades with compressive loading where maximal tensile stresses are at <NUM>% or less than the maximal compressive stresses. Those blades will conduct a large heat flux to the components in thermal communication. Due to the low centrifugal forces experienced by this hub, the hub can be made of oxidation-resistant material at gas temperature above <NUM> with tensile strength above <NUM> MPa at temperature above <NUM> (e.g., ceramics and/or ceramic-metal matrix composites and/or ceramic-matric composites, as compared to metallic alloys). In cases where small axial displacement are made possible (for example when high sliding plane angle are used), a low flexibility of the spring-mass would allow this component to be made of high temperature materials like ceramic. In the depicted case where higher flexibility of the spring component is required, a metallic superalloy can be used with reduced amount of air cooling by introducing an insulation piece between the spring-mass and the blade root, namely a ceramic coating, or a low conductivity ceramic pad or ball <NUM>, reducing the spring-mass air cooling by <NUM>%. The insulation has a secondary benefit of increasing the resistance to lateral friction seen at the contact point between the spring-mass and the blade by increasing the hardness by at least <NUM>%.

<FIG> depicts a rim-rotor turbine rotating assembly <NUM> using the aforementioned sliding plane <NUM> principle, using a disc spring assembly of <NUM> alone or of both <NUM> and <NUM> maintaining the axial force on the blade root <NUM>. The primary disc spring <NUM> is in structural communication with the blade root, applying axial force based on the disc spring initial preload, given at assembly and maintained by a retaining component/feature <NUM>, depicted here with the component being a nut. A stack of additional disc springs in series <NUM> can be added for added axial displacement, and/or in parallel for added rigidity. The disc spring can be partially cut radially <NUM> to allow relative axial position between <NUM> and <NUM> inches of one blade to the next one, without losing contact between the spring and any of the blades, which is required for the manufacturing and assembly tolerances. The primary disc spring can be further insulated from the blade heat by having an insulation ceramic pad <NUM> or coating applied between the spring and the blade. The spring type used is not limited to disc spring, and other types could be used to produce similar axial forces and displacement.

<FIG> depicts another embodiment that proposes a different blade root shape option for an airfoil <NUM> (or multiple airfoils for a single root, and a single inner shroud) to generate a different sliding pattern, potentially beneficial in durability due to friction pattern, accumulation of residual particles away from the sliding plane and/or providing easier captive assembly features. A dovetail root <NUM>, a rectangular root <NUM>, a rounded root <NUM>, a fir-tree <NUM> or other root shape perpendicular to the sliding plane can provide additional benefit in the sliding plane <NUM>, by forming a complementary joint of complementary surfaces with the hub. As shown with only the blades and hub assembly <NUM>, a female corresponding hub <NUM> would have the selected pattern blade root imprinted at the selected sliding plane <NUM> angle, depicted with the single dovetail root pattern <NUM>. Additionally, the airfoil <NUM> can be manufactured in one part with an inner shroud <NUM> and a root system comprised of <NUM><NUM><NUM> or <NUM>, or all in individual parts assembled together in the turbine, or a hybrid comprised of multiple individual combination parts. In the case of the turbine with high blade density, it could be beneficial for packaging to use a single root attachment <NUM> for a series of airfoils <NUM>. This arrangement can also reduce the number of inner shroud segments, therefore reducing the number of joints on the inner shroud. Those joints are leading to hot gas flow leaking inwards to the hub cavity, therefore overlapping feature like depicted on <NUM> and <NUM> might be required for sealing purposes. Some of arrangements shown may be used in the assembly <NUM> in such a way that no spring or like biasing member is required to displace the blades <NUM> axially and radially. The airfoils may be an integrally cast piece with shroud and root (e.g., cast ceramic), but the airfoils (e.g., ceramic) may be in a material with the other parts are in another material.

<FIG> depicts an embodiment of a rim-rotor turbine <NUM> using a pin-and-socket relative motion assembly, while <FIG> shows the concept schematically. The blade root is a male extrusion (pins) <NUM> are inserted in the hub's <NUM> inside matching shaped female receptacle (socket) <NUM> providing support and friction to the blade root preventing angular movement while allowing radial movement, purposefully maintaining rotor structural integrity under rotation. To ensure consistent contact between the blade root <NUM> and the hub socket, a radial spring system is introduced in the socket cavity. The radial springs are designed to have sufficient spring back to stay in contact to both the hub <NUM> and the blade root <NUM> in all conditions of operation. An assembly of leaf springs <NUM> is depicted, but it is not limited to this option. For instance, springs may be absent. Disc springs, coil springs, wounded springs, air springs, fingered dome springs are potential design that would provide the same function. Due to the low tensile stresses experienced by the hub <NUM> in this configuration, high temperature materials with low tensile strength such as ceramics are possible, allowing higher operating temperatures at the structural contact point between the blades and the hub. The springs can be made of ceramic or metallic superalloys. In the latter, an insulation pad or coating <NUM> is applied on the blade root at the structural contact location with the spring, where a heat flux is caused by heat conduction through the hub towards the shaft, or by air cooling the springs. The blade root is a planar extruded profile/shape that can be rectangular, rounded <NUM>, one or more circular pins <NUM>, the blade root profile itself <NUM>. The matching socket is shaped to ensure sufficient sliding plane contacts <NUM> to block all rotations and translation in all axes except the radial axis while allowing a slidefit throughout the operating envelope including all operating temperatures and rotational speed conditions.

In order to improve the thermal management of the turbomachinery, it is beneficial to isolate the main gas path from the shaft, bearings and other turbomachinery components. <FIG> depicts the general configurations that provides the isolated "gas" side <NUM> from the "shaft" side <NUM>. Those configurations all provide the advantage of not having a structural component in contact with the bottom of the blade (void from the hub or "hubless"), providing easier thermal implementation with ceramic blade (e.g. Si3N4, SiC), especially in configuration where hot combustion exhaust products gases are acting on the at least two baldes in the "gas" side <NUM>, and the advantage of a lighter structure, therefore able to achieve higher tangential speed of the hot gas path meanline in excess of <NUM>/s. The connection between the blade and the shaft is made through the rim-rotor <NUM> or through the counter-flux thermal insulating substrate <NUM>. The main flow inlet <NUM> can either be located at the inner radius or the outer radius, and the main flow exit <NUM> is at the opposite. Both pure axial flow, and partially radial flow (also known as mixed flow) configuration are possible. In the mixed flow configuration, the inlet angle <NUM> can be at a range of angles between <NUM> and <NUM> degrees relative to the radial plane, with a preferred <NUM> degree to maximize the ratio of inlet radius over exit radius while maintaining structural integrity. The exit angle <NUM> can also be at a range of <NUM> to <NUM> degrees. The gas side <NUM> circumscribes the rim-rotor's inner surface <NUM> and a side face <NUM> of the connecting element <NUM>.

A rim-rotor axial turbine configuration requires the hot gas path to surround the rim-rotor, which is especially problematic for recuperated cycles where the exhaust is re-circulated into the heat-exchanger, coupling the exhaust gas with the fresh air path. Due to the limited temperature resistance of the rim-rotor, including rim-rotors comprised of a fiber (e.g., carbon) polymer rim-rotor, the surroundings of the rim-rotor must be maintained at low temperatures. Therefore, our inventive configuration keeps the hot gas flow path on only one side of the rim-rotor and a cooler section on the other side of the rim-rotor providing considerable cooling and thermal protection advantages, effectively increasing the cycle efficiency and rim-rotor reliability. The configuration provides this thermal separation having similarities to radial and mixed flow turbines, but including a change in flow direction in the meridional plane greater than prior art mixed flow and radial turbines, therefore effectively creating a reversed mixed flow turbine (RMFT). The meridional plane is defined as a plane cutting a turbomachine through a diametral line and the rotating axis. The embodiments are not limited to a single rim-rotor on the outside of the turbine, it can utilize an assembly of multiple (i.e., at least two) rim-rotors providing higher radial preloading as necessary or varying material compositions providing different functions of each material. It is understood that the depictions in the figures are for turbines/expanders but in fact any turbo-machinery including compressors.

<FIG> depicts a rim-rotor reversed mixed flow turbine assembly <NUM>, while <FIG> shows the concept schematically. Hot gas flow meridional inlet <NUM> forms an angle <NUM> smaller than <NUM>° from the hot gas flow meridional outlet <NUM>. In this configuration the hot gas flow makes a change in direction in the meridional plane between <NUM>° and <NUM>°, preferably <NUM>° (calculated as <NUM>° minus the inlet to outlet angle <NUM>). This is larger than the <NUM>° change in direction of radial turbines, much larger than regular mixed flow turbine which are between <NUM>° and <NUM>°, and naturally larger than axial flow turbine where there is no change in direction (<NUM>°). Such change in direction provides a definitive separation between the "gas side" <NUM> and the "shaft side" <NUM>, enabling a more effective cooling feature <NUM> and cooler environment around the rim-rotor <NUM>. This large change in direction also generates a pressure gradient <NUM> as the flow turns reducing pressure at the turbine blade tip <NUM>, effectively reducing tip leakage and associated efficiency losses. The turbine blades are split into two sections, preferably at the point <NUM> where the meridional blade curvature <NUM> is tangent with a radial line <NUM>, to form an outer section that is mostly in compressive loading by being forced outward during rotation into the rim-rotor <NUM>, and an inner section <NUM> that is in tensile loading by being retained at its center. This separation generates an outer section maximal tensile stresses that are at <NUM>% or less than the maximal compressive stresses, and an inner section maximal compressive stresses that are at <NUM>% or less than the maximal tensile stresses. The outer section is subsequently split into at least two separated blade sections <NUM> to avoid any circumferential stresses in those parts, allowing oxidation-resistant material at gas temperature above <NUM> such as ceramics to be used. The inner section <NUM> is a single part containing the exducer section of the blades, and makes a structural connection to the turbine shaft <NUM>. The exducer is the exit blade section that provides the rotor exit angle at the rotor exit for the flow to minimize energy losses at the turbine exit and following diffuser. The lower tangential speed of the exducer section, relative to the turbine tip speed, considerably reduces the stresses in the component compared to traditional single part radial turbines, allowing oxidation-resistant material at gas temperature above <NUM> with tensile strength material above <NUM> MPa at temperature above <NUM> such as monolithic ceramics, especially Si3N4 or SiC, and ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), to be used for this component. Since the rim-rotor <NUM> radial elongation under rotation from <NUM> micron up to <NUM>% of the rim-rotor inner radius and between <NUM> to <NUM> times larger depending on materials and exact geometries than the radial elongation of the exducer section <NUM> backface, a flexible connection must maintain contact between the blades, the rim-rotor and the exducer or directly between the rim-rotor, turbine blades and the turbine shaft to ensure the turbine structural integrity is maintained under rotation. A flexible hub <NUM> that connects the rim-rotor <NUM> and the blade outer section <NUM> to the turbine shaft <NUM> requires advance design features to ensure flexibility, rigidity and strength are sufficient to operate at high rotational speed. One exemplary design feature is using an array of radially compliant springs <NUM> comprised of a cantilevered beam in the radial-axial plane, such as for a functional isotropic material, namely most metallic alloys and specific ceramics. Components in the "shaft side" <NUM>, which includes the hub, rim-rotor and not depicted turbomachine component like bearing(s), electric generator, compressor(s), can be further insulated from the hot components by having a thermal barrier coating or insulation component(s) <NUM> applied onto the backfaces of the blades outer section <NUM> and inner section <NUM>.

Another exemplary embodiment for the turbine connection is further detailed in <FIG>, with a radially deformable thin dome hub <NUM> based on orthotropic material properties to control deformation and strength respectively in the radial and axial axis. The thickness <NUM> of the dome is between <NUM> and <NUM> % of the rim-rotor thickness, preferably <NUM>%, and its curvature in the axial-radial plane <NUM> is between <NUM> and <NUM>% of its outer radius. A dome hub provides an improved and easier sealing capability of the inner cavity <NUM> then an array of compliant springs, therefore reducing drag, particularly preferred drag reduction of <NUM>%, by avoiding air flow exiting and entering the cavity <NUM>. A fiber-polymer composite, including a carbon fiber, is the preferred high strength orthotropic material where the fiber placement adjusts the rigidity in all axes, i.e. radially, axially and tangentially. An exemplary method is a placement of the composite layers on a domed mold with layers made at angles between <NUM> and ±<NUM> degrees between the axial axis and the fibers, preferably at repeated layers at +<NUM> then -<NUM> degree, notably by using the preferred filament winding technique. This fiber placement allows above <NUM>% elastic deformation in the radial-axial plane, and specific strength above <NUM> MPa/(g/cm3) in the radial-axial plane to support its own mass. The dome hub <NUM> is depicted to be inserted between the rim-rotor <NUM> and the outer blade sections <NUM>, but attachment with the dome hub on the outside of the rim-rotor or on the side, or even between the blade section and the cooling features <NUM> are also options, depending on the hub material composition.

As shown on <FIG>, and schematically in <FIG>, the integrity of the turbine can be also maintained by introducing a sliding planes <NUM> between the base of each turbine blade outer section <NUM> and the inner section <NUM>. This angled sliding plan between <NUM>° and <NUM>°, preferably <NUM>°, from the axial axis allows the blade to move freely radially while maintaining contact with the inner section. A spring system, which includes a spring <NUM> and a preloading and locking mechanism <NUM>, ensures an axial force is applied at the back of the blade so the contact on the sliding plane is maintained with sufficient friction that the turbine keeps its structural integrity under rotation. The depicted spring <NUM> is a disc spring with partial radial cuts <NUM> to allow a relative axial position and motion of each blades. Exemplary features to provide the axial force include raw disc springs, coil springs, wounded springs, air springs, fingered dome springs, magnetic or hydraulic mechanism are potential design that would perform the same functions. An insulation component or coatings could be applied at the contact point <NUM> in the instance where the blade outer section is made of ceramic and the springs are metallic.

The individual outer blade sections are further detailed on <FIG>. An integrated outer section <NUM> provides simplicity during the assembly. Flexibility in material selection for each function is better achieved with a separated outer section <NUM>, which includes the insulation substrate <NUM> with insulation and cooling features <NUM>, the rear wall flow guide <NUM>, and the blade <NUM> inserted in a blade holder <NUM>. The outer blade section <NUM> has at most one rear wall flow guide per blade, but can also include multiple blade per rear wall flow guide portion. The rear flow guide <NUM> can be made of a metallic superalloy with oxidation-resistant thermal barrier coatings while the blade <NUM> is made from oxidation-resistant material at gas temperature above <NUM> such as ceramic. Reducing mass of the outer blade section <NUM>, which leads to lower stresses in the rim-rotor <NUM>, is achieved by making the rear wall flow guide partially hollow by removing non-loaded material sections.

<FIG> shows a typical mixed flow turbine inlet velocity triangles. The advantage of the mixed flow turbine as compared to a purely radial turbine is the capability to create a positive inlet blade angle <NUM> while using purely radial blades, meaning that all sections of the blade are attached radially to the supportive section. This advantage is carried over to the rim-rotor reversed mixed flow turbine configuration since the inlet flow has an axial velocity component. The outer section of the reverse mixed flow turbine blade <NUM> is shown in the inlet tangential plane, where the positive blade angle <NUM> allows the inlet flow tangential speed <NUM> to be larger by at least <NUM>%, preferably <NUM>%, than the inlet blade tip velocity <NUM>, resulting in an increased specific power for the same stage efficiency, ultimately resulting in a more compact and efficient engine.

<FIG> illustrates a highly compact turbomachine design where a centrifugal compressor <NUM> is mounted back-to-back with the reversed mixed flow turbine <NUM>, where the distance between the compressor and the radial turbine backfaces is less than <NUM>% of the turbine rim-rotor radius. Such a compact configuration can be connected to a load or an electric generator on an extension of the turbine shaft <NUM> where both the compressor and turbine mass are overhung from the bearings. The high compactness provides a reduction in mass of the turbomachine of a least <NUM>% by reducing thermal insulation needs. Installing the compressor and turbine back faces <NUM> back-to-back removes the drag loss induced between the back faces and a static component preferably reducing the drag by up to <NUM>% versus the configuration where the compressor and turbine are installed separately (i.e., not back to back). In this configuration, the hot section "gas side" <NUM> is kept on one side of the machine, and the cooler section <NUM> is on the other side, reducing thermal heat losses and importantly reducing cooling air requirements notably on the fiber-polymer rim, therefore increasing system efficiency.

<FIG> and <FIG> depicts the rim-rotor reversed mixed flow turbine assembly <NUM> in which there is a radial sliding surface <NUM> of contact between each outer blade section <NUM> and the inner section <NUM>. Under rotational speed, the rim-rotor <NUM> is loaded by the centrifugation of the outer blade sections <NUM> which results in a radial displacement <NUM>. The rim-rotor and outer blade assembly is attached to the shaft through radially compliant springs <NUM> or dome hub <NUM>. To avoid dynamic or sealing issues during operation, the outer blade sections <NUM> and the inner section <NUM> must remain in contact, effectively made on the radial sliding surfaces <NUM>. Those surfaces can be incorporated at the rear wall flow guide <NUM>, and additionally on the side of the blade in the meridional plane <NUM>, creating overlapping surfaces.

Claim 1:
A rim-rotor turbine rotating assembly (<NUM>) comprising:
a hub (<NUM>) adapted to be mounted or connected to a rotating shaft;
a rim-rotor (<NUM>); and
a plurality of blades (<NUM>) with each of the plurality of blades contacting the rim-rotor, each of the plurality of blades operatively connected to the hub by a sliding contact with the hub allowing at least a radial motion between the blades and the hub to compensate for rim-rotor radial deformation under centrifugal loads, the plurality of blades being adapted to be in compression loading against the rim-rotor when in use,
the sliding contact being defined by complementary sliding surfaces between the hub and the blades,
characterized by
the complementary sliding surfaces being at an angle ranging between <NUM> to <NUM> degrees inclusively from a rotational axis in a radial - axial plane.