Patent ID: 8272201

Claim:
A bearing assembly cooling apparatus, the bearing assembly supporting a rotor stage of a gas turbine engine after engine shutdown, wherein the engine comprises a combustion section, a compressor for delivery of air to the combustion section, and a bearing assembly supporting a rotor stage, the bearing assembly cooling apparatus comprising: a temperature sensor located on a turbine duct wall downstream of an exit from the combustion section such that the temperature sensor extends into a gas path, the temperature sensor generating a signal representative of turbine duct temperature at engine shutdown, a cooling cycle calculator that determines a duration for cooling at engine shutdown as a function of the signal representative of the turbine duct temperature at engine shutdown, and a cooler comprising the compressor operable to deliver cooling air to the rotor stage after engine shutdown for the duration for cooling and thereby limit the amount of heat conducted to the bearing assembly such that a bearing assembly temperature is limited to below a predetermined temperature.