Patent ID: 7909565

Claim:
A method of cooling a rotor of a turbo-machine having a compressor, comprising: flowing a cooling flow of a fluid through the rotor of the turbo-machine during a rotary operation following a load operation of the turbo-machine, providing the cooling flow through a feed passage arranged at the compressor-side end of a rotor shaft of the rotor; and influencing the cooling flow using an actuating arrangement, wherein the cooling flow is prevented during the load operation of the turbo-machine, wherein the actuating arrangement is in fluid connection with a plurality of discharge passages, used to discharge the cooling flow, via gaps formed between a plurality of moving-blade wheels and an element projecting axially through the rotor shaft of the rotor, and wherein each of the plurality of discharge passages includes a throttle element for controlling an amount of the cooling flow flowing through a respective one of the plurality of discharge passages, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of throttle elements are configured to provide a decreased amount of the cooling flow into a respective one of the plurality of discharge passages with increased axial distance from the actuating arrangement relative to an upstream throttle element.