Patent ID: 8262356

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a cover member defining a rotor chamber adjacent to a rotor wheel that supports a rotating blade in a turbine, the cover member including: a first aperture for introducing a cooling gas stream into the rotor chamber, wherein the cover member partially defines a flow path for the cooling gas stream through the rotor chamber; a second aperture positioned in a radially outward portion of the cover member relative to the first aperture, the second aperture adapted to allow a first portion of the cooling gas stream to exit the rotor chamber through the cover member, wherein the second aperture is further adapted to allow particulates in the cooling gas stream to exit the rotor chamber through the cover member; and a seal sealing an outer extremity of the cover member from the rotor chamber to a support ring of a casing of the turbine, the seal located radially inward of the second aperture.