Patent ID: 7263834

Claim:
A method for cooling a gas turbine system comprising a compressor that takes in suction air on the inlet side and compresses it to compressor end air that is available on the outlet side, a combustor in which a fuel is burned by using the compressor end air while resulting in the formation of hot gas, as well as a turbine in which the hot gas is expanded while providing work output, the method comprising: removing compressed air from the compressor; cooling the removed air; feeding the cooled removed air through thermally loaded components of the combustor and/or the turbine inside an internal cooling channel; cooling the air after it has passed the thermally loaded components; compressing and adding the air to the compressor end air; wherein, in the manner of a targeted leakage, a small portion of the removed air is fed for film cooling into the turbine stream through drilled cooling openings provided on the components; and removing more heat from the air in the cooling steps than is transferred into the air while flowing through the thermally loaded components to an extent as to lower the temperature of the compressor end air below that without adding the removed air.