Tangential Combustor

Abstract

A combustion section for a gas turbine includes a casing defining a chamber, a plurality of combustor cans disposed in the casing and oriented in an annular pattern, and a plurality of transition pieces each coupled with one of the combustor cans. The transition pieces direct products of combustion from the combustor cans into contact with rotating buckets of the gas turbine. Each of the transition pieces is angled in two planes to effect turning of the products of combustion and to shorten the gas turbine.

1 . A combustion section for a gas turbine including rotating buckets that are driven by products of combustion from the combustion section, the combustion section comprising:
 a casing defining a chamber;   a plurality of combustor cans disposed in the casing and oriented in an annular pattern; and   a plurality of transition pieces each one coupled with one of the combustor cans and directing the products of combustion from the combustor cans into contact with the rotating buckets, wherein the transition pieces are angled tangentially relative to an axial flow direction.   
     
     
         2 . A combustion section according to  claim 1 , wherein all of the combustor cans and the transition pieces are correspondingly angled tangentially relative to the axial flow direction. 
     
     
         3 . A combustion section according to  claim 1 , wherein the combustor cans and the transition pieces are angled to effect a proper angle of incidence to extract work with the rotating buckets. 
     
     
         4 . A combustion section according to  claim 1 , wherein ends of the plurality of transition pieces are turned. 
     
     
         5 . A combustion section according to  claim 4 , wherein the ends of the plurality of transition pieces are turned up to 30°. 
     
     
         6 . A combustion section according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transition pieces comprise throttling vanes. 
     
     
         7 . A combustion section according to  claim 6 , wherein the throttling vanes are formed by contouring sides of the transition pieces. 
     
     
         8 . A combustion section for a gas turbine including rotating buckets that are driven by products of combustion from the combustion section, the combustion section comprising:
 a casing defining a chamber;   a plurality of combustor cans disposed in the casing and oriented in an annular pattern; and   a plurality of transition pieces each coupled with one of the combustor cans and directing the products of combustion form the combustor cans into contact with the rotating buckets, wherein each of the transition pieces is angled in two planes to effect turning of the products of combustion and to shorten the gas turbine.   
     
     
         9 . A combustion section according to  claim 8 , wherein the two planes comprise a circumferential plane and a tangential plane. 
     
     
         10 . A method of directing products of combustion into contact with rotating buckets of a gas turbine, the method comprising:
 orienting a plurality of combustor cans in an annular pattern in a combustor casing;   providing a plurality of transition pieces one each coupled with each of the combustor cans; and   angling the transition pieces tangentially relative an axial flow direction.   
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 10 , wherein all of the combustor cans and the transition pieces are correspondingly angled tangentially relative to the axial flow direction. 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 10 , wherein the angling step is practiced by angling the transition pieces to effect a proper angle of incidence to extract work with the rotating buckets. 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 10 , further comprising flowing products of combustion from the combustor cans through the transition pieces into contact with the rotating buckets. 
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 13 , wherein the flowing step comprises turning the products of combustion in a tangential direction relative to the annular pattern and turning the products of combustion in an axial direction toward the rotating buckets. 
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 14 , wherein the angling step comprises integrating the transition pieces with respective turning vanes of the rotating buckets.