Gas-turbine combustor having an air-cooled shield-plate protecting its end closure dome

Claim 1

In a gas-turbine combustion chamber extending longitudinally from an upstream end which comprises: longitudinal side walls opposite one another bounding said combustion chamber; a transverse dome-shaped closure at said upstream end connecting said side walls and mechanically uniting the same to form an integral box-like structure capable of withstanding mechanical stresses; a transverse shield-plate within said chamber extending adjacent to and spaced inwardly of said dome-shaped closure to thermally screen the same, said shield-plate being so mounted with respect to said integral structure as to be substantially unaffected by mechanical stresses withstood thereby; and prevaporized fuel injecting means projecting into said combustion chamber from said dome-shaped closure through said shield-plate and having a portion bent back to discharge fuel in an upstream direction towards and onto the downstream-facing side of said shield-plate; wherein the improvement comprises means positioned between said dome-shaped closure and said shield-plate to partition the space between said dome-shaped closure and the upstream-facing side of said shield-plate into a plenum; compressed air passage means opening through said dome-shaped closure into said plenum to feed the same with compressed air and to cool said shield-plate by impact on said upstream-facing side thereof by air jets formed by said passage means; and a plurality of outwardly-inclined elemental nozzles extending through said shield-plate from said plenum and having a total cross-sectional area which is substantially smaller than the total cross-sectional area of said compressed air passage means, said elemental nozzles functioning to issue high-velocity air jets from the air located in said plenum through said shield-plate whereby any liquid fuel streaming over said downstream-facing side is atomized by said high-velocity air jets and said air jets increase local turbulence adjacent said downstream-facing side.