General Electric Company
Cylindrical air guide in a turbine engine

Abstract:

An air/oil separator for a gas turbine engine includes a drive shaft having a central axis extending in an axial direction, a free vortex chamber mounted radially around the drive shaft, a separation chamber coupled with the free vortex chamber in the axial direction opposite to the drive shaft, and a rotatable outlet shaft radially rotatable and having an inlet end coupled with the separation chamber opposite to the free vortex chamber, an outlet end, and a hollow interior chamber therebetween. The hollow interior chamber has an inner circumference extending in the axial direction a cylindrical air guide extending coaxially therein. The cylindrical air guide has a nonporous cylindrical main body, an upstream end fixedly coupled with the inlet end of the rotatable outlet shaft, and a downstream end coaxially disposed within the outlet end of the rotatable outlet shaft.