AIRCRAFT SYSTEM

摘要

An aircraft capable of operating at a variety of speeds includes a power plant and an auxiliary turbine. The auxiliary turbine can be a ram air turbine used to expand and cool an airflow and provide work. The cooled airflow from the auxiliary turbine can be used in a heat exchange device such as, but not limited to, a fuel/air heat exchanger. In one embodiment the cooled airflow can be used to exchange heat with a compressor airflow being routed to cool a turbine. Work developed from the auxiliary turbine can be used to power a heating device and rotate a device to add work to a shaft of the aircraft power plant. In one form the aircraft power plant is a gas turbine engine and the work developed from the auxiliary turbine is used to heat a combustor flow or to drive a shaft that couples a turbine and a compressor.

主权项

1. An apparatus comprising:
an aircraft capable of operating over a range of Mach numbers; an aircraft power plant structured to provide power to the aircraft and having a combustor, the aircraft power plant characterized by a thermodynamic cycle; and a ram air turbine that receives a working fluid and that rotates to produce a power when the working fluid traverses therethrough, wherein the ram air turbine is structured to extract work from the working fluid and provide one of heat or work to the thermodynamic cycle of the aircraft power plant.