INTEGRATED ELECTRICAL POWER AND THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20150159552A1
• Filed: 11/18/2014
• Published: 06/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rolls-Royce Corporation (Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc)
• Original Assignee: Rolls-Royce Corporation (Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc)
• Inventors: Rodriguez, Rigoberto J., Siegel, William L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,366,182 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2221/00 Electric power distribution systems onboard aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: F02C 6/18 using the waste heat of gas-turbine plants outside the plants themselves, e.g. gas-turbine power heat plants using waste heat as source of energy for refrigeration plants F25B27/02; using the waste heat of a gasturbine for steam generation or in a steam cycle see F01K23/10
• CPC Class Codes: F02C 7/12 Cooling of plants of component parts, see the relevant subclasses, e.g. F01D; cooling of engines in general F01P
• CPC Class Codes: F02C 7/32 Arrangement, mounting, or driving, of auxiliaries
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2220/76 an electrical generator
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2260/20 Heat transfer, e.g. cooling
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 50/60 Efficient propulsion technologies, e.g. for aircraft

Abstract

An electrical power and thermal management system may include a power plant operable to provide power to an electrical generation device. The system may include at least one conversion/distribution assembly configured to provide electrical power to a first electrical bus. The system may also include a thermal management system configured to circulate coolant to at least one heat source. A controller may be in communication with the power plant, the electrical generation device, the conversion/distribution assembly, the electrical power bus, and the thermal management system. The controller may be configured to integrally manage electrical and thermal steady and transient demands, wherein the controller is operable to selectively distribute power to the electrical power bus and regulate produced thermal energy in response to electrical and thermal demands, respectively.

Claims

1. An electrical power and thermal management system, comprising:

a power plant operable to provide motive power to an electrical generation device;

at least one conversion/distribution assembly configured to provide electrical power to a first electrical power bus;

a thermal management system configured to circulate coolant to at least one heat source; and

a controller in communication with the power plant, the electrical generation device, the conversion/distribution assembly, the electrical power bus, and the thermal management system, the controller configured to integrally manage electrical and thermal steady and transient demands, wherein the controller is operable to selectively distribute power to the electrical power bus and regulate produced thermal energy in response to electrical and thermal demands, respectively.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to receive operational parameters representative of electrical load demands and manage the electrical loads in response to the operational parameters.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to assign a priority level so that it is associated with a. plurality of electrical loads and formulate a pulse width modulated control signal based on the assigned priority levels, the controller operable to transmit the control signal to the conversion/distribution assembly for controlling the distribution of electrical power.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to assign the priority levels based on at least one of transient load demands and electrical load demands responsive to operational parameters.

5. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to suppress electrical power distributed to the electrical load assigned with a lowest priority to meet higher priority demands.

6. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the controller is operable to control the amount of electrical power supplied to the first electrical power bus and selectively distribute electrical power to the electrical power bus via the conversion/distribution assembly in response to the load demands.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an energy storage system configured to absorb transient loads and selectively supply electrical power for electrical transients at the direction of the controller.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat source includes at least one of the power plant, the electrical generation device, the conversion/distribution assembly, and an energy storage system.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to manage the thermal energy generated by at least one heat source via at least one of:

temporarily reduce electrical power distributed to the heat source to reduce heat produced from the heat source;

increase coolant, via the thermal management system, in response to increased temperature to extract heat; and

supply heat to and extract heat from the thermal management system in response to excess and deficient thermal energy, respectively.

10. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a second electrical generation device in communication with the controller and the conversion/distribution assembly, wherein the conversion/distribution assembly is configured for variable power sharing between the first and second electrical generation devices to supply electrical power to a common electrical load at the direction of the controller.

11. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to increase output of the power plant to generate additional electrical power, via the electrical generation device, to supply to the electrical power bus, via the conversion/distribution assembly, to meet electrical load demands.

12. A turbine engine comprising:

a compressor having a mid-compression station and an exit pressure station;

a low pressure turbine and a high pressure turbine;

an electrical system configured to supply power in parallel to a first electrical bus and a second electrical bus, the electrical system including;

a first electrical generation device coupled to the low pressure turbine;

a first conversion/distribution assembly coupled to the first electrical generation device operable to supply electrical power to a first electrical power bus;

a second electrical generation device coupled to the high pressure turbine;

a second conversion/distribution assembly coupled to the second electrical generation device operable to supply electrical power to a second electrical power bus;

a thermal management system configured to circulate coolant to at least one heat source;

an energy storage system configure to supply power to am absorb power from the first and second bus;

a controller configured to control operation of the turbine engine; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium, having instructions tangibly embodied thereon, the instructions being executable by a processor to instruct the controller to;

coordinate the electrical power supplied by the first generation device, second generation device, and energy storage system to the first and second power bus;

manage the amount of electrical power supplied to the first and second electoral bus in response to electrical load demands; and

direct the thermal management system to extract heat from the at least one heat source.

13. The turbine engine as claimed in claim 12, wherein the computer readable medium is configured to assign a priority level so that it is associated with a plurality of electrical loads and formulate a pulse width modulated control signal based on the assigned priority levels, the controller operable to transmit the control signal to the conversion/distribution assembly for controlling the distribution of electrical power.

14. The turbine engine as claimed in claim 13, wherein the computer readable medium is configured to assign the priority levels based on at least one of transient load demands and operational parameters representative of electrical load demands.

15. The turbine engine as claimed in claim 14, wherein the conversion/distribution assembly is operable, via the computer readable medium, to suppress electrical power distributed to the electrical load assigned with a lowest priority to meet higher priority demands.

16. The turbine engine as claimed in claim 12, wherein the computer readable medium is configured to selectively supply electrical power from the energy storage system for electrical transients and direct the energy storage system to absorb electrical transients from at least one of the first and second power bus.

17. The turbine engine as claimed in claim 12, wherein the computer readable medium is operable to manage the power output of the turbine engine, wherein the computer readable medium instructs the controller to transfer power between the low pressure and high pressure turbine, and increase electrical power supplied by at least one of the first and second electrical generation device via increasing the output of at least one of the low pressure and high pressure turbine, respectively.

18. The turbine engine as claimed in claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to deposit heat to and extract heat from the thermal management system in response to detecting excess and deficient thermal energy, respectively.

19. A method of operating a turbine engine comprising:

driving a first and second electrical generation device via a first and second engine rotor shaft, respectively, such that the first and second electrical generation device provide variable power in parallel to a first and second power conversion/distribution system;

controlling the amount of power extracted from the first and second generation device to supply power to a first and second electrical bus via the first and second power conversion/distribution system in response to transient and steady electrical demands;

managing power provided to the first and second electrical bus in response to detected operational parameters representative of electrical load demands; and

regulating produced thermal energy and circulating coolant to at least one heat source in response to increased operating temperatures.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, further comprising directing an energy storage device to provide power to an absorb power from the first and second electrical bus.