TECHNICAL FIELD

The embodiments described herein are generally directed to a vane in a gas turbine engine, and, more particularly, to a fin to improve the internal cooling of one or more walls of a nozzle guide vane.

BACKGROUND

Gas turbine engines for power generation typically comprise a first stage (e.g., in the compressor and/or turbine) that intakes air through a nozzle comprising nozzle guide vanes. In the turbine section, the walls of these vanes have a region, near the trailing edge (i.e., the aft of the vane, downstream from the throat), that is difficult to keep cool. Temperatures in this region can exceed material and coating limits. If the temperature is excessive, the vane wall can bulge outward into the flow path of the air, oxidize, and/or deform under the mechanical stress. While techniques exist to cool the vane wall on the pressure side (e.g., through-wall film cooling), the usage of such techniques to cool the vane wall on the suction side generally result in large penalties in turbine performance.

U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2015/0267557 illustrates an existing vane comprising an insert to aid in cooling of the vane wall. However, the insert poses manufacturing problems. In addition, the insert is not capable of extending into the trailing-edge region of the vane. Thus, such an insert is incapable of improving the cooling of the vane wall in the trailing-edge region.

The present disclosure is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems discovered by the inventors.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a nozzle guide vane is disclosed that comprises: a casing having an upstream end and a downstream end, wherein the casing comprises a first suction-side wall from the leading end to the trailing end, a first pressure-side wall from the leading end to the trailing end, a first internal cavity between the first suction-side wall and the first pressure-side wall, and a plurality of partial pins that extend from the first suction-side wall and the first pressure-side wall partially into the first internal cavity; an insert having an upstream end and a downstream end, wherein the insert comprises a second suction-side wall, a second pressure-side wall, and a second internal cavity between the second suction-side wall and the second pressure-side wall, wherein the insert is configured to fit within a slot in the first internal cavity between the partial pins extending from the first suction-side wall and the partial pins extending from the first pressure-side wall; and a fin configured to fit within the slot between the downstream end of the insert and the downstream end of the casing.

