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In the next picture, corresponding to a GEnx engine, what is the item circled in red?

Aft end of GEnx engine

Thank you very much again.

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1 Answer 1

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The pipe is the center vent tube which vents air from the oil sump.

From airliners.net (User MD11Engineer):

All gas turbine engines use pressurized seals for their shaft bearing compartments to keep the oil in. The result is that the scavenge oil returning to the oil tank via the scavenge pump, chip detectors and scavenge filter contains a lot of air, it is more a foam than a liquid.

Engines use a centrifugal oil / air separator in the circuit to remove the air from the oil and to vent the system to the ambient to avoid overpressure.

PW and RR use centrifuges attached to their main gear box, which vent overboard through a hole in the cowling.

GE and CFM use the hollow N1 shaft as a centrifuge. The heavier oil sticks to the inside of the shaft and gets returned into the circuit via holes, while the lighter air stays in the center and gets blown out through the pipe in the back.

The air blown out is not completely free of oil, so when the engine has just been shut down, you´ll see some oil vapor coming out from this pipe.

Center vent

Source: www.airliners.net

Similar vent is found in other GE engines, like the GE90.

GE 90

Source: airwaysnews.com

The system looks like this:

Air System Schematic

Source: CFM56-3 Training Manual, thanks to mins.

This is the actual part in GE90-100:

GE90-100 Central vent tube assembly

Source:standardaerocomponents.com

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    $\begingroup$ CFM56-3 Training manual, multiple diagrams with the vent tube and the oil scavenge system (search vent or oil in the document). Example. $\endgroup$
    – mins
    Sep 16, 2015 at 9:45
  • $\begingroup$ @mins This is a much better diagram, if you ask me. If its OK with you, I'll add it to the answer (with proper credits, of course) $\endgroup$
    – aeroalias
    Sep 16, 2015 at 15:13

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