Patent 9121309 was granted and assigned to MTU Aero Engines on September, 2015 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A gas turbine including at least one compressor, one combustion chamber, and at least one turbine including at least one rotor and at least one generator coupled to the at least one rotor is provided. The at least one turbine is coupled to the at least one compressor. Once the gas turbine is shut down, the at least one generator can be used as a motor in order to drive the at least one rotor for a predetermined time period following shutdown of the gas turbine and thereby effect a uniform cooling of the rotor. A method of operating a gas turbine is also provided.