Combustion monitoring system
AssigneeGE Inspection Technologies, LP
InventorMichael Charles Spalding
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems, methods, and computer readable medium are provided for determining interferometric data and spectral data associated with combustion conditions of a flame in a combustion chamber using a sensor head including a first vacuum cavity, a diaphragm operatively interfaced to an inner portion of the combustion chamber, and an optical sensor interrogator configured on a computing device and coupled to the sensor head via optical fibers. The optical sensor interrogator including an interferometer configured to determine interferometric data associated with the flame based on light transmitted and reflected via a first optical fiber and a spectrometer configured to determine spectral data associated with the flame based on light transmitted via a second optical fiber.
Claims20
A combustion monitoring system comprising:
- a computing device, including a data processor;
- a sensor head assembly including a sensor head affixed to a combustion chamber, the sensor head comprising:
- a first sized vacuum cavity located in a first position within the sensor head, and
- a diaphragm including a first surface positioned opposite the first sized vacuum cavity and a second surface operatively interfaced to an inner portion of the combustion chamber,
- wherein the sensor head is configured to measure combustion conditions of a flame in the combustion chamber based on light transmitted via optical fibers;
- and
- an optical sensor interrogator configured on the computing device and coupled to the sensor head via a plurality of optical fibers, the optical sensor interrogator including:
- an interferometer coupled to the sensor head and configured to determine interferometric data associated with the flame based on the light transmitted to and reflected from the sensor head via a first optical fiber, the interferometer further including a Fizeau wedge projecting an interference pattern associated with the reflected light onto a charge-coupled device in order to determine one or more combustion characteristics based on the interferometric data;
- a first spectrometer coupled to the sensor head and configured to:
- digitize a first portion of a spectrum of light, and
- determine spectral data associated with the flame based on the digitized first portion;
- and
- a second spectrometer coupled to the sensor head and configured to:
- digitize a second portion of the spectrum of the light, and
- determine additional spectral data associated with the flame based on the digitized second portion.
A method comprising:
- transmitting light to a sensor head via a first optical fiber, the sensor head affixed to a combustion chamber and configured to measure combustion conditions of a flame in the combustion chamber based on the transmitted light;
- receiving light reflected from the sensor head via the first optical fiber;
- determining interferometric data based on the reflected light received via the first optical fiber, the determining further comprising
- projecting, using an interferometer, an interference pattern associated with the reflected light, the interferometer further including a Fizeau wedge projecting an interference pattern associated with the reflected light onto a charge-coupled device in order to determine one or more combustion characteristics based on the interferometric data;
- providing the interferometric data;
- digitizing a first portion of a spectrum of the light associated with the flame;
- determining spectral data associated with the flame based on the digitized first portion;
- digitizing a second portion of the spectrum of the light, and
- determining additional spectral data associated with the flame based on the digitized second portion.
A non-transitory machine readable storage medium comprising program instructions, which when executed, cause one or more data processors to perform operations comprising:
- transmitting light to a sensor head via a first optical fiber, the sensor head affixed to a combustion chamber and configured to measure combustion conditions of a flame in the combustion chamber based on the transmitted light;
- receiving light reflected from the sensor head via the first optical fiber;
- determining interferometric data based on the reflected light received via the first optical fiber, the determining further comprising
- projecting, using an interferometer, an interference pattern associated with the reflected light, the interferometer further including a Fizeau wedge projecting an interference pattern associated with the reflected light onto a charge-coupled device in order to determine one or more combustion characteristics based on the interferometric data;
- providing the interferometric data;
- digitizing a first portion of a spectrum of the light associated with the flame;
- determining spectral data associated with the flame based on the digitized first portion;
- digitizing a second portion of the spectrum of the light, and
- determining additional spectral data associated with the flame based on the digitized second portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.