# US 12,066,189 B2 · Method of optimising gas turbine engine combustion equipment performance

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- Number: US 12,066,189 B2
- Document ID: US12066189B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/302,943
- Filed: 2023-04-19
- Published: 2023-11-16
- Granted: 2024-08-20
- Earliest claimed: 2022-05-11
- Assignees: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
- Applicants: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
- Inventors: Haidong Li; Krishnat Sadashiv Patil; Stewart J. Dawson
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12066189B2

## CPC

- F02C 7/22: Fuel supply systems
- F23R 3/34: Feeding into different combustion zones
- F02C 7/228: Dividing fuel between various burners
- F23R 3/28: characterised by the fuel supply (burners F23D)
- F23R 3/343: {Pilot flames, i.e. fuel nozzles or injectors using only a very small proportion of the total fuel to insure continuous combustion (ignition in gas-turbine plants F02C7/264; pilot flame igniters F23Q9/00)}
- F23R 3/346: {for staged combustion}
- F23R 3/46: Combustion chambers comprising an annular arrangement of {several essentially tubular} flame tubes within a common annular casing or within individual casings
- F23R 3/60: Support structures; Attaching or mounting means
- F05D 2230/80: Repairing, retrofitting or upgrading methods
- F05D 2240/35: Combustors or associated equipment
- F05D 2260/80: Diagnostics
- F05D 2270/112: by limiting temperatures
- F05D 2270/303: Temperature
- F23R 2900/00016: Retrofitting in general, e.g. to respect new regulations on pollution
- F23R 2900/00017: Assembling combustion chamber liners or subparts
- F23R 2900/00018: Manufacturing combustion chamber liners or subparts
- F23R 2900/00019: Repairing or maintaining combustion chamber liners or subparts
- F02C: GAS-TURBINE PLANTS; AIR INTAKES FOR JET-PROPULSION PLANTS; CONTROLLING FUEL SUPPLY IN AIR-BREATHING JET-PROPULSION PLANTS (construction of turbines F01D; jet-propulsion plants F02K; construction of compressors or fans F04; generating combustion products of high pressure or high velocity F23R; using gas turbines in compression refrigeration plants F25B11/00)
- F23R: GENERATING COMBUSTION PRODUCTS OF HIGH PRESSURE OR HIGH VELOCITY, e.g. GAS-TURBINE COMBUSTION CHAMBERS (fluidised bed combustion apparatus specially adapted for operation at superatmospheric pressures F23C10/16)
- F05D: INDEXING SCHEME FOR ASPECTS RELATING TO NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES OR ENGINES, GAS-TURBINES OR JET-PROPULSION PLANTS

## Abstract

A method of optimising the performance of combustion equipment of a gas turbine engine includes providing a fuel flow into the combustion equipment via a plurality of fuel injectors circumferentially disposed about a principal rotational axis at a plurality of injector positions; determining a plurality of temperatures of combustion gases at a plurality of circumferential positions downstream of the combustion equipment using a plurality of temperature measurement devices; ranking the plurality of circumferential positions based on the plurality of temperatures of the combustion gases determined using the plurality of temperature measurement devices; and repositioning at least some of the plurality of fuel injectors between the plurality of injector positions based at least on the ranking of the circumferential positions.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of optimising performance of combustion equipment of a gas turbine engine having a principal rotational axis, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a fuel flow into the combustion equipment via a plurality of fuel injectors circumferentially disposed about the principal rotational axis at a plurality of injector positions in a first circumferential arrangement, wherein the fuel is mixed with an air and a mixture of the fuel and the air is combusted to produce combustion gases;
determining a plurality of temperatures of the combustion gases at a plurality of circumferential positions downstream of the combustion equipment using a plurality of temperature measurement devices, wherein the plurality of circumferential positions corresponds to the plurality of injector positions;
ranking the plurality of circumferential positions based on the plurality of temperatures of the combustion gases determined using the plurality of temperature measurement devices, wherein the plurality of circumferential positions is ranked from a hottest circumferential position to a coldest circumferential position; and
repositioning at least some fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors between the plurality of injector positions based at least on the ranking of the plurality of circumferential positions, wherein, after repositioning of the at least some fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors, the plurality of fuel injectors is disposed at the plurality of injector positions in a second circumferential arrangement different from the first circumferential arrangement.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising ranking the plurality of fuel injectors from a lowest temperature fuel injector to a highest temperature fuel injector based on predetermined flow test data, wherein repositioning the at least some fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors is further based on the ranking of the plurality of fuel injectors.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein repositioning the at least some fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors further comprises:
disposing the lowest temperature fuel injector of the plurality of fuel injectors at the injector position of the plurality of injector positions corresponding to the hottest circumferential position of the plurality of circumferential positions; and
disposing the highest temperature fuel injector of the plurality of fuel injectors at the injector position of the plurality of injector positions corresponding to the coldest circumferential position of the plurality of circumferential positions.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein repositioning the at least some fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors further comprises disposing intermediate fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors ranked between the lowest temperature fuel injector and the highest temperature fuel injector at respective injector positions of the plurality of injector positions corresponding to the circumferential positions of the plurality of circumferential positions ranked between the hottest circumferential position and the coldest circumferential position.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
grouping the plurality of circumferential positions into a first channel and a second channel, wherein each of the first channel and the second channel circumferentially extends by 180 degrees with respect to the principal rotational axis;
determining a first average temperature of the temperatures of the plurality of temperatures determined by the temperature measurement devices of the plurality of temperature measurement devices corresponding to the first channel;
determining a second average temperature of the temperatures of the plurality of temperatures determined by the temperature measurement devices of the plurality of temperature measurement devices corresponding to the second channel; and
determining a temperature difference between the first average temperature and the second average temperature;
wherein repositioning the at least some fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors is further based on the temperature difference.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein, after repositioning of the at least some fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors, the temperature difference between the first average temperature and the second average temperature is less than or equal to 15 Kelvin.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of injector positions corresponds to a respective circumferential position of the plurality of circumferential positions with an angular offset having a predetermined angle.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of temperature measurement devices is circumferentially disposed on a nozzle guide vane assembly of a turbine of the gas turbine engine.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising communicably coupling the plurality of temperature measurement devices with a measurement harness.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein repositioning the at least some fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors further comprises detaching the at least some fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors in the first circumferential arrangement from the combustion equipment and attaching the at least some fuel injectors of the plurality of fuel injectors to the combustion equipment at corresponding injector positions of the second circumferential arrangement.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the fuel flow is provided to the combustion equipment during a maintenance of the gas turbine engine.