Low pressure compressor control for a gas turbine engine
AssigneeRtx Corporation
InventorDaniel Bernard Kupratis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gas turbine engine includes a low speed spool mechanically interconnecting a low pressure turbine and at least one of a fan and a prop, a high speed spool mechanically interconnecting a high pressure turbine and a high pressure compressor, and an epicyclic gear system mechanically coupled to the high speed spool. The gas turbine engine also includes a low pressure compressor mechanically coupled to the high speed spool via the epicyclic gear system. The low pressure compressor may be mechanically independent of the low speed spool. The gas turbine engine may include a plurality of motor-generators for transferring power between the high speed spool and the low pressure compressor.
Claims14
A method of operating a gas turbine engine, the method comprising:
- determining, by one or more processors, a first operating speed of a high speed spool of the gas turbine engine;
- and
- based on the first operating speed, controlling, by the one or more processors, a second operating speed of a low pressure compressor of the gas turbine engine, wherein the low pressure compressor is mechanically independent of a low speed spool of the gas turbine engine, wherein:
- determining the first operating speed of the high speed spool comprises determining a first rate of change of the first operating speed, and
- in response to the first rate of change increasing, the second operating speed of the low pressure compressor of the gas turbine engine is increased via a motor generator.
A method of operating a gas turbine engine, the method comprising:
- determining, by one or more processors, a first operating speed of a high speed spool of the gas turbine engine;
- and
- based on the first operating speed, controlling, by the one or more processors, a second operating speed of a low pressure compressor of the gas turbine engine, wherein the low pressure compressor is mechanically independent of a low speed spool of the gas turbine engine, wherein:
- determining the first operating speed of the high speed spool comprises determining a first rate of change of the first operating speed, and
- in response to the first rate of change decreasing, a second rate of change of the second operating speed of the low pressure compressor of the gas turbine engine is reduced faster than the first rate of change of the first operating speed.
A control system including a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
- determining, by the one or more processors, a first operating speed of a high speed spool of a gas turbine engine;
- and
- based on the first operating speed, controlling, by the one or more processors, a second operating speed of a low pressure compressor of the gas turbine engine, wherein the low pressure compressor is mechanically independent of a low speed spool of the gas turbine engine, wherein:
- the controlling the second operating speed further comprises determining, by the one or more processors, a first rate of change of the first operating speed, and
- in response to the one or more processors determining the first rate of change is increasing, commanding, by the one or more processors, a first motor generator and a second motor generator to transfer a first fraction of a first mechanical rotational energy of the low pressure compressor to a third motor generator to improve a stability of a high pressure compressor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.