Hybrid turbine starter for a gas turbine engine
AssigneesUnison Industries, LLC, General Electric Company
InventorsPhuc Huynh, Nagendra Baddam
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A Hybrid Turbine Starter (HTS) for a gas turbine engine. The HTS has a turbine member, a turbine shaft, an electric machine, and a Power Electronic Converter (PEC). The electric machine has a rotor and an electric machine drive shaft. The PEC has a current sensor, a voltage sensor, and a controller module. The controller module is configured to selectively supply a sequence of electrical pulses to the electric machine.
Claims20
A Hybrid Turbine Starter (HTS) for a gas turbine engine, the HTS comprising:
- a turbine member;
- a turbine shaft coupled to the turbine member;
- an electric machine having a rotor and an electric machine drive shaft, the electric machine drive shaft being rotatable about a rotational axis and selectively coupled to the turbine shaft;
- and
- a Power Electronics Converter (PEC) module, comprising:
- a current sensor configured to provide a current signal indicative of a current supplied to the electric machine from a supply of electrical power;
- a voltage sensor configured to provide a direct current (DC) voltage value indicative of a voltage supplied to the electric machine from the supply of electrical power;
- and
- a controller module configured to, during a mode of operation of the electric machine:
- supply an electrical power from the supply of electrical power to the electric machine;
- receive the current signal and the DC voltage value based on the supply of electrical power to the electric machine;
- and
- based on the current signal and the DC voltage value, determine an instantaneous rotational position of the rotor.
A method of operating a Hybrid Turbine Starter (HTS) during a mode of operation, the HTS comprising a turbine member, a turbine shaft coupled to the turbine member, an electric machine having a rotor and an electric machine drive shaft selectively coupled to the turbine shaft, and a Power Electronics Converter (PEC), the method comprising:
- supplying, via the PEC, a supply of electrical power to the electric machine;
- receiving, via the PEC, a current signal from a current sensor indicative of a current being supplied to the electric machine from the supply of electrical power;
- receiving, via the PEC, a direct current (DC) voltage value from a voltage sensor indicative of a voltage being supplied to the electric machine from the supply of electrical power;
- and
- based on the current signal and the DC voltage value, determining, via the PEC, a rotational orientation of the rotor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.