Fuel flow tuning for a stage of a gas turbine engine
AssigneeSiemens Power Generation, Inc.
InventorRobert Bland
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system for controlling combustion in a gas turbine engine (10) includes reducing an overall fuel flow provided to a stage (22) of burners (e.g. 34, 35) of the gas turbine engine until reaching a predetermined dynamic operating condition of the first burner of the stage. The method also includes maintaining, while continuing to reduce the overall fuel flow (e.g. 30), a first portion (e.g. 36), of the overall fuel flow delivered to the first burner at a maintenance level so that the predetermined dynamic operating condition of the first burner is maintained.
Claims20
A method for controlling combustion in a gas turbine engine comprising:
- reducing an overall fuel flow provided to a stage of burners of a gas turbine engine until reaching a predetermined dynamic operating condition of a first burner of the stage;
- and
- maintaining, while continuing to reduce the overall fuel flow, a first portion of the overall fuel flow delivered to the first burner at a maintenance level so that the predetermined dynamic operating condition of the first burner is maintained.
A system for controlling combustion in a gas turbine engine having a stage of burners, the system comprising
- a fuel supply;
- a stage valve receiving a flow of fuel from the fuel supply and controlling an overall fuel flow to a stage of burners;
- a plurality of burner valves that operate separately from each other and the stage valve to independently provide respective burner fuel flows to each of the burners;
- a plurality of dynamic condition sensors for sensing respective dynamic operating conditions of the burners;
- a plurality of flow sensors for sensing an amount of the respective burner fuel flows;
- and
- a controller in communication with the plurality of dynamic condition sensors and the plurality of flow sensors for controlling the stage valve to reduce an overall fuel flow provided to the stage while sequentially reaching respective predetermined dynamic operating conditions of each of the burners and for controlling each of the burner valves while continuing to reduce the overall fuel flow to maintain respective burner fuel flows delivered to the burners so that the predetermined dynamic operating conditions of each burner are maintained.
In a gas turbine combustor comprising at least two stages, a first stage having a plurality of burners and having a dynamic response characteristic being more sensitive to an amount of a fuel flow than a dynamic response characteristic of a second stage, a method for controlling combustion in the combustor comprising:
- reducing an overall fuel flow provided to the first stage while sequentially reaching respective predetermined dynamic operating conditions of each of the burners of the first stage;
- and
- maintaining, while continuing to reduce the overall fuel flow, respective burner fuel flows delivered to the burners at respective maintenance levels so that the predetermined dynamic operating conditions of each burner are maintained.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.