Single dynamic pressure sensor based flame monitoring of a gas turbine combustor

A system for monitoring a flame in a gas turbine engine combustion chamber, comprising:

• a single acoustic sensor positioned for measuring acoustic oscillations within a combustor of the gas turbine engine combustion chamber;
• a processor connected for receiving a dynamic pressure sensor output signal from the single acoustic sensor;
• computer readable media containing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the following operations:
• receiving the dynamic pressure sensor output signal from the single acoustic sensor, the output signal being indicative of acoustic oscillations within the combustor;
• performing an autocorrelation operation on the dynamic pressure sensor output signal to identify time-separated portions of the signal having autocorrelation values;
• based on the autocorrelation values, making a determination whether the time-separated portions of the signal include portions indicative of acoustic oscillations emitted by the flame in the combustor and received directly by the single acoustic sensor, and portions indicative of reflections of the acoustic oscillations emitted by the flame;
• and
• based on the determination, determining whether a flame is present in the combustor.

A method for monitoring flame status in a combustor in a gas turbine engine combustor, comprising:

• receiving, for the combustor, a dynamic pressure sensor output signal from a single acoustic sensor positioned in the combustor, the dynamic pressure sensor output signal being the only received signal indicative of acoustic oscillations within the combustor;
• performing signal processing operations on the dynamic pressure sensor output signal;
• and
• based on results of the signal processing operations, determining the flame status in the combustor.