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US 8,984,886 B2Granted
Systems and methods of operating a catalytic reforming assembly for use with a gas turbine engine system
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsChetan Babu Velkur, Hasan Karim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for operating a catalytic reforming assembly. The method includes injecting a quantity of oxidizer gas and a quantity of combustion gas into a reformer to form a mixture. The mixture is channeled across a catalyst bed to form a reformate gas stream. A temperature of the catalyst bed is measured using at least one temperature sensor. A level of the oxidizer gas in the reformate stream is measured using at least one oxidizer gas sensor. A health of the catalyst bed is determined based on at least one of a catalyst bed temperature measurement and an oxidizer gas level.
Claims19
A method for operating a catalytic reforming assembly, said method comprising:
- injecting a quantity of oxidizer gas and a quantity of combustion gas into a reformer to form a mixture;
- channeling the mixture across a catalyst bed to form a reformate gas stream;
- measuring a temperature at a plurality of points throughout the catalyst bed using a plurality of temperature sensors;
- measuring a level of the oxidizer gas in the reformate stream using a plurality of oxidizer gas sensors positioned at a plurality of exit-plane locations across an exit plane of the catalyst bed;
- and
- determining a health of the catalyst bed at each of a plurality of bed locations of the catalyst bed based on a measured temperature at a corresponding point of the plurality of points and a measured level of the oxidizer gas at a corresponding downstream location of the plurality of exit-plane locations;
- and
- adjusting a quantity of oxidizer gas injected at each of the plurality of bed locations based on the determined health of those locations.
5 more elements
A catalytic reforming assembly for use with a gas turbine engine system, said catalytic reforming assembly comprising:
- a catalytic reformer coupled in flow communication with a combustion gas source for channeling a flow of combustion gas to said catalytic reformer, said catalytic reformer comprising a catalyst bed;
- at least one injector coupled to said catalytic reformer for injecting a quantity of an oxidizer gas into said catalytic reformer to form a mixture including at least one of the oxidizer gas and the combustion gas, said mixture is channeled across said catalyst bed to form a reformate stream;
- a plurality of temperature sensors, each temperature sensor is coupled at one of a plurality of points throughout said catalytic reformer for measuring a temperature of said catalyst bed at each of said plurality of points;
- a plurality of oxidizer gas sensors positioned at a plurality of exit-plane locations across an exit plane of said catalyst bed and coupled to said catalytic reformer for measuring a level of the oxidizer gas at each of said plurality of exit-plane locations in said reformate stream;
- and
- a controller coupled to said plurality of temperature sensors and to said plurality of oxidizer gas sensors, said controller configured to determine a health of said catalyst bed at each of a plurality of bed locations of said catalyst bed based on a measured temperature at a corresponding point of said plurality of points and a measured level of the oxidizer gas at a corresponding downstream location of said plurality of exit-plane locations and adjust a quantity of oxidizer gas injected at each of the plurality of bed locations based on the determined health of those locations.
3 more elements
A gas turbine engine system comprising:
- a compressor;
- a combustor in flow communication with said compressor to receive at least some of the air discharged by said compressor;
- and
- a catalytic reforming assembly coupled in flow communication with said combustor, said catalytic reforming assembly comprising:
- a catalytic reformer coupled in flow communication to a combustion gas source for channeling a flow of combustion gas to said catalytic reformer, said catalytic reformer comprising at least one catalyst bed;
- at least one injector coupled to said catalytic reformer for injecting a quantity of an oxidizer gas into said catalytic reformer to form a mixture including at least one of the oxidizer gas and the combustion gas, said mixture is channeled across said catalyst bed to form a reformate stream;
- a plurality of temperature sensors, each temperature sensor is coupled at one of a plurality of points throughout said catalytic reformer for measuring a temperature of said catalyst bed at each of said plurality of points;
- a plurality of oxidizer gas sensors positioned at a plurality of exit-plane locations across an exit plane of said catalyst bed and coupled to said catalytic reformer for measuring a level of the oxidizer gas at each of said plurality of exit-plane locations in said reformate stream;
- and
- a controller coupled to said plurality of temperature sensors and to said plurality of oxidizer gas sensors, said controller configured to determine a health of said catalyst bed at each of a plurality of bed locations of said catalyst bed based on a measured temperature at a corresponding point of said plurality of points and a measured level of the oxidizer gas at a corresponding downstream location of said plurality of exit-plane locations and adjust a quantity of oxidizer gas injected at each of the plurality of bed locations based on the determined health of those locations.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.