Systems and methods for regulating fuel and reactive fluid supply in turbine engines

A turbine engine configured to operate at a rated power output, said turbine engine comprising:

• a compressor;
• a combustor section coupled downstream from said compressor, wherein said combustor section comprises at least one combustor, each said at least one combustor comprises a plurality of nozzles;
• a control system coupled to said at least one combustor, said control system comprising:
• a sensor coupled to each said at least one combustor, said sensor configured to detect at least one operating parameter of each said at least one combustor and to transmit the at least one operating parameter associated with each said at least one combustor to a computing device;
• a computing device configured to receive the at least one operating parameter from said sensor, said computing device comprising a processor programmed to calculate an amount of fluid to be supplied to each said at least one combustor based on the at least one operating parameter, said processor further programmed to designate at least one nozzle of said plurality of nozzles of each said at least one combustor to receive the fluid, wherein said at least one nozzle comprises fewer than all of said plurality of nozzles of each said at least one combustor;
• and
• at least one control valve coupled to said computing device, said computing device modulates said at least one control valve to regulate the fluid to said at least one nozzle and a fuel channeled into said at least one combustor via any of said plurality of nozzles, wherein the fluid is discrete from the fuel, said at least one control valve is configured to receive at least one control parameter from said computing device for use in regulating the fluid to be channeled to said at least one nozzle such that the rated power output is generated while emission levels are maintained below a predefined emissions threshold level.

A method for use in operating a turbine engine configured to operate at a rated power output, said method comprising:

• calculating an amount of fluid to be supplied to a combustor of the turbine engine based on at least one operating parameter detected by a sensor coupled to the combustor;
• designating, via a computing device, at least one nozzle of a plurality of nozzles of the combustor to receive the fluid, wherein the at least one nozzle comprises fewer than all of the plurality of nozzles;
• modulating at least one control valve to regulate the fluid to the at least one nozzle and a fuel channeled into the combustor via any of the plurality of nozzles, wherein the fluid is discrete from the fuel;
• transmitting at least one control parameter to the at least one control valve;
• and
• channeling the fluid to the at least one nozzle based at least in part on the at least one control parameter such that the rated power output is generated while emission levels are maintained below a predefined emissions threshold level.