Methods of Si based ceramic components volatilization control in a gas turbine engine

A method of controlling volatilization of silicon based components in a gas turbine engine, the method comprising:

• measuring temperature of turbine exhaust gas, fuel flow, water content of the turbine exhaust gas, and a component temperature of the gas turbine engine;
• correlating each of the temperature of the turbine exhaust gas, the fuel flow, the water content and the component temperature to determine an effective amount of silicon to control volatilization of the silicon based components in the gas turbine engine;
• and
• injecting the effective amount of silicon into the gas turbine engine to control volatilization of the silicon based components.

A gas turbine engine system comprising:

• a compressor;
• a combustion system;
• a turbine section;
• an injector adapted to inject silicon into the combustion system;
• and
• a controller, wherein the controller includes programming for:
• measuring, estimating and/or predicting a variable related to operation of the gas turbine engine;
• correlating the variable to determine an effective amount of silicon to control volatilization of silicon based components in the gas turbine engine;
• comparing the effective amount of silicon to a maximum amount of silicon;
• and
• injecting the lesser of the effective amount of silicon and the maximum amount of silicon into the gas turbine engine to control volatilization of the silicon based components.