Flame monitoring of a gas turbine combustor using a characteristic spectral pattern from a dynamic pressure sensor in the combustor
AssigneesSiemens Energy, Inc., Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
InventorsHeiko Claussen, Nancy H. Ulerich, Zainul Momin, Patrick Ronald Flohr
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The state of a flame in a gas turbine engine combustor is acoustically monitored using a dynamic pressure sensor within the combustor. A spectral pattern of a dynamic pressure sensor output signal from the sensor is compared with a characteristic frequency pattern that includes information about an acoustic pattern of the flame and information about acoustic signal canceling due to reflections within the combustor. The spectral pattern may also be compared with a characteristic frequency pattern including information about a flame-out condition in the combustor.
Claims20
A method for monitoring a flame in a gas turbine engine combustor, comprising:
- receiving a dynamic pressure sensor output signal from an acoustic sensor positioned in the gas turbine engine combustor, the output signal being indicative of acoustic oscillations within the combustor;
- making a first comparison of a spectral pattern of the dynamic pressure sensor output signal with a characteristic frequency pattern that includes information about an acoustic spectral pattern of the flame and information about acoustic signal canceling due to reflections of the dynamic pressure sensor output signal within the combustor;
- and
- based on the first comparison, making a determination whether a flame is present in the combustor,
- wherein the first comparison is performed by multiplying the characteristic frequency pattern with the dynamic pressure sensor output signal.
A system for monitoring a flame in a gas turbine engine combustor, comprising:
- an acoustic sensor positioned for measuring acoustic oscillations within the gas turbine engine combustor;
- a processor connected for receiving a dynamic pressure sensor output signal from the acoustic sensor;
- computer readable media containing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the following operations:
- receiving a dynamic pressure sensor output signal from the acoustic sensor, the output signal being indicative of acoustic oscillations within the combustor;
- making a first comparison of a spectral pattern of the dynamic pressure sensor output signal with a characteristic frequency pattern that includes information about an acoustic spectral pattern of the flame and information about acoustic signal canceling due to reflections of the dynamic pressure sensor output signal within the combustor;
- based on the first comparison, making a determination whether a flame is present in the combustor,
- wherein the first comparison is performed by multiplying the characteristic frequency pattern with the dynamic pressure sensor output signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.