Detection of oil contamination in engine air
AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorJean-François Perreault
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Abstract
There is described an oil contamination detection system and method. The system comprises a forward sensor package, a rearward sensor package, a catalytic chamber, and a computing device. The method comprises obtaining sensor measurements from the forward sensor package and the rearward sensor package, and detecting the presence of oil in the air flow from the sensor measurements.
Claims20
An oil contamination detection system for an aircraft engine, the engine having a compressor and an oil system, the detection system comprising:
- a forward sensor package mountable to the engine upstream of the compressor and comprising a first set of sensors for obtaining baseline measurements from ambient air;
- a catalytic chamber having a catalytic surface therein for causing a catalytic reaction, the catalytic chamber in fluid communication with an outlet of the compressor;
- a rearward sensor package mountable to the engine downstream from the compressor, the rearward sensor package having a second set of sensors configured for obtaining pre-chamber measurements from engine compressor outlet air upstream of the catalytic chamber, and a third set of sensors configured for obtaining post-chamber measurements from the reacted engine compressor outlet air downstream of the catalytic chamber;
- and
- a computing device comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the forward sensor package and the rearward sensor package, and configured for receiving measurement data comprising the baseline measurements, the pre-chamber measurements, and the post-chamber measurements and detecting a presence of oil in the air from the measurement data.
A method for detecting oil contamination in an air flow bled from an aircraft engine, the engine having a compressor and an oil system, the method comprising:
- obtaining baseline measurements from a first sample of air at a first set of sensors mounted to an engine upstream from the compressor;
- obtaining pre-chamber measurements from a second sample of air at a second set of sensors mounted to the engine downstream from the compressor;
- circulating the second sample of air through a catalytic chamber having a catalytic surface for causing a catalytic reaction;
- obtaining post-chamber measurements from the second sample of air from a third set of sensors mounted to the engine downstream from the catalytic chamber;
- and
- detecting a presence of oil in the air flow from measurement data comprising the baseline measurements, the pre-chamber measurements, and the post-chamber measurements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.