Combustor Outlet Temperature Control Using Trimmed Sensor Averaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engines experience degradation over time, leading to increased sensor measurement spread and unreliable operation, which can cause inefficient combustion dynamics, increased NOx emissions, and reduced operational margins due to drifting combustor units.
Innovation Solution
A gas turbine engine design with a control system that excludes highest and lowest temperature measurements from sensor readings to calculate average temperatures, using intermediate measurements to determine a mixer exit temperature command, thereby reducing the impact of extreme conditions and sensor malfunctions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If tight control of can-to-can scatter during manufacturing is implemented, then combustor units remain close to average conditions initially, but measurement spread increases over time due to ageing and deterioration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes extreme temperature measurements (highest and lowest values) from the dataset before calculating the average temperature. This exclusion principle filters out unreliable sensor readings that result from ageing and deterioration, allowing the system to maintain reliable control despite increasing measurement spread over time.
2Productivity
If average temperature control is used for engine operation, then overall engine performance is maintained, but individual combustor units may drift to extreme temperatures reducing operational margins
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the control system continuously monitors temperature measurements from multiple combustor units, excludes extreme values, and adjusts the average temperature setpoint based on the cleaned data. This feedback loop compensates for drift in individual combustor units, maintaining both overall engine efficiency and individual unit reliability within safe operational margins.
3Adaptability or versatility
If all temperature measurements are included in average calculation, then complete data utilization is achieved, but extreme measurements from aged combustors bias the control towards non-optimal conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by removing the highest and lowest temperature measurements from the calculation set. This selective exclusion eliminates biased data from aged or malfunctioning combustor units while retaining sufficient data points for accurate average temperature determination, thus maintaining measurement precision despite incomplete data utilization.
Data Source
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AI summary
A gas turbine engine includes a combustor assembly (5) having a plurality of can combustor units (8) and a control unit (20). Each combustor unit (8) has a first-stage combustor (12), a second-stage combustor (13) and a mixer (15), arranged between the first-stage combustor (12) and the second-stage combustor (13). A first temperature sensor (17a) and a second temperature sensor (17b) provide respective first temperature measurements (STla, ..., STNa) and second temperature measurements (STlb, ..., STNb) of hot gas flowing through the mixer (15) of the respective combustor unit (8) at a respective first location. The control unit (20) calculates a first average temperature (METa) of a first set (Sa) of the first temperature measurements (STla, ..., STNa) and a second average temperature (METb) of a second set (Sb) of the second temperature measurements (STlb, ..., STNb) determines a mixer exit temperature command (METC) as a function of the first average temperature (METa) and of the second average temperature (METb). Highest and lowest first temperature measurements (STla, ..., STNa) and highest and lowest second temperature measurements (STlb, ..., STNb) are excluded from the first set (Sa) and from the second set (Sb).