Engine Bleed Offtake Status Detection Using Plenum Differentials
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for determining the status of turbofan engine bleed offtakes are costly, prone to malfunction, and add significant weight to the engine, leading to potential false data and maintenance downtime.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a sensing system that measures temperature and pressure differentials between upstream and downstream plenums within the gas turbine engine to determine the operational status of bleed offtakes, eliminating the need for sensors on individual pipes and reducing maintenance frequency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If sensors are installed on individual bleed offtake pipes to determine engine status, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and weight increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple sensing functions into a single plenum chamber location. Instead of installing sensors on individual bleed offtake pipes throughout the engine, the invention consolidates measurements to detect pressure differentials and flow conditions at one centralized location (the plenum), thereby reducing the number of sensors and simplifying the overall sensing system architecture while maintaining engine status detection capability
Solution Approach 2:
The plenum chamber serves as an intermediary measurement location that indirectly reflects the status of multiple bleed offtakes. By measuring pressure differentials and flow conditions in the plenum (which receives combined flow from multiple sources), the system can infer the operational status of individual bleed lines without directly sensing each pipe, thus reducing complexity while preserving measurement precision
2Reliability
If multiple sensors are deployed on individual pipes for comprehensive monitoring, then reliability is improved, but maintenance downtime and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the sensing function from individual bleed offtake pipes and relocates it to the plenum chamber. This extraction eliminates the need to access and maintain multiple distributed sensors on difficult-to-reach pipes, consolidating maintenance activities to a single accessible location while preserving the reliability of bleed offtake monitoring through indirect plenum measurements
3Measurement precision
If sensors are installed on individual bleed offtake pipes, then measurement precision is improved, but weight of the engine increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple sensing operations into a single measurement location at the plenum chamber. By combining the detection of pressure differentials and flow conditions from multiple bleed sources into one centralized measurement point, the system eliminates the weight of multiple individual sensors and their mounting hardware distributed throughout the engine, thereby reducing overall engine weight while maintaining measurement precision
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces costs, maintenance downtime, and weight while effectively detecting operational issues and latent failures in the gas turbine engine, providing accurate health status indicators.
Implementation Method 1
a first parameter (e.g., a temperature, a pressure, a temperature or pressure differential, etc.) is measured at a first plenum of a downstream position and a second parameter (e.g., a temperature, a pressure, a pressure differential, etc.) is measured at a second plenum of an upstream position
Implementation Method 2
a first parameter (e.g., a temperature, a pressure, a temperature or pressure differential, etc.) is measured at a first plenum of a downstream position and a second parameter (e.g., a temperature, a pressure, a pressure differential, etc.) is measured at a second plenum of an upstream position
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus to determine engine status with plenum measurements are disclosed. A disclosed example apparatus for use with a gas turbine engine having bleed offtakes includes at least one sensor on or within the gas turbine engine, the at least one sensor to measure at least one parameter corresponding to: a first plenum within a casing of the gas turbine engine, the first plenum positioned at or downstream of a volume at which flows from respective ones of the bleed offtakes are combined, and a second plenum within the casing, the second plenum positioned upstream of the first plenum, and an interface to communicatively couple the at least one sensor to a controller, the controller to determine a status of the bleed offtakes based on the at least one parameter.