Fuel Oxygen Reduction Unit Control via Stripping Gas Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine engines face issues with fuel coking due to inadequate oxygen reduction, leading to potential damage when fuel oxygen sensors fail to provide accurate information, necessitating a backup system to ensure sufficient oxygen removal.
Innovation Solution
A fuel oxygen reduction unit with a contactor, fuel gas separator, and a stripping gas flowpath, utilizing a catalyst and sensors to monitor and control the oxygen level, including a makeup gas source and sensors to determine operability conditions and control the engine's operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If fuel is heated to serve as a heat sink, then combustion efficiency is improved, but fuel coking occurs causing system blockage
Solution Approach 1:
The system removes oxygen from fuel in advance before the fuel is heated and used as a heat sink. By performing oxygen reduction beforehand, the fuel is conditioned to resist coking while still maintaining its heat absorption capabilities, thus resolving the contradiction between improving combustion efficiency and preventing harmful coking.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts oxygen from the fuel through a fuel oxygen reduction unit that uses a stripping gas to remove dissolved oxygen. This extraction of the harmful component (oxygen) allows the fuel to be heated without coking, thereby enabling improved combustion efficiency while eliminating the harmful effect.
2Measurement precision
If fuel oxygen sensors are used to monitor oxygen levels, then fuel oxygen control is improved, but system reliability decreases when sensors fail
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a stripping gas as an intermediary medium to remove oxygen from the fuel. By monitoring the oxygen levels in the stripping gas rather than directly in the fuel, the system gains a reliable measurement method that is less prone to sensor failure and provides indirect but accurate information about fuel oxygen content, thus improving both measurement precision and system reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of directly measuring fuel oxygen content with sensors that are prone to failure, the system measures oxygen content in the stripping gas which serves as a copy or proxy for the fuel oxygen level. This indirect measurement approach maintains measurement precision while improving reliability by using a more stable measurement medium.
3Reliability
If oxygen is removed from fuel to prevent coking, then fuel system reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The stripping gas serves multiple functions: it removes oxygen from the fuel to prevent coking, provides a medium for oxygen level monitoring, and can be recycled back into the system. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate systems for each function, thereby improving fuel system reliability while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system recycles the stripping gas after it has removed oxygen from the fuel, rather than discarding it. This recovery and reuse of the stripping gas reduces the amount of equipment needed and simplifies the overall system design while maintaining reliable oxygen removal capabilities, thus improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
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
Effectively reduces fuel oxygen content, preventing coking and ensuring safe engine operation by providing a backup system for accurate oxygen level determination and control, even when primary sensors fail.
Implementation Method 1
a stripping gas flowpath in flow communication with a stripping gas inlet of the contactor and a stripping gas outlet of the fuel gas separator
Implementation Method 2
the fuel oxygen reduction unit includes a catalyst in flow communication with the stripping gas flowpath
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating a fuel oxygen reduction unit for a vehicle or a gas turbine engine of the vehicle is provided. The fuel oxygen reduction unit including a contactor and a fuel gas separator, and further defining a stripping gas flowpath in flow communication with a stripping gas inlet of the contactor and a stripping gas outlet of the fuel gas separator. The method includes receiving data indicative of a parameter of a stripping gas flow through the stripping gas flowpath or of a component in flow communication with the stripping gas flow through the stripping gas flowpath; and determining an operability condition of the fuel oxygen reduction unit, or a component operable with the fuel oxygen reduction unit, based on the data received indicative of the parameter of the stripping gas flow or of the component in flow communication with the stripping gas flow.