Remote Compressor Surge Detection in Turbine Engines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for detecting compressor surge in turbine engines are costly and time-consuming, particularly when implementing local sensors and controllers across a fleet of engines, making it impractical for retrofitting existing systems and requiring significant resources for monitoring and algorithm updates.
Innovation Solution
A remote monitoring system that utilizes existing sensors on turbine engines to continuously collect and transmit operating parameter measurements to a central unit, performing data quality checks and analyzing snapshots for compressor surge detection, allowing for real-time monitoring and reduced costs by leveraging existing infrastructure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If local sensors and controllers are installed on each turbine engine to detect compressor surge, then detection accuracy and real-time monitoring capability are improved, but system cost and implementation complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses existing sensors and controllers on turbine engines to create a virtual copy of the monitoring system by transmitting operational data to a remote server. The server analyzes this copied data to detect compressor surge events, eliminating the need for dedicated local surge detection hardware while maintaining detection accuracy through centralized analysis capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a communication network and remote server as intermediaries between the turbine engine sensors and the surge detection algorithm. This intermediary architecture allows existing engine sensors to be utilized for surge detection by mediating data transmission and centralized processing, reducing overall system complexity while preserving measurement precision.
2Reliability
If local sensors and controllers are deployed across a fleet of turbine engines, then comprehensive surge monitoring is achieved, but cost and time for fleet-wide implementation become prohibitive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal remote monitoring system that can serve multiple turbine engines across an entire fleet through a single centralized server. This multi-functional architecture allows one server to analyze data from numerous engines simultaneously, achieving fleet-wide surveillance coverage without requiring individual local systems on each engine, thereby dramatically reducing implementation time and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the surge detection functionality from multiple individual engine systems into a single centralized remote server. By combining data processing capabilities and algorithm execution on one server that receives data from multiple engines, the system achieves comprehensive fleet monitoring while reducing the total number of components needed and accelerating deployment across the fleet.
3Speed
If dedicated local controllers are installed on each turbine engine for surge detection, then real-time detection capability is improved, but cost of sensors and installation becomes prohibitively expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual monitoring system by copying operational data from existing engine sensors to a remote server for analysis. This approach maintains real-time detection speed because data is continuously transmitted and analyzed on the server, while eliminating the need for expensive dedicated local controllers and specialized sensors on each engine.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables existing turbine engine sensors and controllers to serve dual purposes: their original function plus surge detection. By utilizing the self-service capability of existing components to provide monitoring data, the system achieves real-time detection without requiring additional specialized hardware, thereby reducing system cost while maintaining detection speed.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method (300) for remote detection of surge in a fleet of turbine engines includes monitoring operating parameters indicative of an operational condition and a thermodynamic condition of each turbine engine of the fleet of turbine engines, the operational condition including a compressor exit condition. The method includes continuously transmitting, to an on-site monitoring device operating parameter measurements representative of the operational condition and compiling the operating parameter measurements into a periodic snapshot of the operating parameter measurements. In addition, the method includes transmitting, to a remote monitoring unit, the snapshot of operating parameter measurements, and detecting surge (316, 320) in each turbine engine (10) of the fleet of turbine engines based on the snapshot of operating parameter measurements.