Nonintrusive performance measurement of a gas turbine engine in real time
First Claim
1. A method for actively monitoring a mass flow rate of gas through a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- receiving output signals generated by a plurality of acoustic sensors located on a first measurement plane, the output signals being indicative of thermoacoustic oscillations having contributions from acoustic signals from at least one acoustic transmitter in a gas flow path of the gas turbine engine wherein the at least one acoustic transmitter is located on a second measurement plane spaced apart from the first measurement plane wherein the first and second measurement planes are arranged transverse to the gas flow path and wherein the first and second measurement planes define a measurement zone that includes anticipated temperature variations in the gas flow path, the plurality of acoustic sensors and the at least one acoustic transmitter defining line-of-sound paths relative to each other in the gas flow path wherein the line-of-sound paths are located within the measurement zone;
determining, using a computer processor, a time-of-flight for the acoustic signals traveling along each of the line-of-sound paths;
processing, by the computer processor, the times-of-flight for the acoustic signals traveling along each of the line-of-sound paths to determine speeds of sound and gas flow velocity vectors along each of the line-of-sound paths;
computing, by the computer processor, a volumetric flow rate based on the of gas flow velocity vectors in the gas flow path and further based on a flow path geometry;
computing, by the computer processor, a gas density based on the speeds of sound along each of the line-of-sound paths and further based on a measured static pressure in the gas flow path; and
computing, by the computer processor, the gas mass flow rate based on the gas density and the volumetric flow rate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Performance of a gas turbine engine is monitored by computing a mass flow rate through the engine. Acoustic time-of-flight measurements are taken between acoustic transmitters and receivers in the flow path of the engine. The measurements are processed to determine average speeds of sound and gas flow velocities along those lines-of-sound. A volumetric flow rate in the flow path is computed using the gas flow velocities together with a representation of the flow path geometry. A gas density in the flow path is computed using the speeds of sound and a measured static pressure. The mass flow rate is calculated from the gas density and the volumetric flow rate.
89 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for actively monitoring a mass flow rate of gas through a gas turbine engine, comprising:
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receiving output signals generated by a plurality of acoustic sensors located on a first measurement plane, the output signals being indicative of thermoacoustic oscillations having contributions from acoustic signals from at least one acoustic transmitter in a gas flow path of the gas turbine engine wherein the at least one acoustic transmitter is located on a second measurement plane spaced apart from the first measurement plane wherein the first and second measurement planes are arranged transverse to the gas flow path and wherein the first and second measurement planes define a measurement zone that includes anticipated temperature variations in the gas flow path, the plurality of acoustic sensors and the at least one acoustic transmitter defining line-of-sound paths relative to each other in the gas flow path wherein the line-of-sound paths are located within the measurement zone; determining, using a computer processor, a time-of-flight for the acoustic signals traveling along each of the line-of-sound paths; processing, by the computer processor, the times-of-flight for the acoustic signals traveling along each of the line-of-sound paths to determine speeds of sound and gas flow velocity vectors along each of the line-of-sound paths; computing, by the computer processor, a volumetric flow rate based on the of gas flow velocity vectors in the gas flow path and further based on a flow path geometry; computing, by the computer processor, a gas density based on the speeds of sound along each of the line-of-sound paths and further based on a measured static pressure in the gas flow path; and computing, by the computer processor, the gas mass flow rate based on the gas density and the volumetric flow rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for actively monitoring a mass flow rate of gas through a gas turbine engine, comprising:
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at least one acoustic transmitter mounted to the gas turbine engine for transmitting acoustic signals in a gas flow path of the gas turbine engine wherein the at least one acoustic transmitter is located on a first measurement plane; a plurality of acoustic sensors mounted to the gas turbine engine for receiving thermoacoustic oscillations having contributions from the acoustic signals in the gas flow path, wherein the plurality of acoustic sensors is located on a second measurement plane spaced apart from the first measurement plane wherein the first and second measurement planes are arranged transverse to the gas flow path and wherein the first and second planes define a measurement zone that includes anticipated temperature variations in the gas flow path, the plurality of acoustic sensors being further for generating output signals indicative of the thermoacoustic oscillations, the plurality of acoustic sensors and the at least one acoustic transmitter defining line-of-sound paths relative to each other in the gas flow path of the gas turbine engine wherein the line-of-sound paths are located within the measurement zone; a processor connected to the plurality of acoustic sensors for receiving the output signals; and computer readable media containing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the following operations; determining a time-of-flight for the acoustic signals traveling along each of the line-of-sound paths; processing the times-of-flight for the acoustic signals traveling along each of the line-of-sound paths to determine speeds of sound and gas flow velocity vectors along each of the line-of-sound paths; computing a volumetric flow rate based on the of gas flow velocity vectors in the gas flow path and further based on a flow path geometry; computing a gas density based on the speeds of sound along each of the line-of-sound paths and further based on a measured static pressure in the gas flow path; and computing the gas mass flow rate based on the gas density and the volumetric flow rate. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon for execution by a processor to perform operations for actively monitoring a mass flow rate of gas through a gas turbine engine, the operations comprising:
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receiving output signals generated by a plurality of acoustic sensors located on a first measurement plane, the output signals being indicative of thermoacoustic oscillations having contributions from acoustic signals from at least one acoustic transmitter in a gas flow path of the gas turbine engine wherein the at least one acoustic transmitter is located on a second measurement plane spaced apart from the first measurement plane wherein the first and second measurement planes are arranged transverse to the gas flow path and wherein the first and second measurement planes define a measurement zone that includes anticipated temperature variations in the gas flow path, the plurality of acoustic sensors and the at least one acoustic transmitter defining line-of-sound paths relative to each other in the gas flow path wherein the line-of-sound paths are located within the measurement zone; determining, using the processor, a time-of-flight for the acoustic signals traveling along each of the line-of-sound paths; processing, by the processor, the times-of-flight for the acoustic signals traveling along each of the line-of-sound paths to determine speeds of sound and gas flow velocity vectors along each of the line-of-sound paths; computing, by the processor, a volumetric flow rate based on the of gas flow velocity vectors in the gas flow path and further based on a flow path geometry; computing, by the processor, a gas density based on the speeds of sound along each of the line-of-sound paths and further based on a measured static pressure in the gas flow path; and computing, by the processor, the gas mass flow rate based on the gas density and the volumetric flow rate.
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Specification