Patent ID: 11965424
Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 18:
19. An overspeed protection system for providing overspeed protection for a gas turbine engine, the gas turbine engine having an engine shaft, the overspeed protection system comprising:
at least one torque sensor;
a controller communicatively coupled to the at least one torque sensor, the controller comprising at least one processor, the at least one processor configured to perform a plurality of operations, the plurality of operations comprising:
monitoring a torque of the engine shaft;
determining at least one additional condition of the engine shaft;
receiving an engine shutdown command;
as a result of receiving the engine shutdown command, changing a torque threshold from a first torque threshold value to a second torque threshold value to test the overspeed protection system, the second torque threshold value higher than the first torque threshold value; and
determining an overspeed condition of the gas turbine engine as a result of the torque of the engine shaft being below the second torque threshold value of the torque threshold and the at least one additional condition of the engine shaft is indicative of the gas turbine engine being in an operational state, the overspeed condition being indicative of an above normal rotational speed of the engine shaft; and
initiating a shutdown procedure for the gas turbine engine in response to the determined overspeed condition to reduce the rotational speed of the engine shaft.