Patent ID: 9267443
Filing Date: 2016-02-23
CPC Classification: F02C,F05D,F23N,F23R,G05B

Claim Text:
1. A method of tuning the operation of a gas turbine, the turbine having turbine controls for controlling operational control elements of the turbine, the operational control elements each facilitating concurrent adjustment to the combustion characteristics of all combustors within the turbine, the operational control elements comprising combustor fuel distribution splits of the fuel circuits of the combustors, fuel gas inlet temperature and fuel/air ratio within the turbine, the method comprising: receiving operational data about the turbine at a tuning controller, the operational data comprising emissions levels and dynamics levels; specifying tuning priorities wherein the specifying comprises selecting or de-selecting one or more tuning priorities or selecting a value in a range for the one or more tuning priorities and wherein the specifying operates to change predetermined operational limits; determining at the tuning controller whether sensed operational data is within the predetermined operational limits and producing one or more indicators if said operational data is not within the predetermined operational limits; ranking the one or more indicators to determine a dominant tuning concern; and tuning the operation of the turbine by selecting an operational control element for adjustment, based on the dominant tuning concern and making an adjustment to the selected operational control element, wherein the tuning priorities comprise one or more selected from the group comprising NOx levels, power level and combustion dynamics, and wherein the specifying of the power level tuning priority comprises selecting or de-selecting the power level tuning priority, and wherein the specifying of NOx levels tuning priority or combustion dynamics tuning priority comprises selecting a value in a range.