Patent ID: 9612016
Date: 2017-04-04
CPC Classifications: F23M,F23N,G01H,G01K,G01L,G01M,G01N,Y02T

Claim:
1. A flame monitoring method for a plurality of gas turbine engine combustors arranged for combusting fuel in a gas turbine engine, comprising: receiving a first dynamic sensor output signal from a first acoustic sensor positioned in a first gas turbine engine combustor, the first dynamic sensor output signal containing components indicative of first acoustic oscillations generated by a first flame within the first gas turbine engine combustor; receiving a second dynamic sensor output signal from a second acoustic sensor positioned in a second gas turbine engine combustor, the second dynamic sensor output signal containing components indicative of second acoustic oscillations generated by the first flame within the first gas turbine engine combustor and propagated to the second acoustic sensor positioned in the second gas turbine engine combustor; performing a cross-correlation operation on the first and second dynamic sensor output signals to determine a cross-correlation value between the first and second acoustic oscillations, the cross-correlation operation being constrained by a maximum time delay between correlated components of the first and second acoustic oscillations; and based on the cross-correlation value, determining whether the first flame is present within the first gas turbine engine combustor.