Patent ID: 9032703
Filing Date: 2015-05-19
Classification: F23N,F23R

Abstract:
1. In a gas turbine engine that includes a compressor and a combustor, wherein the combustor includes a primary fuel injector within a fuel nozzle and a secondary fuel injector upstream of the fuel nozzle, a system for detecting a flame about the secondary fuel injector, the system comprising: a first pressure sensor that detects an upstream pressure upstream of the secondary fuel injector; a second pressure sensor that detects a downstream pressure downstream of the secondary fuel injector; means for determining a measured pressure difference between the upstream pressure and the downstream pressure; and means for comparing the measured pressure difference to an expected pressure difference; wherein the combustor comprises a combustion chamber, and the fuel nozzle comprises a position directly upstream of the combustion chamber; wherein the expected pressure difference comprises a pressure difference that is expected when there is no flame about the secondary fuel injector; wherein the means for determining the measured pressure difference comprises a transducer operably connected to detect the pressure difference between the upstream pressure and the downstream pressure; wherein the means for comparing the measured pressure difference to an expected pressure difference comprises a computer-implemented controller; wherein the computer-implemented controller is configured to determine the expected pressure difference via at least one of a) consulting a stored value; and b) calculating by applying an algorithm to parameters of the gas turbine engine and measured operating conditions; and wherein the computer-implemented controller is configured to indicate that there is a flame about the secondary fuel injector in response the difference between the expected pressure difference and the measured pressure difference exceeding a predetermined threshold.