Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method for detecting the stability margin in a combustor, comprising:providing a measuring device in communication with the combustor, wherein the measuring device generates signals indicative of combustor quantities in the combustor;performing an autocorrelation calculation on the signals to determine the correlation of the signals in the combustor; andcalculating the damping coefficient from the autocorrelation calculation;determining the combustor's proximity to instability based on the damping coefficient; andcontrolling the stability of the combustor based on the determination of the combustor's proximity to instability. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the damping coefficient comprises:determining an oscillatory envelope of data from the autocorrelation calculation; anddetermining the damping coefficient from a fit of the oscillatory envelope. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the oscillatory envelope is calculated from a Hilbert Transform of the autocorrelation calculation data. 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the fit comprises a least squares fit. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the stability margin is estimated from a time rate of change of the damping coefficient. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein an increase of the damping coefficient over time signifies the combustors approach to stable conditions. 7. The method of claim 5, wherein a decrease of the damping coefficient over time signifies the combustors approach to unstable conditions. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein a combustor controller controls combustor parameters to prevent instability in response to the decrease of the damping coefficient over time. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein combustor parameters are selected from the group consisting of engine fuel splits and power output. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the measuring device measures a combustor quantity selected from the group consisting of chemiluminescence, temperature, species concentration, ion current, rotor vibration, combustor can vibration, and casing vibration. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the measuring device measures combustor pressure. 12. A system for detection of stability margin in a combustor, comprising:a measuring device in communication with the combustor, wherein the measuring device generates signals indicative of a combustor quantity; anda stability margin detection unit that receives the signals and performs an autocorrelation technique on the pressure signals to determine the proximity of the combustor to instability. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the measuring device measures a combustor quantity selected from the group consisting of chemiluminescence, temperature, ion current, rotor vibration, combustor can vibration, and casing vibration. 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the measuring device measures pressure in the combustor. 15. The system of claim 12, further comprising a combustor controller for controlling combustor parameters in response to the results of the autocorrelation technique. 16. The system of claim 12, wherein the autocorrelation technique of the stability margin detection unit includes software code that executes the steps of:calculating the autocorrelation data of the signal;determining an oscillatory envelope of the autocorrelation data;determining a damping coefficient from the oscillatory envelope of the autocorrelation data; anddetermining the stability margin based on the value of the damping coefficient. 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the autocorrelation technique is implemented in real-time. 18. The system of claim 16, wherein the stability margin decreases when the damping coefficient decreases over time. 19. The system of claim 16, wherein the stability margin increases when the damping coefficient increases over time. 20. A method for detecting the stability margin in a combustor, comprising:providing a measuring device in communication with the combustor, wherein the measuring device generates signals indicative of a combustor quantity in the combustor;performing an autocorrelation calculation on the signals to determine the correlation of the signals;calculating an oscillatory envelope of data from the autocorrelation calculation;determining a damping coefficient from a fit of the oscillatory envelope;determining the combustor's proximity to instability based on the damping coefficient; andcontrolling the stability of the combustor based on the determination of the combustor's proximity to instability. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the oscillatory envelope is calculated from a Hilbert Transform of the data from the autocorrelation calculation. 22. The method of claim 20, wherein the fit comprises a least squares fit.