Patent ID: 7997083

Claim:
A method for detecting a lean blowout in a combustion can of a gas turbine engine, the method comprising: detecting a shift in generated power output that does not result from a changing fuel demand; determining that the shift in generated power output results from a lean blowout in a combustor; transmitting a signal to a turbine controller to initiate action to increase margin to lean blowout in all combustors; and implementing a response increasing margin to lean blowout for all combustors; wherein the step of detecting a shift in generated power output that does not result from a changing fuel demand comprising calculating Fuel Normalized Power (FNP) according to: where Power is represented in Driven Megawatts at the output of the generator; Fuelref represents Total Fuel Reference demand supplied to the machine; and Fuelref FSNL represents Fuel Reference required at Full Speed No Load; and wherein the step of detecting a shift in generated power output that does not result from a changing fuel demand further comprising: tracking the calculated FNP; applying a filter to the calculated FNP to establish a filtered FNP; tracking the filtered FNP; and determining a difference between the filtered FNP and the calculated FNP; and wherein the step of determining that the shift in generated power output results from a lean blowout in a combustor comprising: determining if the difference between the filtered FNP and the calculated FNP exceeds a predetermined threshold.