Patent ID: 7950215

Claim:
A gas turbine combustion system for a turbine engine, comprising: a plurality of combustor baskets positioned circumferentially about a longitudinal axis of the turbine engine; at least one firing nozzle extending into each of the plurality of combustor baskets; a fuel delivery system in communication with each of the at least one firing nozzles and in communication with at least one fuel source; wherein the fuel delivery system includes shutoff valves; wherein each combustor basket of a portion of the plurality of combustor baskets includes at least one shutoff valve of the fuel delivery system inline with each of the at least one firing nozzles in that combustor basket such that fuel flow to that particular combustor basket can be shut off while fuel flow to firing nozzles in other combustor baskets remains unobstructed, thereby permitting a portion of the combustor baskets to remain off while other combustor baskets are firing; and a shutoff valve control system capable of controlling the sequential firing of at least a portion of the plurality of combustor baskets and closing shutoff valves to at least one combustor basket.