Patent Document ID: 9453767
Application ID: 14132001
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for actively monitoring temperature in a combustor of a gas turbine engine, comprising: placing in a gas turbine combustor at least one acoustic transmitter and at least one thermoacoustic sensor that is oriented in a distinct line-of-sound path from the transmitter, the sensor capable of generating sensor output signals indicative of thermoacoustic oscillations, including combustion thermoacoustic oscillations and wherein the combustor includes at least one sensor that is in pressure communication with combustor working gasses; coupling the at least one transmitter and the at least one sensor to a controller that is capable of causing the at least one transmitter to transmit acoustic signals within the combustor and capable of correlating sensor output signals with combustion conditions, including at least combustion temperature; transmitting acoustic signals from the at least one transmitter; receiving the acoustic signals from the at least one acoustic transmitter and generating dynamic sensor output signals with the at least one thermoacoustic sensor that includes contributions of the received acoustic signals; determining, using a processor, the time-of-flight for the acoustic signals traveling along each of the line of sound paths; processing, via a processor, the time-of-flight for the acoustic signals traveling along the line of sound paths to determine respective combustor path temperature along each respective line-of-sound path; and determining bulk temperature within the combustor by: identifying one or more acoustic frequencies in a respective sensor output signal; determining, for each of the one or more acoustic frequencies, a first bulk temperature value, T, that is directly proportional to each one of the one or more acoustic frequencies and a calculated constant value corresponding to each of the one or more acoustic frequencies; comparing the bulk first temperature value determined for each of the one or more frequencies to the path temperature and, for each of the one or more frequencies, changing the calculated constant values to recalculated constant values based on the comparison; and determining subsequent first temperature values at the first location based on further identified acoustic frequencies.