Design and Verification of Multi-Step Blade Tip Clearance Control System for Large Gas Turbine Using Hydraulic Pressure

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 347-353
Author(s):  
Yeong Chun Kim ◽  
Seok In Cho ◽  
Yang Uk Cho ◽  
Heui Joo Park
Author(s):  
Richard Grzybowski ◽  
George Foyt ◽  
Hartwig Knoell ◽  
William Atkinson ◽  
Josef Wenger

This paper describes the development of a Microwave Tip Clearance Measurement System for use in the gas turbine environment Applications for this sensor include basic tip clearance measurements, seal wear measurement and active blade tip clearance control in gas turbine engines. The system being developed was designed for useful operation to temperatures exceeding 1093°F, since only ceramic materials are directly exposed in the gas path. Other advantages of this microwave approach to blade tip clearance sensing include the existence of an inherent self-calibration in the sensor that permits accurate operation despite temperature variations and possible abrasion by the rotating blades. Earlier experiments designed to simulate this abrasion of the sensor head indicated that rubs as deep as 1 mm (40 mils) were easily tolerated. In addition, unlike methods based upon phase measurements, this method is very insensitive to cable vibration and length variations. Finally, this microwave technique is expected to be insensitive to fuel and other engine contamination, since it is based on the measurement of resonant frequencies, which are only slightly affected by moderate values of loss due to contamination.


Author(s):  
Weimin Wang ◽  
Huajin Shao ◽  
Xing Shao ◽  
Kailiang Song

Blade tip clearance (BTC) measurement and active clearance control (ACC) have been and continue to be a fundamental concern in turbomachinery, which are closely bound up with the efficiency and reliability. This paper addresses the BTC measurement and ACC experimental study based on eddy current pulse-trigger method (ECPTM). And the implementation of ACC by axial displacement of the blisk is novel and this paper is the first to present the technique. The purpose of this paper is three fold. The first portion of this paper addresses the BTC measurement in different rotating speeds based on the larger scale rig, where a high-bandwidth (100 kHz) eddy current sensor (HECS) is employed. The results show that the relative errors of BTC values are not much bigger than 20%. The result indicates that ECPTM is more generally applicable in the condition where the eddy current sensor (ECS) is insufficient sampling caused by the limit of narrow bandwidth, especially under the high linear velocity condition. The second portion of this paper describes the ACC system where an electro-hydraulic proportional position control system (EHPPCS) is employed as the actuator. EHPPCS has the advantages of small size, fast response, resistance to load stiffness, large output and simple operation, which is widely applicable to the automatic control system of industrial power. This system optimizes the geometry shapes of casing and the blade tips to create a linear relationship of BTC values related to the axial displacement of the rotor. The BTC values can be transferred into axial displacement of the rotor, and then a voltage/current-BTC values characteristic can be obtained by employing EHPPCS in different rotating speeds. Unfortunately, one of the core components of EHPPCS is an overflow valve with a non-linear and time-variable voltage/current-pressure characteristic. Besides, the pressure-axial displacement characteristic of tilting pad thrust bearing is also non-linear. All those non-linear characteristics make it unsatisfactory to use the conventional PID control algorithm to achieve effective control of the system, which cause many difficulties in controlling of axial displacement of the rotor. So the last portion of this paper is the experimental study on ACC based on the above system by adopting sliding mode adaptive control of nonlinear system (SMACNS). The BTC values have been obtained under different outlet pressures by changing the current in different rotating speeds. The results indicate that this approach has nice robustness and smooth controlled quantity, and can overcome the difficulty caused by nonlinearity, parameter uncertainty and load disturbance. And then, the precision verification and error analysis are made. However, this work is a proof-of-concept demonstration using a laboratory setup providing the basis for BTC active control and blade health monitoring (BHM) based on ECS.


Author(s):  
Eric B. Holmquist ◽  
Peter L. Jalbert

New and future gas turbine engines are being required to provide greater thrust with improved efficiency, while simultaneously reducing life cycle operating costs. Improved component capabilities enable active control methods to provide better control of engine operation with reduced margin. One area of interest is a means to assess the relative position of rotating machinery in real-time, in particular hot section turbo machinery. To this end, Hamilton Sundstrand is working to develop a real-time means to monitor blade position relative to the engine static structure. This approach may yield other engine operating characteristics useful in assessing component health, specifically measuring blade tip clearance, time-of-arrival, and other parameters. UTC is leveraging its many years of experience with engine control systems to develop a microwave-based sensing device, applicable to both military and commercial engines. The presentation will discuss a hot section engine demonstration of a blade position monitoring system and the control system implications posed by a microwave-based solution. Considerations necessary to implement such a system and the challenges associated with integrating a microwave-based sensor system into an engine control system are discussed.


Author(s):  
A. G. Sheard ◽  
B. Killeen

It is difficult to make a reliable measurement of running clearance in the hostile environment over the blading of a modern gas turbine. When engine manufacturers require the measurement to be made over every blade during live engine tests, system reliability, ruggedness and ease of operation are of primary importance. This paper describes a tip clearance measurement system that can measure clearance over every blade around a rotor. The measurement system concept is presented, and the system design described in detail. Commissioning of the measurement system on a compressor test facility, and the results obtained are discussed. An analysis of system performance during the commissioning trials concludes the paper.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Sheard

This paper describes a capacitance-based tip clearance measurement system which engineers have used in the most demanding turbine test applications. The capacitance probe has survived extended use in a major European gas turbine manufacturer's high-temperature demonstrator unit, where it functioned reliably at a turbine entry temperature in excess of 1800 degrees Kelvin. This paper explores blade by blade tip clearance measurement techniques and examines probe performance under laboratory conditions in support of high-temperature installations. The paper outlines the blade by blade tip clearance measurement technique and describes the experimental facility used to study tip clearance measurement. The paper also fully describes the method used to calibrate the measurement system in order to ascertain measurement accuracy. The paper clarifies how the practical problems were overcome associated with making blade by blade tip clearance measurements in both compressor and turbine environments. Since its initial development, gas turbine development programmes have routinely used the clearance measurement system. The inherent robustness of the system has resulted in reliable in-service measurement of clearance in real world applications.


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