Patent Application
20150114221
Gas turbines, which may also be referred to as combustion turbines, are internal combustion engines that pressurize air and add heat to the pressurized air by combusting fuel in a chamber to increase the temperature of gases composed of the air and the combusted fuel. The hot gases are then directed toward a turbine to extract energy by expanding the hot gases. Gas turbines have many practical applications, including use as jet
Gas turbines are exposed to a variety of atmospheric and environmental factors during normal operation. It is industry practice to equip stationary gas turbines with an inlet air filtration system to prevent atmospheric and environmental matter from entering the turbine. The filters in such systems must be cleaned or replaced from time to time to maintain the performance of the inlet air filtration system. Many air filtration systems are equipped with a self-cleaning system that pulse cleans filters by directing a “puff” or blast of air into the filters to dislodge particles and debris. Often such discharges of air are controlled by a control system that uses timers and solenoid valves sequencing to release compressed air to generate the puffs of air directed at the filters. While having clean filter increases the lifespan of a gas turbine, filter cleaning may reduce the lifespan of a filter as such cleaning causes wear to the filter. Cleaning also uses resources, such as power. Therefore, a gas turbine operator will seek to improve filter efficacy and lifespan and reduce resource utilization by better controlling filter cleaning frequency and duration.
In an exemplary non-limiting embodiment, a system may include a gas turbine and filter house controller configured to obtain geospatial data, and determine filter cleaning parameters based on the geospatial data. In another exemplary non-limiting embodiment, a method is disclosed for obtaining geospatial data for an area in which a gas turbine is located and determining filter cleaning parameters for the gas turbine based on the geospatial data. In another exemplary non-limiting embodiment, a gas turbine filter house controller may include a memory including instructions and a processor coupled to the memory that, when executing the instructions, obtains geospatial data for an area in which a gas turbine is located and determines filter cleaning parameters for the gas turbine based on the geospatial data.
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description, is better understood when read in conjunction with the drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the claimed subject matter, there is shown in the drawings examples that illustrate various embodiments; however, the invention is not limited to the specific systems and methods disclosed.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present subject matter will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In an embodiment, geospatial atmospheric and environmental factors (referred to herein as “geospatial data”) may be used to help determine when to initiate a filter system cleaning for a filter system used with a gas turbine. Geospatial data commonly takes the form of raster data or vector data. Raster data may be composed of a grid of cells, with each cell having a value. The most common type of data used in a raster cell is a color value, such as those that used in many digital image formats, though other types of data may instead be used in raster cells. The color of a raster cell in geospatial data may be cross referenced with an associated legend that provides information about the data that each color represents.
In some embodiments, a raster cell value may be a raw data value that may later be depicted as a particular color, shade, pattern, or transparency in a visual display of the data. A raster cell value may also be a compound value, such as a data type which includes or incorporates both a wind speed and a wind direction component.
Raster data may also include raw image data, such as a photograph or drawing.
Vector data may be one or more sets of data necessary to form one or more geometrical primitives and a value or values associated with the geometrical primitive. A geometrical primitive may include a point, line, curve, shape, or polygon. For example, a set of data necessary to form a circle may include an indication that what is to be formed is a circle, the radius of the circle, and the location of the center of the circle. Each geometrical primitive may be associated with one or more values. As discussed herein, the associated value may include data relating to pollen, airborne sea salt, dust, smoke, ash, SO2 gas, sulfate aerosols, temperature, wind, cloud formations, precipitation, precipitation type, humidity, and barometric pressure. For example,
Geospatial data may also be converted from one data type to another. For example, raster data may be converted into vector data and vice versa. Geospatial data may also be converted to other data types useful for a geographic information system. For example, photographic raster data or a plurality of photographic raster data may be converted into a single numeric value or ranking representing some aspect of the photographic raster data. To illustrate, the photographic raster data 300 shown in
Geospatial data may be obtained from a satellite system, a radar system, and/or other sources. A satellite system may provide geospatial data by use of a photographic camera, an infrared camera, a radiation sensor, radar, lidar, and/or any other remote sensing equipment. The geospatial data provided by a satellite system may include data relating to, but not limited to, pollen, airborne sea salt, dust, smoke, ash, SO2 gas, sulfate aerosols, and any other particulate matter. A satellite system may also provide geospatial data relating to the temperature, wind, cloud formations, and/or elevation. For example,
Geospatial data may be obtained using a ground-based radar system. A ground-based radar system may provide some of the same geospatial data as a satellite system, including data relating to pollen, airborne sea salt, dust, smoke, ash, and cloud formations. A ground-based radar system may also provide geospatial data relating to precipitation.
Another exemplary source of geospatial data may be an aerial surveillance system. Similar to a satellite system, an aerial surveillance system may make use of a photographic camera, an infrared camera, a radiation sensor, radar, lidar, and/or any other remote sensing equipment mounted on an airplane or other flying vehicle.
Geospatial data is not limited to being obtained from a single source, but may include of aggregated data from a plurality of sources. For example, the geospatial data may be formed by aggregating data, such as any of the aforementioned types or other types such as precipitation type, humidity, and barometric pressure, from a network of weather stations. Furthermore, obtaining geospatial data is not limited to obtaining geospatial data directly from the aforementioned sources, but also includes indirectly obtaining geospatial data from the aforementioned sources by way of a third party such as an Internet resource, a national weather service, or an atmospheric research center.
The geospatial data may be historical, projected, estimated, calculated, real-time, or a combination thereof. Historical geospatial data includes geospatial data relating to past conditions. For example, historical geospatial data may include data relating to the accumulated precipitation in an area over a past period of time.
Projected geospatial data includes geospatial data relating to future conditions. For example, projected geospatial data may take a form similar to that illustrated in
Real-time geospatial data includes geospatial data relating to a present condition. Real-time geospatial data as discussed herein refers to data relating to a condition that occurred in a time span ranging from the instant of the condition occurrence to a time necessary to accommodate the time-delay introduced by automated data processing and/or network transmission. For example, an instance of real-time geospatial data may include data relating to a condition as it existed at the current time minus the processing and transmission time. Real-time geospatial data may include data relating to a condition that occurred within several seconds.
In an embodiment, location data for an area may be used in conjunction with geospatial data. Location data may include the location of a gas turbine. Location data is not limited to a single location, but may also include a plurality of locations. Location data may take a form reconcilable with the forms of other location data, such as a geographical location component of geospatial data. Location data may include a pair of latitude and longitude coordinates. Location data may also include an elevation component. Location data is not limited to a discrete location, such as a set of latitude and longitude coordinates, but may also define a location more broadly, such as the location that includes an area within a two mile radius of a particular set of latitude and longitude coordinates.
Geospatial data and location data of an area may be used by a geographic information system. A geographic information system may be a system that can store, manipulate, analyze, and present geospatial data.
The geospatial data representation of
As disclosed herein, a geographic information system may receive, process, and store geospatial data along with location data of an area associated with a gas turbine. The geographic information system may adjust the coordinate systems of either or both of geospatial data and location data of a gas turbine so that the respective coordinate systems are consistent. A geographic information system may analyze the geospatial data and create a representation of the geospatial data. The creation of a representation of geospatial data may include converting raster data to vector data form, vector data to raster data form, and raster or vector data to relational database data or to any other form. The creation of a representation of geospatial data may also include little or no conversion, depending on the input form and the form useful to the geographic information system. The geographic information system may also combine, for example by intersection, more than one set of geospatial data to form a single geospatial representation of that data.
A geographic information system may correlate the coordinates of location data (e.g., the location of one or more gas turbines) with corresponding geospatial data for that set of coordinates, thus determining an environmental factor for the location. The geographic information system may receive more than one set of geospatial data and therefore may determine more than one environmental factor for a location. The geographic information system may also present the geospatial data representation and the location in a graphical display so that they may be visually correlated by a user.
In an embodiment, one or more operating factors relating to a gas turbine may be determined or obtained. An operating factor may be historical, projected, real-time, or any combination thereof. An operating factor may include a variety of data relating to a current operational status of a gas turbine. Examples of an operating factor include a temperature within various sections of the gas turbine, an exhaust temperature, shaft revolution speed, pressure ratio, load, power output, a compressor vane angle, a weight of a filter or filters installed at the gas turbine, a differential pressure across the inlet air filter or filters, and an airflow rate at a filter or filters installed at the gas turbine. An operating factor may also be a more static factor such as a model of the gas turbine, models of the parts composing the gas turbine, and properties of the materials of which the gas turbine and its parts are constructed. An operating factor may also relate to the time at load, starts, and maintenance performed on the gas turbine.
A historical operating factor may be based on one or more past events or conditions. For example, a historical operating factor may be based on the accumulated time at load or the number of starts of a gas turbine. Other historical operating factors may be the rate of change of differential pressure across the inlet air filter or filters or the rate of change of an airflow rate at a filter or filters installed at a gas turbine. Furthermore, a historical operating factor may be based on a set of one or more past exhaust temperature readings.
A projected operating factor is an operating factor based on one or more future events or conditions. Examples of a projected operating factor include the projected total time at load one year in the future or the projected number of maintenance services performed on the gas turbine by ten years in the future. Other projected operating factors may be the differential pressure across the inlet air filter or filters or the airflow rate at a filter or filters installed at the gas turbine. A projected operating factor may also include a single projected piece of data, as opposed to an aggregated set, such as a projected internal temperate at a time one year in the future.
A real-time operating factor may be based on one or more events or conditions occurring at the present time. A real-time operating factor may include the current shaft revolution or the current power output of a gas turbine, for example. A real-time operating factor refers to a factor relating to an event or condition that occurred in a time span ranging from the instant of the event or condition occurrence to a time necessary to accommodate the time-delay introduced by automated data processing and/or network transmission. In other words, a real-time operating factor may include data relating to an event or condition as it existed at the current time minus the processing and transmission time. A real-time operating factor usually includes data relating to an event or condition which occurred within several seconds.
An operating factor may also be a combination of historical operation factors, projected operating factors, and real-time operating factors. For example, a running average of an exhaust temperature would include historical exhaust temperatures and a real-time exhaust temperature.
As will be appreciated, there are disadvantages to performing filter cleaning too frequently or infrequently. Cleaning filters too often may result in excessive wear of the filters, while not cleaning filters often enough may allow damaging particulate matter to enter the gas turbine, promoting turbine and compressor erosion and shortening gas turbine component lifespan. Using embodiments set forth herein, a turbine system operator may schedule filter cleaning based on data relating to the environmental conditions to which gas turbine system 900 is exposed.
In an embodiment, filter house control system 951, configured as part of, or in communication with, microprocessor-based gas turbine controller 950, may control filter cleaning system 915 to start, stop, and otherwise control the cleaning of filters 914. Note that filter house control systems as described herein may be a system, device, component, or controller, or any combination and number thereof, that sets filter cleaning parameters or otherwise affects filter cleaning of a gas turbine. Filter house control system 951 and/or gas turbine controller 950 may be communicatively connected to, or otherwise have control over, any of the components of system 900, including components used during a filter cleaning. Such connectivity may be provided using wired means or wireless means. Such connectivity is not shown in the figure for ease of illustrating the disclosed embodiments, but one skilled in the art will recognize how control of components by filter house control system 951 and/or gas turbine controller 950 may be implemented. Any type and combination of types of connectivity and control that may be used by filter house control system 951 and/or gas turbine controller 950 to control any component of system 900 may be used, and all such embodiments are contemplated as within the scope of the present disclosure.
In an exemplary embodiment, filter house control system 951 operates under software program control to implement a set of rules for controlling the frequency, timing, and duration of filter cleaning. The software program may include in an exemplary embodiment a predetermined algorithm based on geospatial data as disclosed above. In an embodiment, gas turbine controller 950 and/or filter house control system 951 may obtain geospatial data from geographic information system 960, which may be any type and number of geographic information systems as described herein or any other type and number of systems capable of collecting and providing geospatial data. Gas turbine controller 950 and/or filter house control system 951 may communicate with geographic information system 960 using any means of communications. Geospatial data may be transmitted proactively by geographic information system 960 to gas turbine controller 950 and/or filter house control system 951 or provided upon receipt of a request for such data from gas turbine controller 950 and/or filter house control system 951. Such data may be provided or requested in regular intervals or continuously so as to have current geospatial data available to gas turbine controller 950 and/or filter house control system 951 for determining filter cleaning frequency, timing, and duration. All such embodiments are contemplated as within the scope of the present disclosure.
Gas turbine controller 950 and/or filter house control system 951 may also use operating factors and turbine operating parameters for determining filter cleaning frequency, timing, and duration. Operating factors may be factors such as those described above (e.g., historical operation factors, projected operating factors, and real-time operating factors), including factors that relate specifically to filters, such as current and past filter weights that may indicate an amount of debris captured by a filter and current and past airflow rates for an area proximate to a filter that may indicate how congested a filter may be. Operating parameters may include any other data or information relating to gas turbine system 900, such as operational settings that may be manually and automatically set and recalibrated. Operating factors and turbine operating parameters may be obtained at filter house control system 951 from gas turbine controller 950, which may obtain such data from components of system 900 using any means or methods known to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, or in addition, filter house control system 951 may obtain operating factors and turbine operating parameters directly from various components of system 900. All such embodiments are contemplated as within the scope of the present disclosure.
At block 1020, gas turbine system operating factors may be obtained. These operating factors may include data on past filter cleanings, including the duration of such cleanings, the times of initiation and completion of such cleanings, and any other filter cleaning attributes and parameters. Operating factors may be obtained by querying one or more gas turbine systems or components that may provide such data. Alternatively, such systems or components may be configured to automatically provide such data to a filter house control system. In another alternative, such systems or components may be passive and may be monitored by one or more systems or components of a gas turbine system that in turn provide such data to a filter house control system. In yet another embodiment, such systems or components may be passive and may be monitored by a filter house control system. All such embodiments, and any combinations thereof, are contemplated as within the scope of the present disclosure.
At block 1030, gas turbine system operating parameters may be obtained. These parameters may include any filter cleaning parameters that may be fixed or preconfigured, for example by a gas turbine system operator. For example, in some embodiments, the duration of a filter cleaning may not be adjustable by a filter house control system. This may be taken into account as an operating parameter by a filter house control system. Operating parameters may be obtained by querying one or more gas turbine systems or components that may provide such data. Alternatively, such systems or components may be configured to automatically provide such data to a filter house control system, for example, providing automated updates when any configuration of the reporting system or component is adjusted or manipulated. In another alternative, such systems or components may be passive and may be monitored by one or more systems or components of a gas turbine system that in turn provide such data to a filter house control system. In yet another embodiment, such systems or components may be passive and may be monitored by a filter house control system. All such embodiments, and any combinations thereof, are contemplated as within the scope of the present disclosure.
At block 1040, a time of initiation parameter for a filter cleaning may be determined by a filter house control system. This may be determined based on one or more of the geospatial data, operating parameters, and operating factors. Similarly, at block 1050, a duration of a filter cleaning may be determined by a filter house control system based on one or more of the geospatial data, operating parameters, and operating factors. Note that in some embodiments a filter house control system may determine a duration of filter cleaning based on various data while in other embodiments a filter cleaning duration may be preset and not adjustable. At block 1060, any other parameters of a filter cleaning may be determined by a filter house control system based on one or more of the geospatial data, operating parameters, and operating factors. For example, where two or more filter cleaning systems or means are available and configured at a filter house, at block 1060 a determination may be made as to which cleaning system or means is to be used in the next filter cleaning.
At block 1070, a determination may be made by a filter house control system as to whether the time of initiation of a filter cleaning. If not, method 1000 may return to block 1010 to evaluate data and determine filter cleaning parameters again. In this way, the system executing method 1000 may continuously update the filter cleaning parameters to respond to changing environmental and turbine conditions, thus further increasing the benefits of employing the presently disclosed embodiments. Alternatively, when the filter cleaning initiation time has not arrived but parameters for the next filter cleaning have been determined, the system executing method 1000 may simply await the arrival of the determined initiation time and perform the filter cleaning when that time arrives.
If, at block 1070, it is determined that the initiation time of the next filter cleaning has arrived, at block 1080 the filter cleaning may be initiated and performed according to the determined filter cleaning parameters, including, in some embodiments, performing the filter cleaning for the determined duration. At block 1090, the filter cleaning parameters may be stored so that they may be accessed in future evaluations, for example when block 1020 is next executed.
Note that the filter cleaning parameters determined according to the disclosed embodiments may be applied to individual gas turbine systems or to multiple gas turbine systems. For example, an individual gas turbine may have filter cleaning controlled by a single filter house control system dedicated to that turbine. Alternatively, a single filter house control system may determine filter cleaning parameters for all gas turbines at a site, all gas turbines in a geographical region, or some other set of multiple gas turbines. All such embodiments are contemplated as within the scope of the present disclosure.
The technical effect of the systems and methods set forth herein is the reduction of wear on gas turbine air inlet filters by performing filter cleaning in a more effective manner. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the use of the disclosed processes and systems may improve gas turbine operation efficiency and lifespan. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed systems and methods may be combined with other systems and technologies in order to achieve even greater gas turbine performance and efficiency. All such embodiments are contemplated as within the scope of the present disclosure.
Although not required, the methods and systems disclosed herein may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer, such as a client workstation, server or personal computer. Such computer-executable instructions may be stored on any type of computer-readable storage device that is not a transient signal per se. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures and the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, it should be appreciated that the methods and systems disclosed herein and/or portions thereof may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. The methods and systems disclosed herein may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
Computer 1120 may further include hard disk drive 1127 for reading from and writing to a hard disk (not shown), magnetic disk drive 1128 for reading from or writing to removable magnetic disk 1129, and/or optical disk drive 1130 for reading from or writing to removable optical disk 1131 such as a CD-ROM or other optical media. Hard disk drive 1127, magnetic disk drive 1128, and optical disk drive 1130 may be connected to system bus 1123 by hard disk drive interface 1132, magnetic disk drive interface 1133, and optical drive interface 1134, respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for computer 1120.
Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk, removable magnetic disk 1129, and removable optical disk 1131, it should be appreciated that other types of computer-readable media that can store data that is accessible by a computer may also be used in the exemplary operating environment. Such other types of media include, but are not limited to, a magnetic cassette, a flash memory card, a digital video or versatile disk, a Bernoulli cartridge, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and the like.
A number of program modules may be stored on hard disk drive 1127, magnetic disk 1129, optical disk 1131, ROM 1124, and/or RAM 1125, including an operating system 1135, one or more application programs 1136, other program modules 1137 and program data 1138. A user may enter commands and information into the computer 1120 through input devices such as a keyboard 1140 and pointing device 1142. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite disk, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 1121 through a serial port interface 1146 that is coupled to the system bus, but may be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port, or universal serial bus (USB). A monitor 1147 or other type of display device may also be connected to the system bus 1123 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1148. In addition to the monitor 1147, a computer may include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers and printers. The exemplary system of
The computer 1120 may operate in a networked environment using logical and/or physical connections to one or more remote computers or devices, such as geographic information system 960, gas turbine controller 950, and filter house control system 951. Each of geographic information system 960, gas turbine controller 950, and filter house control system 951 may be any device as described herein capable of performing aspects of the disclosed embodiments. Remote computer 1149 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and may include many or all of the elements described above relative to the computer 1120, although only a memory storage device 1150 has been illustrated in
When used in a LAN networking environment, computer 1120 may be connected to LAN 1151 through network interface or adapter 1153. When used in a WAN networking environment, computer 1120 may include modem 1154 or other means for establishing communications over wide area network 1152, such as the Internet. Modem 1154, which may be internal or external, may be connected to system bus 1123 via serial port interface 1146. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to computer 1120, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between computers may be used.
Computer 1120 may include a variety of computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable storage media can be any available tangible, non-transitory, or non-propagating media that can be accessed by computer 1120 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other tangible medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by computer 1120. Combinations of any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media that may be used to store source code for implementing the methods and systems described herein. Any combination of the features or elements disclosed herein may be used in one or more embodiments.
This written description uses examples to disclose the subject matter contained herein, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of this disclosure is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
