Patent Application
20060041368
The present invention relates to turbines, and more particularly, to systems, methods and computer program products for remotely monitoring the combustion dynamics of turbines to enhance their operation.
As part of the monitoring controls and diagnostic tools for an operating combustion system in a rotary machine such as a gas turbine, it is necessary to measure and acquire various data including combustion chamber dynamic pressure. This data is used to confirm proper operational health of the combustion system, and is also used to tune the turbine engine so that it is operating with an appropriate balance between combustion dynamics and emissions.
Measuring the dynamic pressure in the combustion chamber to monitor turbines is well known. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,722,135, 6,708,568, and 6,694,832, each owned by the assignee of the present invention, generally describe the use of pressure chamber devices and measurements to monitor vibration in the firing chamber of gas turbines. Such vibration monitoring allows turbines to be run closer to their fail points because the system can detect and take appropriate action should vibration in the turbines exceed pre-established limits. For instance, in response to detrimental pressure within combustion chambers, a turbine may be slowed to allow it to stabilize. After stabilization the turbine may be once run at higher output levels, such that the overall operational efficiency levels of the turbine are enhanced.
Current combustion chamber dynamic pressure monitoring systems are local to the turbine that is monitored. For instance, at least one system, the EDAS-CE™ by Experimental Design and Analysis Solutions, is a combustion monitoring system positioned local to a turbine to be monitored. Using local monitoring systems requires that engineers perform maintenance and/or tune turbines at their location. This typically occurs routinely, such as twice a year. This process is expensive because it requires site visits to each turbine. These systems also fail to provide continuous monitoring to prevent turbine failure.
What is therefore needed is a system and method for remotely monitoring the combustion dynamics of turbines to enhance their operation.
The present invention is directed generally to systems, methods and computer program products that enable the remote monitoring of the combustion dynamics of turbines. Remote monitoring permits a single user to continuously monitor the operating health of a fleet of turbines simultaneously from a single location. According to one aspect of the present invention, the user is presented with one or more graphical user interfaces that graphically display combustion dynamics data to a user to enable the user to visually quickly determine whether the turbine is operating within prescribed limits. The system permits the user to determine whether each turbine is operating to its maximum efficiency. According to one aspect of the present invention, based on the combustion dynamics data, the operation of each turbine within a fleet of turbines may be controlled, either by the operator or automatically.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a method there is disclosed a system for monitoring a plurality of turbines. The system includes at least one turbine and at least one combustion dynamics monitoring device in communication with the at least one turbine. The at least one combustion dynamics monitoring device is operable to measure the pressure within at least one combustion chamber of the at least one turbine. The system also includes at least one fleet server in remote communication with the at least one combustion dynamics monitoring device, operable to generate a graphical display illustrating the operational status of the at least one turbine.
According to one aspect of the invention, the system further includes at least one turbine monitoring device in communication with the at least one turbine, operable to monitor non-pressure related information associated with the at least one turbine. According to another aspect of the invention, the at least one fleet server is in communication with the at least one turbine monitoring device, and the at least one fleet server receives the non-pressure related information from the at least one turbine monitoring device. According to yet another aspect of the invention, the graphical display generated by the at least one fleet server illustrates the pressure within the at least one combustion chamber of the at least one turbine. The graphical display generated by the at least one fleet server may also simultaneously illustrate the pressure within the at least one combustion chamber of a plurality of the at least one turbine.
According to another aspect of the invention, the at least one combustion dynamics monitoring device may be further operable to generate frequency information revealing acoustic vibrations in the at least one turbine. The frequency information can include the maximum pressure within each of the at least one combustion chamber of the at least one turbine. Furthermore, the frequency information may reveal acoustic vibrations in the at least one turbine in a plurality of frequency bands, which may exist within the frequency ranges of 0 to about 3200 Hertz.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the graphical display generated by the fleet server identifies the combustion chamber having a maximum pressure value measured by the at least one combustion dynamics monitoring device. The graphical display generated by the fleet server may also include the site location of the at least one turbine. Additionally, the at least one fleet server may be accessible by users via the Internet.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a method for monitoring a plurality of turbines. The methods includes using at least one combustion monitoring device to monitor the pressure within at least one combustion chamber of at least one turbine, and communicating the monitored pressure to at least one fleet server in communication with the at least one combustion monitoring device. The method also includes displaying, using the fleet server, the operational status of the at least one turbine.
According to one aspect of the invention, the method further includes the step of using at least one turbine monitoring device to monitor non-pressure related information associated with the at least one turbine. According to another aspect of the invention, the method includes the step of receiving, at the at least one fleet server, the non-pressure related information. According to yet another aspect of the invention, the step of displaying may include displaying the pressure within the at least one combustion chamber of the at least one turbine and/or simultaneously displaying the pressure within the at least one combustion chamber of a plurality of turbines.
The method may also include the step, performed by the combustion dynamics monitoring device, of generating frequency information revealing acoustic vibrations in the at least one turbine. The step of generating frequency information may include identifying the maximum pressure within each of the at least one combustion chamber of the at least one turbine. The step of generating frequency information may also include identifying acoustic vibrations in the at least one turbine in a plurality of frequency bands. According to another aspect of the invention, the plurality of frequency bands exist within the frequency ranges of 0 to about 3200 Hertz.
The step of displaying may also include displaying the at least one combustion chamber having a maximum pressure value measured by the at least one combustion dynamics monitoring device. Furthermore, the step of displaying may include displaying the site location of the at least one turbine.
Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
The present invention is described below with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatuses (i.e., systems) and computer program products according to an embodiment of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto one or more general purpose computers, special purpose computers, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce machines, such that the instructions which execute on the computers or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. Such computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
As illustrated in
As is also shown in
Referring again to
As noted above, each combustion dynamics monitoring device 22, 27, 32 and each turbine monitoring device 23, 27, 33 corresponds to a particular turbine 20, 25, 30. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,722,135, 6,708,568, and 6,694,832, the content of each of which are incorporated herein by reference, generally describe the use of combustion chamber monitoring devices, such as the combustion dynamics monitoring devices 22, 27, 32 illustrated in
Each combustion dynamics monitoring device 22, 27, 32 creates frequency spectrums representing acoustic vibrations in an associated turbine 20, 25, 30. The combustion dynamics monitoring devices 22, 27, 32 report this information to the fleet server 12 in the form of dynamics data. This dynamics data includes, for multiple frequency bands, the maximum, minimum, and median pressure values for each combustion chamber, as well as the as well as frequency at which each occurs. The combustion dynamics monitoring devices 22, 27, 32 also forward mean and standard deviation values for pressure over all combustion chambers for the same multiple frequency bands. Additionally, error information is provided for the operating condition of the combustion dynamics monitoring devices 22, 27, 32. According to one aspect of the present invention, the dynamics data is generated local to each turbine 20, 25, 30 and forwarded to the fleet server 12 upon request by the server 12. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, this occurs periodically, such as every 10 minutes. According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the dynamics data may be transmitted from the combustion dynamics monitoring devices 22, 27, 32 to the fleet server 12 routinely or in real-time or near real-time regardless of whether the fleet server 12 requests the dynamics data. The dynamics data is stored by the fleet server 12, as described in detail below, and is used to produce the graphical user interfaces that enable monitoring and/or control of the turbines 20, 25, 30.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, each turbine monitoring device 23, 28, 33 is operable to communicate non-pressure related turbine data for each turbine. Specifically, the turbine monitoring devices 23, 28, 33 may report turbine data, which may include non-combustion related data associated with each turbine, such as the temperature distribution of exhaust gases exiting a turbine, fuel flow information, barometric pressure, exhaust pressure, compressor discharge pressure, compressor pressure ratio, fuel stroke reference, compressor inlet air mass flow, maximum vibration, DLN mode enumerated state, turbine shaft speed, watts generated, compressor inlet temperature, fuel gas temperature, combustion reference temperature, exhaust temperature median corrected by average, and other well known operating parameters useful in analyzing the operation of a turbine. This turbine data, like the dynamics data, may also be transmitted periodically or in real-time or near-real time to the fleet server 12 for use in monitoring the condition of turbines 20, 25, 30.
As is also shown in
The combustion dynamics monitoring devices 22, 27, 32 described with respect to
It will be appreciated that the memory 50 in which the fleet data dynamics tool 15 resides may include random access memory, read-only memory, a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a CD Rom drive, or optical disk drive, for storing information on various computer-readable media, such as a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk, or a CD-ROM disk. Generally, the fleet data dynamics tool 15 receives information input or received by the fleet server 12, including dynamics data 85, turbine and other data 80, operator input data 75, and historical data 90. Using this information the fleet data dynamics tool 15 generates the graphical user interfaces described in detail with reference to
Furthermore, given the pressure information provided by a combustion dynamics monitoring devices 23, 27, 32 the operation of each turbine 20, 25, 30 may be altered for superior efficiency and operation. This operation of the turbine 20, 25, 30 may be further refined given turbine data such as the temperature distribution of exhaust gases and fuel flow information for a turbine. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the turbine data may therefore aid a user of the remote monitoring system of the present invention in interpreting the dynamics monitoring data.
Referring again to
The database 65 of the fleet server 12, which is connected to the bus 60 by an appropriate interface, may include random access memory, read-only memory, a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a CD Rom drive, or optical disk drive, for storing information on various computer-readable media, such as a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk, or a CD-ROM disk. In general, the purpose of the database 65 is to provide non-volatile storage to the fleet server 12. As shown in
The dynamics data 85 includes the most recent sets of dynamics data received from the combustion dynamics monitoring devices associated with each turbine in a fleet of turbines. The turbine and other data 80, which is optional, includes turbine data received from each monitored turbine. The dynamics data 85 received from the combustion dynamics monitoring devices include, for each frequency band, the maximum, minimum, and median values for pressure as well as frequency and chamber for each. The dynamics data 85 also includes forward mean and standard deviation values for pressure over all combustion chambers for the same multiple frequency bands. Additionally, the dynamics data 85 may include error information for the operating condition of the monitoring device itself.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, all of the dynamics data 85 and any turbine and other data 80 received by the fleet server 12 include turbine identification information that enables the fleet server 12 to correlate the received data 80, 85 with a particular turbine. This identification information is preferably the serial number of the turbine with which the devices are associated. As explained in detail below, the fleet data dynamics tool 15 may use the dynamics data 85 and, optionally, the turbine and other data 80, to generate the graphical user interfaces presented to a user of the fleet data dynamics tool 15. The historical data 90 may also contain historical dynamics, turbine and other data to permit a historical log of such information to be maintained. This may permit a user of the fleet data dynamics tool 15 to consider the operational history of a turbine when making decisions impacting the operation of the turbine. Although the historical data 90 is illustrated as being stored separately from the dynamics data 85 and turbine and other data 80, the historical data 90 may also be stored with the dynamics data 85 and turbine and other data 80.
The operator input data 75 includes information input by a user to control the operation of the fleet data dynamics tool 15. As described in detail below, this information can include the length of time that passes (if any) before the fleet data dynamics tool 15 requests updated dynamics data 85 and turbine and other data 80 from the monitoring devices, default criteria (such as pressure levels) used to generate warnings that turbines may be approaching or exceeding maximum operation levels, and like information. Finally, the database 65 may also include computed results necessary for generating the GUIs discussed in detail below, including color-coded dashboard states, error codes and the like.
It is important to note that the computer-readable media described above with respect to the memory 50 and database 65 could be replaced by any other type of computer-readable media known in the art. Such media include, for example, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, and Bernoulli cartridges. It will be also appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that one or more of the fleet server 12 components may be located geographically remotely from other fleet server 12 components. For instance, the dynamics data 85 and turbine and other data 80 and historical data 90 may be located geographically remote from the fleet server 12, such that historical data 90 and dynamics data 85 turbine and other data 80 are accessed or retrieved from a remote source in communication with the server 12 via the I/O interface 70.
It should also be appreciated that the components illustrated in
According to a preferred embodiment, the fleet server 12 represents a stand-alone computer operating a Windows® operating system, where the fleet data dynamics tool 15 represents specialized functions implemented thereby, and the database 65 represents a SQL database. Furthermore, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the fleet data dynamics tool 15 may be implemented by special instructions running on Microsoft Excel™. It will be appreciated that the server 12 may be implemented using alternative operating systems and databases as are known to those of skill in the art. Furthermore, though illustrated individually in
As shown in
To determine which of the above categories exist for each respective S/N 110, the fleet data dynamics tool 15 compares the most recently received dynamics data 85 and turbine and other data 80, as stored in the database 65, from each turbine to user input data 75, specifically, pre-established combustion dynamics limits used to identify whether a turbine is running properly. As noted throughout the present disclosure, the turbine and other data 80 are optional, though the embodiments of the present invention described herein include the use of such data. The appropriate dynamics data 85 and turbine and other data 80 may be identified by the fleet data dynamics tool 15 by the S/N associated with the data, which is the same as the S/N 110 that identifies the turbines in the index interface 100. As explained in detail below, the index interface uses 1, 4, and 5 PSI as default pre-established limits. Theses limits are stored as user input data 75 within the database 65. Although these default limits are used in the illustrative interface shown in
With reference to the key 120, when the most-recently received dynamics data falls within the combustion dynamics limits the fleet data dynamics tool 15 provides the S/N 110 with a Color 1 background, which corresponds to “No Issues” category. This means that the turbine is currently operating and within normal parameters. If the most-recently received dynamics data includes pressures in every frequency band that are less than a default pressure of 1 PSI, the Color 2 background is provided, which indicates that the turbine is not running. The Color 3 background is preferably yellow, and is used to illustrate that the peak PSI amplitude from the most-recently received dynamics data, in any frequency band, is greater than 4 PSI. For conventional turbines in a fleet of turbines that are monitored, this may represent a combustion chamber pressure value that is higher than normal, but still within operating limits.
Next, the Color 4 background is preferably red. This illustrated that the most-recently received dynamics data includes at least one measurement of greater than 5 PSI in one of the frequency bands, which may representative of acoustic vibrations that may cause damage to the turbine or the flame in the turbine being extinguished. As such, the Color 4 background is intended to alert the user of the fleet data dynamics tool 15 that a turbine is operating near its fail point. Therefore, a user of the fleet data dynamics tool 15 is alerted of this condition via the index interface. It will be appreciated that the default pressure of 5 PSI may be changed based on the type of turbines within the fleet, as some types of turbines may be able to handle greater combustion chamber pressures.
Color 5 indicates that dynamics data is not being received from the turbine. This may be caused by the connection between the fleet server 12 and turbine being disconnected, as may occur due to a network error or the turbine being off-line. Color 6 indicates that a turbine has not been assigned to the serial number, so no site 105 or unit 115 corresponds to the unused S/N. An anomaly is represented by Color 7, which may occur where the dynamics data is flawed, such as when measurements deviate from normal expectations. The further a measurement deviation is from a pre-set expected value, the more extreme the anomaly classification may become. These classifications typically include yellow (out of normal operating conditions) and red (risk of damage to equipment under these conditions). Finally, Color 8 is indicative of turbines where the customer has not yet signed the service agreement to receive the monitoring function of the fleet dynamics tool.
The index interface 100 also permits a user to highlight the site name and unit of a particular turbine by moving an arrow key or cursor (e.g., using a mouse) over the turbine's S/N 110. By left clicking on the S/N 110, or otherwise selecting a S/N 110, a user may open the monitor interface described below with respect to
Next,
The fleet data dynamics tool 15 then waits for the timer to expire or for the arrival of the turbine and other data to be received (block 165). If the timer has expired before data arrives (block 170), the fleet server 12 is operable to flag or highlight stale timestamps and dynamics data (block 180). More specifically, if the current time is later than the time of the last received message plus the query time interval, the color of the date and time in the display changes from a green font color on a normal blue background to a yellow font color on a red background. For instance, in
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, six updates per hour per site is sufficient to provide the user information on how a particular turbine site is running. Therefore, the timer is preferably set at 10 minutes. When dynamics data 85 arrives from each site, the data includes a single sample of dynamics data captured at the instant the combustion dynamics monitoring device receives the request for dynamics data from the fleet server 12. According to another aspect of the present invention, the combustion dynamics monitoring devices may average dynamics data readings taken over a period of the last ten minutes, and forward the averaged dynamics data to the fleet server 12. This averaging may drop abnormally high or low values that are in error and may otherwise skew the correct output from the combustion dynamics monitor. Additionally, it will be appreciated that although the present invention is described herein with the operation of a timer, the fleet server 12 may also receive dynamics data from combustion dynamics monitoring devices constantly, on a real-time or near real-time basis.
Next,
As shown in
The lower frame 222 controls communications functions of the fleet data dynamics tool 15. The lower frame 222 includes a remote server address and port field 220, where the remote server address is the IP address of the Fleet Server 12, and the remote server port is the UDP port number for the Fleet Server 12. These are used to enable a user to access the fleet data dynamics tool 15 when using a computer other than the fleet server 12. According to one aspect of the invention, the default remote server address is the IP address for a terminal server, which is a computer that allows multiple users to simultaneously log into the fleet data dynamics tool 15 from their own desktop or laptop computer, where each user has a unique workspace that preserves their own work and preferences. The “my UDP” port field 225 is the UDP port number selected by each user to identify them to the fleet server 12. This may be used to identify particular users, for instance, users with different access rights to particular functions of the fleet data dynamics tool 15. If a port already in use is selected, a message appears on the screen warning the user.
The start button 230 sends a fleet data request to the fleet server 12 with a command requesting that it be put on a subscriber list to receive all subsequent fleet data messages. In response, it gets a dump of all current fleet messages and any new messages that come in the future. The update button 235 sends a fleet data request to the fleet server 12 with a command requesting all current information. In response, it gets a dump of all current fleet messages and any new messages that come in the future. The stop button 240 sends a fleet data request to the fleet server 12 with a command requesting that it be removed from the subscriber list. In response, no further messages will be sent to that client and that client will be removed from the client subscriber list.
The date and time fields indicate the date and time of the last report. The grid 286 includes identifies the combustion chamber (or “can”) 285 in which the maximum pressure value reading occurs for each frequency band, illustrated in
The magnitude bar chart 280 shows the magnitude of the frequency vibration for each band. Specifically, the bar chart 280 shows the minimum, median and maximum acoustic vibration values (measured in PSI) for each frequency band. As shown in the figure, each of the minimum, median and maximum values may be represented by different shapes or colors to enable the user to distinguish between the values. For instance, the median value may be represented by a triangle, whereas the maximum value may be shown in red. In the illustrative example shown in
Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Thus, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be embodied in many forms and should not be limited to the embodiments described above. For instance, the present invention may be used to evaluate wind turbines, electric transformers, generators, and hydro-powered equipment. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
