Optimized Operating Point Selection for Gas Turbine Health State Analysis by using a Multi-Point Technique

Gas turbine operating state determination can be performed using Gas Path Analysis (GPA) techniques, which use measurements taken on the machine to calculate the characteristic parameters that are indices of the machine health state. The number and type of characteristic parameters that can be evaluated depend on the number and type of the available measured variables. Thus, when there are not enough measured variables to determine all the characteristic parameters, some of them have to be estimated independently of the actual gas turbine health state. In this way, variations due to aging or deterioration which, in the actual machine, may occur on these last characteristic parameters, cause estimation errors on the characteristic parameters assumed as problem unknowns. The available instrumentation in field applications is often inadequate to ensure reliable operating state analysis when GPA-based techniques are used. This problem may be partially overcome using a multiple operating po...