A Multiple Operating Point Minimization Technique for Gas Turbine Operating State Determination

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. In the field application of GPA techniques the available instrumentation is often inadequate to ensure reliable operating state analysis. This problem may be partially overcome using a multiple operating point minimization technique. This consists of the determination of the characteristic parameters that minimize the sum of the square differences between measured and computed values of the measurable variables in multiple operating points. In this way the lack of data is overcome by data obtained in different operating points. This paper describes a procedure for gas turbine operating state determination based on a multiple operating point minimization technique and presents a study aimed at selecting the best set and number of operating points that have to be used. Copyright © 2002 by ASME.