Combining Advanced Data Analysis Methods for the Constitution of an Integrated Gas Turbine Condition Monitoring and Diagnostic System

Abstract

This paper presents principles for the constitution of gas turbine monitoring and diagnostic systems which: a. are integrated, namely manage all the tasks essential for achieving a diagnosis (measurement, analysis, interpretation, historical data management etc.) b. employ different kind of processing methods in order to cover an extensive range of engine conditions, including direct data evaluation and data consistency checks, thermodynamic analysis, vibration analysis. The requirements to be fulfilled by an industrial gas turbine monitoring system are briefly reviewed and ways to achieve them are discussed, indicating how they can be materialized by implementation of specific techniques. Techniques previously derived by the group of the authors are implemented, and the merits they offer when used in combination are discussed. Features of a system, materialized according to the principles discussed, into an operating industrial gas turbine is presented. On-line application of advanced analysis techniques, such as adaptive performance modeling is discussed, on the basis of observations of the collected data. Data collected from an engine operating in the field are presented to substantiate the matters discussed, and cases of successful fault identification are shown.