| CPC F02C 9/16 (2013.01) [F02C 3/30 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |
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1. A turbine engine for an aircraft, the turbine engine comprising:
a turbo-engine including:
a core air flow path for core air to flow therethrough;
a compressor located in the core air flow path to compress the core air to generate compressed air;
a combustor located in the core air flow path downstream of the compressor to receive the compressed air from the compressor and fluidly coupled to a fuel source to receive fuel, the fuel being injected into the combustor to mix with the compressed air to generate a fuel and air mixture, the fuel and air mixture being combusted in a primary combustion zone of the combustor to generate combustion gases;
an engine shaft coupled to the compressor to rotate the compressor; and
a turbine located downstream of the combustor to receive the combustion gases and to cause the turbine to rotate, the turbine coupled to the engine shaft to rotate the engine shaft when the turbine rotates;
a fan having a fan shaft coupled to the turbo-engine to rotate the fan shaft;
a steam system extracting water from the combustion gases and vaporizing the extracted water to generate steam, the steam system being fluidly coupled to the core air flow path to inject the steam into the core air flow path at a steam injection location to add mass flow to the core air, the steam system including a steam flow control valve operable to control the flow of the steam into the core air flow path;
one or more sensors located on the turbine engine to detect a parameter indicative of a core air water content, the core air water content being a water content of the core air upstream of the steam injection location, at least one of the one or more sensors being a compressor discharge sensor located at an outlet of the compressor or downstream thereof to detect, in the compressed air, the parameter indicative of the core air water content;
a speed sensor located to detect a rotational speed of the engine shaft; and
a controller operatively coupled to the steam flow control valve to control a position of the steam flow control valve and an amount of the steam injected into the core air flow path at the steam injection location, wherein the controller is configured to:
receive an input from the one or more sensors and an input from the speed sensor, to determine the core air water content based on the input received from the one or more sensors and the input received from the speed sensor; and
change the position of the steam flow control valve and the amount of the steam injected into the core air flow path at the steam injection location based on the core air water content.
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