US 12,228,080 B1
Engine fuel nozzle degradation tracking
Sachin Ramprashad, West Hartford, CT (US); and Eric Briggs, Indian Trail, NC (US)
Assigned to Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation, Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed by Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation, Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed on Oct. 11, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/378,990.
Int. Cl. F02C 7/228 (2006.01); F02C 7/232 (2006.01); F02C 7/26 (2006.01)
CPC F02C 7/26 (2013.01) [F02C 7/228 (2013.01); F02C 7/232 (2013.01); F05D 2260/85 (2013.01); F23R 2900/00004 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of operating a gas turbine engine, the gas turbine engine comprising a system, the system comprising:
a burn flow line;
a flow divider valve in fluid communication with the burn flow line to split flow from the burn flow line to a primary line and to a secondary line for supplying fuel to a set of primary engine nozzles and to a set of secondary engine nozzles, respectively;
a sensor operatively connected to the flow divider valve to produce a feedback signal indicative of a flow split between the primary line and the secondary line; and
a controller having a memory, the controller configured and operatively connected to:
receive the feedback signal from the sensor;
compare the feedback signal to a stored flow split value to detect a mismatch between the flow split and the stored flow split value;
output an alert message upon detecting the mismatch;
monitor the feedback signal each time the engine is operated; and
detect a trend in the monitored feedback signal indicative of a change in fuel nozzle performance over time,
the method comprising:
starting up the gas turbine engine;
monitoring the feedback signal;
outputting the alert for taking action in response to the mismatch; and
shutting down the gas turbine engine.
 
4. A system for an engine, the system comprising:
a burn flow line;
a flow divider valve in fluid communication with the burn flow line to split flow from the burn flow line to a primary line and to a secondary line for supplying fuel to a set of primary engine nozzles and to a set of secondary engine nozzles, respectively;
a sensor operatively connected to the flow divider valve to produce a feedback signal indicative of a flow split between the primary line and the secondary line; and
a controller having a memory, the controller configured and operatively connected to:
receive the feedback signal from the sensor;
compare the feedback signal to a stored flow split value to detect a mismatch between the flow split and the stored flow split value;
output an alert message upon detecting the mismatch;
monitor the feedback signal each time the engine is operated; and
detect a trend in the monitored feedback signal indicative of a change in fuel nozzle performance over time.