Compressor blade monitoring system

Abstract

A system including: at least one computing device configured to monitor a compressor blade in a turbomachine by: extracting time of arrival (TOA) data about the compressor blade at a defined interval; correlating turbomachine operating conditions with the TOA data; extracting resonance data about the compressor blade during startup or shutdown of the turbomachine, and extracting static deflection and tip clearance data about the compressor blade during steady state operation of the turbomachine; creating a baseline compressor blade comparison level based upon the extracted resonance data, extracted static deflection and tip clearance data, and correlation between the turbomachine operating conditions and the TOA data; and iteratively extracting updated TOA data and performing the correlating, the extracting of the resonance data, static deflection and tip clearance data using the updated TOA data at the defined interval to create an updated baseline compressor blade comparison level.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 at least one computing device configured to monitor a compressor blade in a turbomachine by performing actions including:
 extracting time of arrival (TOA) data about the compressor blade at a defined interval; 
 correlating turbomachine operating conditions with the TOA data; 
 extracting resonance data about the compressor blade during startup or shutdown of the turbomachine, and extracting static deflection and tip clearance data about the compressor blade during steady state operation of the turbomachine; 
 creating a baseline compressor blade comparison level based upon the extracted resonance data, extracted static deflection and tip clearance data, and correlation between the turbomachine operating conditions and the TOA data; and 
 iteratively extracting updated TOA data and performing the correlating, the extracting of the resonance data, static deflection and tip clearance data using the updated TOA data at the defined interval to create an updated baseline compressor blade comparison level. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to compare the updated TOA data about the compressor blade with the baseline compressor blade comparison level. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to obtain the turbomachine operating conditions from a sensor system coupled with the turbomachine. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the defined interval is less than approximately 10 minutes. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the turbomachine includes a gas turbine. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a sensor system coupled to the at least one computing device, the sensor system for sensing a blade passing signal (BPS) of the compressor blade, wherein the sensor system senses the blade passing signal using at least one of optical sensing, capacitive sensing, microwave sensing or eddy current sensing. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the TOA data is extracted from the BPS using one of an edge threshold extraction or a centroid extraction. 
     
     
         8 . A system comprising:
 a gas turbomachine including a compressor having a plurality of blades; and   at least one computing device configured to monitor the compressor by performing actions including:
 obtaining time of arrival (TOA) data about one of the plurality of blades in the compressor at a defined interval; 
 correlating operating conditions of the gas turbomachine with the TOA data; 
 extracting resonance data about the one of the plurality of compressor blades during startup or shutdown of the gas turbomachine, and extracting static deflection and tip clearance data about the one of the plurality of compressor blades during steady state operation of the gas turbomachine; 
 creating a baseline compressor blade comparison level based upon the extracted resonance data, extracted static deflection and tip clearance data, and correlation between the gas turbomachine operating conditions and the TOA data; and 
 iteratively obtaining updated TOA data and performing the correlating, the extracting of the resonance data, static deflection and tip clearance data using the updated TOA data at the defined interval to create an updated baseline compressor blade comparison level. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to compare the updated TOA data about the one of the plurality of compressor blades with the baseline compressor blade comparison level. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising a sensor system coupled to the gas turbomachine, wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to obtain the gas turbomachine operating conditions from the sensor system. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the defined interval is less than approximately 10 minutes. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising a sensor system coupled to the at least one computing device, the sensor system for sensing a blade passing signal (BPS) of the one of the plurality of compressor blades. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the sensor system senses the blade passing signal using at least one of optical sensing, capacitive sensing, microwave sensing or eddy current sensing. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the TOA data is extracted from the BPS using one of an edge threshold extraction or a centroid extraction. 
     
     
         15 . A computer program product comprising program code, which when executed by at least one computing device, causes the at least one computing device to monitor a compressor blade in a turbomachine by performing actions including:
 extracting time of arrival (TOA) data about the compressor blade at a defined interval;   correlating turbomachine operating conditions with the TOA data;   extracting resonance data about the compressor blade during startup or shutdown of the turbomachine, and extracting static deflection and tip clearance data about the compressor blade during steady state operation of the turbomachine;   creating a baseline compressor blade comparison level based upon the extracted resonance data, extracted static deflection and tip clearance data, and correlation between the turbomachine operating conditions and the TOA data; and   iteratively extracting updated TOA data and performing the correlating, the extracting of the resonance data, static deflection and tip clearance data using the updated TOA data at the defined interval to create an updated baseline compressor blade comparison level.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the program code causes the at least one computing device to further compare the updated TOA data about the compressor blade with the baseline compressor blade comparison level. 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the program code causes the at least one computing device to further obtain the turbomachine operating conditions from a sensor system coupled with the turbomachine. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the defined interval is less than approximately 10 minutes. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the TOA data is extracted from a blade passing signal (BPS) of the compressor blade. 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the TOA data is extracted from the BPS using one of an edge threshold extraction or a centroid extraction.