Real Time Gas Turbine Engine Particulate Ingestion Sensor for Particle Size and Composition

Modern military and commercial gas turbine engines are subject to increased durability, performance, and safety issues when operating in austere environments where significant quantities of sand, volcanic ash and dust are present and can be ingested into the engines. These environments include desert regions, as well as, previously active/currently active volcanic areas. Military studies of turbine engine sand, dust, and ash ingestion have shown that certain constituents, typically those containing CMAS (calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate) compound minerals and/or Chlorides and Sulfates, are particularly detrimental to engine turbine components. A sensor system that can measure the composition, size and concentration of particles being ingested by a gas turbine while in flight can provide pilots the warning they need to avoid damage mechanisms, both in the military where operational limits are always pushed to the maximum, and in the commercial area where safety is paramount. The Innoveering team is proposing an innovative, compact, rugged, in-situ sensor system that can be integrated at several places within an engine to provide the measurements of interest and communicate a warning to the pilot.