Fault diagnosis for gas turbines based on the control system

This paper shows two different approaches for improving the fault diagnosis of gas turbines. They are based on the use of the information embedded within the control system. The first approach consists of the automatic development of a troubleshooting system which can be automatically built using the deterministic knowledge embedded within the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). This system tries to overcome diagnosis deficiencies present especially in older gas turbines PLC controllers, The second approach is based on the analysis of the digital control system to detect the Faults in the feedback systems (actuators, components or sensors), such is the case of gas turbines. The interaction between the system and the control system allows to use the information of the control system to detect faults in the system. An example of the second stage nozzles of the turbines illustrates this approach. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.