IMPROVED METHOD FOR FLAME DETECTION IN COMBUSTION TURBINES

A fast response chemiluminescent flame detection approach is presented along with field test results from a fiber optic based flame detector device. Chemiluminescence, the light given off by molecules formed in their excited states, has long been recognized as a diagnostics method for use in combustion. The recent advent of higher quality optical fibers with improved transmission properties in the UV, as well as UV optical detectors, has made the use of chemiluminescence for gas turbine diagnostics and monitoring practical. Advances in combustor designs on new low-emissions machines as well as reliability issues with some existing machines are creating the need for improved flame dynamics measurements as well as improvements in reliability for existing measurements such as combustor flame detection. This paper discusses the technology, principle of operation, and detectors that operate on the chemiluminescence principle.