Compressor Degradation Management Strategies for Gas Turbine Aero-Engine Controller Design

The Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) Flight Path 2050 focuses on ambitious and severe targets for the next generation of air travel systems (e.g., 75% reduction in CO 2 emissions per passenger kilometre, a 90% reduction in NOx emissions, and a 65% reduction in the noise emissions of flying aircraft relative to the capabilities of typical new aircraft in 2000). Degradation is an inevitable phenomenon as aero-engines age with significant impacts on the engine performance, emissions level, and fuel consumption. The engine control system is a key element capable of coping with degradation consequences subject to the implementation of an advanced management strategy. This paper demonstrates a methodological approach for aero-engine controller adjustment to deal with degradation implications, such as emission levels and increased fuel consumption. For this purpose, a component level model for an aero-engine was first built and transformed to a block-structured Wiener model using a system identification approach. An industrial Min-Max control strategy was then developed to satisfy the steady state and transient limit protection requirements simultaneously while satisfying the physical limitation control modes, such as over-speed, surge, and over-temperature. Next, the effects of degradation on the engine performance and associated changes to the controller were analysed thoroughly to propose practical degradation management strategies based on a comprehensive scientometric analysis of the topic. The simulation results show that the proposed strategy was effective in restoring the degraded engine performance to the level of the clean engine while protecting the engine from physical limitations. The proposed adjustments in the control strategy reduced the fuel consumption and, as a result, the emission level and carbon footprint of the engine.