Improving Gas Turbine Operating

Efficiency using Optical Pyrometry

D. C. Amory, LAND Instruments International Ltd, Dronfield, UK,
R. A. Hovan, LAND Instruments International Inc, Newtown, PA, USA.

Introduction
Gas turbine operating efficiency is affected not only by its effectiveness at turning its fuel into
electrical power but also by its flexibility and availability. Traditional operating methods rely
on indirectly measured and calculated parameters to define maintenance schedules and
control gas turbine operation
Optical pyrometers offer a major leap forward in the control and operation of industrial gas
turbines, by continuously and accurately monitoring the temperature of individual blades
within the hot section of the gas turbine. Using this information it is possible to refine blade
life predictions, detect abnormal blade conditions, monitor blade coating condition and assess
the effect of abnormal operation. With this real time data the operator now has the ability to
improve gas turbine efficiency, and optimise maintenance scheduling, thus enabling minimum
operational costs

The Impact of Blade Temperature of Operating Efficiency

Air Intake

Compression

Combustion

Combustor
Cans

Exhaust

Hot Blades

Exhaust
Turbine
Shaft

Compressor Stage

Stationary
Vanes

Fig. 1: Schematic View of a Typical Gas Turbine

In order to generate power, gas turbines draw in atmospheric air, compress it within the
compressor stage, then heat it up by burning fuel in the combustor cans. As the air pressure
in the turbine is kept constant, the hot air considerably increases its volume. The hot gases
are then allowed to escape through the exhaust of the turbine and during this part of the
cycle, energy in the expanding gas is turned into mechanical power, turning the turbine shaft.
This shaft can then be either directly coupled or geared to an electricity generator, thereby
producing electrical power.

Because the gas turbine is a heat engine, the higher the temperature of combustion the
greater the expansion of the gases, therefore the greater the power produced to turn the
turbine shaft. The combustion temperature, however cannot be allowed to exceed a
temperature suitable for the design and materials of the hot parts of the turbine assembly
(commonly called the hot gas path. The use of air-cooled and more recently thermal barrier
coated turbine blades has allowed higher turbine inlet temperatures and consequently
enabled gas turbines to achieve higher thermal efficiency
Rapid loss of structural integrity with temperature places great emphasis on the need to avoid
operating turbine blades beyond their thermal design limit. The traditional method of
accomplishing this, based upon early turbines using uncooled blades, relies for its
effectiveness on the fact that all the blades in a row run at similar temperatures, therefore an
average blade row temperature estimate is adequate.
Turbine control systems estimate average blade row temperature by inference from other
engine measurements, principally exhaust gas temperature. Uncertainty implicit in the
indirectness of this approach (typically 10-15oC) requires that the turbine must be operated
below its optimum efficiency, by about 1%.
In principle, thermodynamic efficiency can be improved by increasing the firing temperature of
the gas turbine. The introduction of cooled turbine blades has allowed modern gas turbines
to achieve improved thermodynamic efficiency through higher inlet gas temperature.
Typically the cooled blades are exposed to gas temperatures of approximately 150oC above
their material limit, and they rely upon unimpaired cooling flow for thermal protection. This
development has introduced effects which are not detectable by the traditional method of
controlling blade temperature. Primarily; manufacturing variations in cooling passages can
cause significant blade-to-blade temperature differences, and progressive oxidation of the
cooling passages can cause the individual blades to run at progressively higher temperatures.
These effects are is not reflected by a change in exhaust gas stream temperature
The most recent designs of gas turbine are utilising thermal barrier coated blades and in
some instances steam in preference to air for cooling. This allows the gas stream to run even
hotter and therefore it is even more critical that cooling efficiency and coating integrity can be
monitored.
The operation and maintenance of modern engines can clearly benefit from a more detailed,
direct and responsive measurement of blade temperature

Use of Optical Pyrometry on Gas Turbines

A technique which meets the needs for modern gas turbines is optical pyrometry. The
technique is not new - it was first used in the late 1960s - when its application was
predominantly for gas turbine research and development1 and also for in-flight top
temperature limiting on production fighter aircraft2. Over more recent years interest has grown
for continuous monitoring on industrial gas turbines, with many pyrometer installations
throughout the world.
Power utility companies along with gas turbine manufacturers3 are currently seeing many
benefits from these measurements. These include improved efficiency through turbine firing
rate control, improved maintenance procedures with the development of blade life
management programs, detection of blocked cooling channels in blades leading to prevention
of blade failure and continuous monitoring of blade coating condition thereby reducing cost of
blade replacement.
Blade life monitoring programs use optical pyrometers to continuously measure individual
blade temperatures in order to better predict crack growth and therefore the life of the gas
turbine blades. An effective blade life management system4 can ultimately lead to better
maintenance scheduling of the hot gas path components and therefore reduce plant operating
costs. This trend to improving maintenance scheduling procedures is being adopted not only
by power utilities but also by turbine manufacturers to use optical pyrometer temperature data
to determine condition of the turbine blades5. This condition-based maintenance method has
been proposed to replace interval based maintenance regimes.

Continuous measurement is also important when running the engine beyond its normal
operating limits, such as when over-firing. Interval based maintenance methods take little
account of this type of operation, with potentially serious consequences.
Using the close relationship between blade temperature and turbine inlet temperature, optical
pyrometry can provide increased control of the firing rate by improved measurement of the
average blade temperature6. While optical pyrometers have been used for many years on
both industrial and military jet engines as part of the control system they have yet to be
universally adopted for use on industrial gas turbines in this way.
Blade cooling introduces blade life limiting processes, such as oxidation blockage of cooling
channels, which are not detectable using traditional gas turbine instrumentation methods.
Using an optical pyrometer however, an overheated (or over heating) blade can be quickly
detected, enabling corrective action to be taken to prevent unnecessary and expensive
engine damage. Output from an optical pyrometer system installed by EPRI on a General
Electric (GE) MS7001F gas turbine (Figure 2), clearly shows one hot and two warm blades.
Continuous blade temperature monitoring using pyrometry ultimately led to improvements in
the blade manufacturing and quality control processes7
1900

Blade Temperature /'F

1800
1700
1600
1500
1400

90

87

83

79

75

71

67

63

59

55

51

47

44

40

36

32

28

24

20

16

12

1300
Blade Number

Fig. 2: Optical Pyrometer Trace from GE MS7001F Gas Turbine

As operation at over temperature conditions can lead to damage or even engine failure in the
multi-million dollar range, blade cooling integrity is critical in modern gas turbines, as stress
creep life is a strong function of the material temperature8. Figures 3 and 4 clearly shows an
over-heated stage 1 turbine blade that would not have been detected by any other monitoring
method. This data was taken from an optical pyrometer system installed on a General
Electric 7F gas turbine owned by Potomac Electric Power Corporation (PEPCO). From day
one of operation the system detected blades in the first stage of the gas turbine that were
running significantly hotter than the rest. This particular blade developed a crack after about
one year of peaking operation. Optical pyrometry saved PEPCO over $2million9 as the
overheated blade was detected and action was taken before failure occurred.

Temperature / C

Blade Number

Fig. 3: Output From Optical Pyrometry System Showing Over-Heated Blade

1800

Blade Temperature (degF)

1700

1600

1500

1400

Blade Num ber

Fig. 4: Close up of Hot Blade at PEPCO

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

1300

All modern gas turbine blades are coated; some with an anticorrosion coating, other more
modern designs use a thermal barrier coating (TBC). Loss of coating, especially TBC, can
significantly reduce the life of the blade, therefore the ability to monitor coating erosion can
enable the user to prevent irreparable damage to the blades.

Coating Erosion

Fig. 6: An Overheated Gas Turbine Blade

Fig. 5: Blade Coating Erosion

Figures 5 and 6 show coating erosion on gas turbines blades. In both of these cases this
degradation was detected using an optical pyrometer. The pyrometer measured a gradual
increase in the difference between the blade hottest and the blade average temperature, this
was found to correlate with loss of blade coating. Detecting erosion at its onset enables the
plant operator to have the blades recoated rather than being forced to replace them with
significant cost savings as a result.

Optical Pyrometer Systems

Keyphasor
signal
Mounting Kit

Pyrometer

KP/PSU
Additional output
for use by turbine
control system

+V
POWER
SUPPLY
-V

KEY PHASOR
PULSE

Turbine mounted
spool piece

Plant Network Server

Data Acquisition System
1

13

17

21

25

29

10

14

18

22

26

30

11

15

19

23

27

31

12

16

20

24

28

32

POWER

Personal Workstation running

data analysis software

Fig. 7: Typical Pyrometer System Configuration

Ethernet Link

Desktop PC

Ethernet Link

CHANNELS

DAS accepting multiple

pyrometer inputs

A typical optical pyrometer system illustrated in Figure 7. The pyrometer monitors the
temperature at a number of points across the blade. Multiple pyrometers can be used to give
measurements from different areas of the blade. In the same way several blade rows can be
Mounting Flange

Removeable Sight tube

Gas Turbine Outer Casing

Gas Turbine Inner Casing

Internal Boss

Vanes

Blades

Fig. 8: Typical Gas Turbine Penetration

monitored by a single system

The pyrometer requires a direct line of sight on to the gas turbine blade in order to measure
its temperature. The required engine penetration necessary (Figure 8) is typically designed,
and installed by the engine manufacturer. many gas turbines already have an engine
penetration available from the gas turbine manufacturer (Table 1)
Manufacturer

Gas Turbine Type

General Electric

6B, 7B, 7EA, 7F, 7FA, 7FA+E, 9E, 9F, 9FA

Seimens Westinghouse

V64.3, V94.2, V94.3a, V84.3a

Alstom Power

GT11, GT13E2, GT26, GT24

Table 1: Gas turbine Penetration Designs

A number of holes are drilled in the internal boss allowing a small volume of compressor
discharge air to flow down the penetration assembly when the gas turbine is operating. This
flow creates a purging system that inhibits contamination of the inboard surface of the sight
glass. Experience has shown that this system can keep the optical surfaces of the equipment
clean for period of over a year.
The pyrometer is mounted to this penetration assembly on the gas turbine and directly views
the rotating blades through a pressure-proof sight glass assembly (Figure 9)

Engine Mounted
Spool Piece

Mounting Kit

Pressure
Window

Dust
Seal

Pyrometer
Optic Head

Sighting Adjustment
Screws

Fig. 9: Optical Pyrometer Installation

The infrared energy from a small area on the blade (as defined by the pyrometer optical
system) is collected by the pyrometer and is converted into an electrical signal that is
proportional to the temperature of the area defined. Signal processing within the pyrometer
provides outputs to the plant operator that can be used for both detailed blade temperature
analysis as well as outputs (e.g. average and hottest temperature) that are suitable for use by
the turbine control system.
Using a high speed data acquisition system along with the turbine shaft once per revolution
signal (Keyphasor signal), temperature data from all the blades can be displayed, stored
and recalled allowing changes to be easily detected

Conclusions
Optical pyrometry can provide a gas turbine operator with a great deal of information about
the temperature of the gas turbine blades. This information has proved invaluable for refining
maintenance procedures and detecting potentially serious problems, therefore reducing costs
and improving plant overall efficiency. In addition to this, by using pyrometry as a control
parameter, the thermodynamic efficiency of the turbine can potentially be improved hence
saving even more money.
Plant efficiency is a combination of the thermodynamic efficiency as well as the cost of
operating the plant and therefore includes the cost of maintenance, the turbine reliability, the
ability to operate at varying load and for flexible time periods. Optical pyrometry has
demonstrated that it can be used to provide the operator with information that allows them to
make better decisions.
Optical pyrometry suitable for use on a gas turbine is now readily commercially available with
one such system already installed on over 40 gas turbines throughout the world10

References
1

Turbine Pyrometry A Equipment Manufacturers View T.G.R. Beynon, ASME 81-GT-136

A Radiation Pyrometer Designed for In-Flight Measurements of Turbine Blade

Temperatures R. Barber, SAE 690432, 1969
3

SPEEDTRONIC Mark VI Turbine Control System (GER-4193A)- Walter Barker, Michael

Cronin, GE Power Systems, Schenectady USA
4

Seimens Model V84.2/V94.2 Combustion Turbine Blade Life Management System J.D
Wilson, Powergen PLC Nottingham, UK, G Touchton, EPRI Palo Alto, USA, and F van
Zeveren, Laborelec, Linlebeek, Belgium
5

United States Patent 6,579,005 Utilization of Pyrometer Data to Detect Oxidation Michael Ingallinera, General Electric Company, Schenectady, USA
6

Infrared Thermometry for Control and Monitoring of Industrial Gas Turbines (ASME 86-GT267) P. J. Kirby, Land Turbine Sensors, R.E. Zachary, F. Ruiz, Dow Chemical, Plaquemine
Louisiana USA. Presented at ASME Dusseldorf, Germany, June 1986

Advanced Gas Turbine Guidelines: Hot Gas Path Parts Condition and Remaining Life
Assessment: Durability Surveillance at Potomac Electric Power Companys Station H EPRI
Report TR-104101
8

Blade Temperature Monitoring for Improved Turbine Operation and Maintenance D.C
Amory, Dr P.J. Kirby, Land Instruments International Inc, Bristol, PA, USA. Presented at
American Industrial & Power Gas Turbine Operation & Maintenance Conference, Houston, Tx
USA, February 1997
9

Thirty-One Innovative Uses of EPRI Products EPRI Fossil Plant News

10

Land Turbine Sentry Installation list Land Instruments International Ltd