Session: 05-06 Topics in Instrumentation (II)

Paper Number: 84305

84305 - Sensor System Maturation for Gas Turbine Engine Particulate Ingestion Monitoring 

Experimental studies of turbine engine sand, dust, and ash ingestion have shown that certain constituents, typically those containing Calcium, Magnesium, Aluminum, and Silicon (CMAS) compound minerals and/or Chlorides and Sulfates, are particularly detrimental to engine turbine components.  These reactive media undergo a phase change from solid to semi-solid as they pass through the combustion section of the engine under certain conditions characterized by size and mass.  The phase change allows them to adhere to various turbine components including but not limited to stator vanes, rotor blades and shrouds.  Unfortunately, with no on-board sensing technology the only warning signs that the flight crew has to an impending airborne particle ingestion problem are lagging indicators.  Hence, 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 current paper reports on the maturation of an in-situ sensor system that can be integrated at several places within an engine (e.g. aircraft inlet, engine inlet, engine bypass, engine gas path) with minimum modifications and provide measurements of composition, size and concentration for particles ingested by the engine.

Presenting Author: George Papadopoulos Innoveering, LLC

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Papadopoulos has over 30 years of experience in thermal-fluids engineering, combustion, electro-mechanical systems, advanced instrumentation &amp; metrology, automation and controls, signal processing and data analysis, test engineering and product qualification. He joined the Innoveering LLC partnership in 2015, and is a member of the senior leadership team. As Vice President for Sensor Systems he provides management and strategic direction over a key business segment for the company. Concurrently, he serves as Principal Investigator on numerous projects addressing sensor needs for propulsion and hypersonic vehicle systems, and other challenging applications funded by the Department of Defense, NASA and the Department of Energy, leading technical development and transition to commercialization.<br/><br/>Prior to Innoveering, Dr. Papadopoulos was 10 years with ATK (large aerospace and defense contractor, now part of Northrop Grumman) where he held senior engineering management positions leading technology innovation as the Director for Business Strategy and Product Development for ATK’s Advanced Systems and Power business unit.<br/><br/>Before making the shift to the Aerospace and Defense market, Dr. Papadopoulos was Senior Specialist and Contract Measurements Manager for Dantec Dynamics, an advanced instrumentations company serving the structural, thermal, fluids and multi-phase mass transfer markets. In addition to the industry experience, Dr. Papadopoulos has also worked in the government, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology as member of the Advanced Measurements Group of the Fire Science Division, and in academia as faculty and research scientist, at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics in Erlangen, Germany and at Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY.<br/><br/>He is the author and co-author of more than 90 publications and several patents issued/pending, primarily in thermal-fluids engineering, sensors, and advanced metrology areas. Dr. Papadopoulos holds a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, New York.

Authors:

George Papadopoulos Innoveering, LLC
Daniel Bivolaru Innoveering, LLC
Spencer Siu Innoveering, LLC