We show an application of the method of extremum seeking to the problem of maximizing the pressure rise in an axial-flow compressor. First we apply extremum seeking to the Moore-Greitzer model and design a feedback scheme actuated through a bleed valve which simultaneously stabilizes rotating stall and surge and steers the system towards the equilibrium with maximal pressure. Then we implement the scheme on a compressor rig in Murray's laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. We perform stabilization of rotating stall via air injection and implement extremum seeking through a slow bleed valve. The experiment demonstrates that extremum seeking ensures the maximization of the pressure rise starting on either side of the stall inception point. The experiment also resolves a concern that extremum seeking requires the use of periodic probing-the amplitude of probing needed to achieve convergence is far below the noise level of the compressor system (even outside rotating stall).

Experimental application of extremum seeking on an axial-flow compressor

Rotating stall and surge have been stabilized in a transonic single-stage axial compressor using active feedback control. The control strategy is to sense upstream wall static pressure patterns and feed back the signal to an annular array of twelve separately modulated air injectors. At tip relative Mach numbers of 1.0 and 1.5 the control achieved 11 and 3.5 percent reductions in stalling mass flow, respectively, with injection adding 3.6 percent of the design compressor mass flow. The aerodynamic effects of the injection have also been examined. At a tip Mach number, M tip , of 1.0, the stall inception dynamics and effective active control strategies are similar to results for low-speed axial compressors. The range extension was achieved by individually damping the first and second spatial harmonics of the prestall perturbations using constant gain feedback. At a M tip of 1.5 (design rotor speed), the prestall dynamics are different than at the lower speed. Both one-dimensional (surge) and two-dimensional (rotating stall) perturbations needed to be stabilized to increase the compressor operating range. At design speed, the instability was initiated by approximately ten rotor revolutions of rotating stall followed by classic surge cycles. In accord with the results from a compressible stall inception analysis, the zeroth, first, and second spatial harmonics each include more than one lightly damped mode, which can grow into the large amplitude instability. Forced response testing identified several modes traveling up to 150 percent of rotor speed for the first three spatial harmonics; simple constant gain control cannot damp all of these modes and thus cannot stabilize the compressor a this speed. A dynamic, model-based robust controller was therefore us to stabilize the multiple modes that co prise the first three harmonic perturbations in this transonic region of operation.

1997 Best Paper Award—Controls and Diagnostics Committee: Active Stabilization of Rotating Stall and Surge in a Transonic Single-Stage Axial Compressor

Control of jet engines

The paper presents an analysis of the current state of the art in the control of aero- or hydrodynamic instabilities in turbomachines. It describes the flow phenomena associated with rotating stall and surge, discusses methods devised to prevent these instabilities occuring, but concentrates mainly on the active control (stabilization) of the unstable flows. It appears that lately significant progress has been made in this area. It seems to foster to a more mature state, although several problems deserve further consideration. The consequences of this state of the art for several interested parties, researchers, developers, manufacturers, and users, are stipulated.

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Rotating stall and surge control: a survey

Controller scaling and parameterization (2900) are described. Techniques that can be improved by employing the scaling and parameterization include, but are not limited to, controller design, tuning and optimization. The scaling and parameterization methods described here apply to transfer function based controllers, including PID controllers. The parameterization methods also apply to state feedback and state observer based controllers, as well as linear active disturbance rejection (ADRC) controllers. Parameterization simplifies the use of ADRC. A discrete extended state observer (DESO) and a generalized extended state observer (GESO) are described. They improve the performance of the ESO and therefore ADRC. A tracking control algorithm is also described that improves the performance of the ADRC controller. A general algorithm is described for applying ADRC to multi-input multi-output systems. Several specific applications of the control systems and processes are disclosed.

/pdf/controllers-observers-and-applications-thereof-ohu5zdwtef.pdf

Controllers, observers, and applications thereof

A technique for controlling compressor stall and surge is disclosed. In a gas turbine engine, static pressure asymmetry is sensed at a plurality of locations along the circumference of the compressor inlet. Time rate of change of the mass flow in the compressor is also estimated using pressure measurements in the compressor. A signal processor uses these signals to modulate a compressor bleed valve responsive to the level of flow property asymmetry, the time rate of change of the annulus average flow to enhance operability of the compressor.

Compressor stall and surge control using airflow asymmetry measurement

Aeroengines operate in regimes for which both rotating stall and surge impose low flow operability limits. Thus, active control strategies designed to enhance operability of aeroengines must address both rotating stall and surge as well as their interaction. In this paper, a nonlinear control strategy is designed based on an analytical model to achieve simultaneous active control of rotating stall and surge in an axial flow compression system with relevant dynamics representative of modern aeroengines. The controller is experimentally validated on a 3-stage low-speed axial flow compression system. This rig is dynamically scaled to replicate the interaction between rotating stall and surge typical of modern aeroengines, and several experimental results are presented for this rig. For actuation, the control stategy utilizes a single plenum bleed valve with bandwidth on the order of the rotor frequency. For sensing, measurements of the circumferential asymmetry and annulus-averaged unsteadiness of the flow through the compressor are used. Experimental validation of simultaneous control of rotating stall and surge with minimal sensing and actuation requirements is viewed as an important step towards applying active control to enhance operability of compression systems in modern aeroengines.

Integrated control of rotating stall and surge in aeroengines

A system for controlling aeromechanical instability or flutter in turbofan engines having fan blades employs a sensor, such as an off-blade static pressure sensor or proximity detector mounted on a turbofan engine at an inlet of a rotor of the engine for generating a signal to detect resonance of the turbofan blades at frequencies associated with flutter. A controller is coupled to the sensor for generating by spatial Fourier decomposition from the sensor signal a command signal comprising a real time amplitude component and a spatial phase of disturbances of a predetermined nodal diameter and coincident with a natural frequency of resonance of a predetermined structural mode of the fan blades in the stationary frame. An actuator, such as a bleed valve or acoustic speaker, is mounted on the turbofan engine for damping flutter dynamics in response to the amplitude of the command signal.

Apparatus and method of active flutter control

A pressure sensor (12) is located in the compressor stage of a gas turbine engine (10) to provide a pressure signal (PR1) that shows the compressor flow characteristics. The pressure signal (PR1) is applied to a bandpass filter (16) with roll-offs above and below N2. The difference between the filter output and a stored value for the pressure signal is integrated, and compressor bleed valves (18) are opened if the integral exceeds a stored threshold. The health of a compressor stage is determined by analyzing the magnitude of compressor pressure variations at N2 while accelerating the engine and by comparing the magnitude with values obtained from a compressor with a known stall margin.

Compressor stall diagnostics and avoidance

The invention is a method and system for fan flutter control. The output of circumferentially distributed sensors is used to calculate the asymmetry of a flow field. The asymmetry measurement is used to modulate a bleed valve, variable exhaust nozzle or other device to increase the fan's tolerance of flutter disturbances.

Daniel L. Gysling

Papers

Compressor stall and surge control using airflow asymmetry measurement

Integrated control of rotating stall and surge in aeroengines

Apparatus and method of active flutter control

Compressor stall diagnostics and avoidance

Method and system of flutter control for rotary compression systems