A method is provided during which an aircraft powerplant is provided. The aircraft powerplant includes a combustor and a water recovery system. The water recovery system includes a condenser and a reservoir. Fuel is combusted within the combustor to provide combustion products. Water is extracted from the combustion products using the condenser. The water recovery system is operated in one of a plurality of modes based on likelihood of contrail formation. The modes include a first mode and a second mode, where the water is collected within the reservoir during the first mode, and where the water passes through the water recovery system during the second mode.

A gas turbine engine for an aircraft. The gas turbine comprises a staged combustion system having pilot injectors and main injectors, a fuel metering system configured to control fuel flow to the pilot injectors and the main injectors, and a fuel system controller. The controller is configured to identify an atmospheric condition, determine a ratio of pilot fuel flow rate for the pilot injectors to main fuel flow rate for the main injectors in response to the atmospheric condition, and inject fuel by the pilot injectors and the main injectors in accordance with said ratio to control an index of soot emissions caused by combustion of fuel therein.

A turbine device includes a fluid compressing device compressing a fluid, a combustion device, a fuel supply device supplying a fuel to the combustion device, the combustion device combusting a mixture of the fluid and the fuel, a sensing device, and a control device. The sensing device senses a humidity of the fluid compressed in the fluid compressing device. The control device controls the supply of the fuel by the fuel supply device based on the humidity sensed by the sensing device.

An aircraft propulsion system includes a hydrocarbon fuel store, a hydrogen fuel store, an engine system capable of producing thrust by combusting hydrocarbon fuel and/or combusting or oxidising hydrogen fuel, a conveying system to convey hydrocarbon and hydrogen fuel from the fuel stores to the engine system and a control system to control the respective flow rates of the fuel within the conveying system. The control system adapts the fractions of the total fuel energy flow rate to the engine system represented by the hydrocarbon and hydrogen fuel energy flow rates in order to reduce climate warming impact caused by at least one of carbon dioxide, water vapour and condensation trails and/or increase climate cooling impact caused by condensation trails produced by the aircraft propulsion system compared to a dual-fuel propulsion system in which a reserve of hydrocarbon fuel is entirely combusted before any of a reserve of hydrogen fuel.

An aircraft including lean-burn gas turbine engines operating in pilot-plus-mains mode with a given initial fuel flow W.sub.0, a method of controlling the optical depth of contrails produced by a first group of engines includes the steps of (i) reducing fuel flow to each engine in the first group to change the operation of each engine from pilot-plus-mains mode to pilot-only mode, and (ii) adjusting fuel flow to one or more engines in a second group of engines such that the total fuel flow to engines of the second group is increased, all engines of the second group remaining in pilot-plus-mains mode, and wherein the set of lean-burn engines consists of the first and second groups. Depending on atmospheric conditions, the average optical depth of contrails produced by the engines may be enhanced or reduced compared to when all engines operate in pilot-plus-mains mode with a fuel flow W.sub.0.

Embodiments of the disclosure can include systems and methods for variable water injection flow control. For example, an operator of a gas turbine system may be enabled to adjust a water injection flow rate (and/or an inlet guide vein (IGV) and/or a firing temperature) of the gas turbine system to optimize performance during current conditions. In one embodiment, a provided method can include: receiving a water injection flow reference comprising one or more conditions of the gas turbine system; receiving water injection flow data from a sensor monitoring the gas turbine system; calculating a water injection flow rate value that characterizes one or more conditions based at least in part on the water injection flow reference and the water injection flow data; and adjusting a water injection flow rate of the gas turbine system to the calculated water injection flow rate value.

A gas turbine engine for an aircraft includes a turbine section and an exhaust section configured to receive an exhaust gas stream from the turbine section. The exhaust section includes a monolithic catalyst structure configured to remove nitrogen oxides (NO.sub.x) from the exhaust gas stream.

A hybrid power plant system including a gas turbine system and a coal fired boiler system inputs high oxygen content gas turbine flue gas into the coal fired boiler system, said gas turbine flue gas also including carbon dioxide that is desired to be captured rather than released to the atmosphere. Oxygen in the gas turbine flue gas is consumed in the coal fired boiler, resulting in relatively low oxygen content boiler flue gas stream to be processed. Carbon dioxide, originally included in the gas turbine flue gas, is subsequently captured by the post combustion capture apparatus of the coal fired boiler system, along with carbon diode generated by the burning of coal. The supply of gas turbine flue gas which is input into the boiler system is controlled using dampers and/or fans by a controller based on an oxygen sensor measurement and one or more flow rate measurements.

This invention concerns an aircraft propulsion system in which an engine has an engine core comprising a compressor, a combustor and a turbine driven by a flow of combustion products of the combustor. At least one propulsive fan generates a mass flow of air to propel the aircraft. An electrical energy store is provided on board the aircraft. At least one electric motor is arranged to drive the propulsive fan and the engine core compressor. A controller controls the at least one electric motor to mitigate the creation of a contrail caused by the engine combustion products by altering the ratio of the mass flow of air by the propulsive fan to the flow of combustion products of the combustor. The at least one electric motor is controlled so as to selectively drive both the propulsive fan and engine core compressor.

The present invention discloses a novel apparatus and methods for augmenting the power of a gas turbine engine, improving gas turbine engine operation, and reducing the response time necessary to meet changing demands of a power plant. Improvements in power augmentation and engine operation include additional heated compressed air injection, steam injection, water recovery, exhaust tempering, fuel heating, and stored heated air injection.