A vertical molten sulfur pump assembly includes a pump motor disposed in a top portion and an impeller disposed in a bottom portion, within an impeller casing. A pump inlet is disposed at the second end below the impeller casing. The vertical molten sulfur pump assembly is configured to pump molten sulfur into the inlet and upwards through a discharge passageway by rotation of the impeller. A vibration sensor and a temperature sensor are disposed on an external surface of the bottom portion, on or proximate to the impeller casing and the pump inlet. A temperature sensor is configured to measure a temperature of the molten sulfur proximate to the pump inlet. A vibration sensor includes a substrate comprising a polymer and a resonant layer, and resonant layer includes an electrically conductive nanomaterial and is configured to produce a resonant response in response to receiving a radio frequency signal.

In one embodiment, a system includes an intake section including a filter and one or more strain gauges. The system also includes a processor configured to receive strain information for the filter from the one or more strain gauges and determine an operating condition of the filter based at least in part on the strain information.

A turbine blade maximum vibration response prediction method for predicting a maximum vibration response acting on a plurality of turbine moving blades provided along the circumferential direction of a turbine rotor includes the steps of: gaining, before turbine operation start, prior response data that is distribution data on vibration response of all the turbine moving blades for each turbine operating condition; gaining, by using the prior response data, operation response data that is distribution data on the vibration response of all the turbine moving blades during the operation of the turbine; and predicting, from the operation response data, the turbine moving blade of all the turbine moving blades on which the maximum vibration response is acting, and the magnitude of the maximum vibration response.

A method of determining a faulty sensor of a sensor array of a gas turbine engine, the sensor array including at least first, second and third sensors, the method including the steps of: measuring a first set of sensor outputs prior to engine startup from each sensor, and calculating a first difference in the measured value for each sensor pair; after a period of time, measuring a second set of sensor outputs prior to engine startup from each sensor, and calculating a second difference in measured value for each sensor pair; calculating a further difference between the calculated first and second differences for each sensor pair; and identifying a failed sensor where two or more sensor pairs including a common sensor have a further difference above a predetermined threshold.

A dry gas seal for sealing the shaft of a turbomachinery, provided with means for the continuous health monitoring of the dry gas seal comprising one or more sensors adapted to measure strains and/or loads induced to the primary ring of the dry gas seal and/or strains induced to one or more of the elastic elements coupled to the primary ring and/or adapted to measure displacements of the primary ring or of an element coupled to the primary ring, for an early detection of failure of the seal, thus enabling main failures early detection capability and proactive maintenance actions.

Methods and systems for communicating a signal between a rotating antenna and a plurality of stationary antennae based on an axial displacement of the rotating antenna are provided. In one example, the method can include obtaining one or more measurements of an axial displacement of the rotating antenna from one or more axial displacement sensors. The method can further include determining a selected stationary antenna from the plurality of stationary antennae based at least in part on the measurements of an axial displacement of the rotating antenna. The method can further include activating the selected stationary antenna to communicate a signal with the rotating antenna. The method can further include communicating a signal between the rotating antenna and the selected stationary antenna.

In one embodiment, a turbine system includes a number of sensors, each of the number of sensors disposed in a respective location of the turbine system, and a controller including a memory storing one or more processor-executable routines and a processor. The processor configured to access and execute the one or more routines encoded by the memory wherein the one or more routines, when executed cause the processor to receive one or more signals from the number of sensors during any stage of operation of the turbine system, and convert the one or more signals to audio output.

An improved system, apparatus and method for controlling vane angles in a gas turbine engine, and more specifically, for correcting vane angle error in a gas turbine engine. An active synchronization ring comprises a plurality of micro-actuators coupled to the synchronization ring to correct distortion in the synchronization ring. The micro-actuators apply a bending moment to the synchronization ring to cancel or compensate for synchronization ring distortion. The micro-actuators may be controlled open loop or closed loop. Strain sensors measure ring distortion and provide signals to the controller for closed loop control.

It is provided an arrangement for detecting a shaft break. The arrangement comprising a shaft, a bearing on which the shaft is mounted so as to be rotatable about a rotational axis, a force sensor which is arranged on the bearing and is configured to measure an axial force component, applied by the shaft, in parallel with the rotational axis of the shaft, and an evaluation unit which is configured to receive measured values of the force sensor and to determine, on the basis of comparison of a plurality of measured values, whether there is a change in the axial force component, in order to detect a shaft break of the shaft.

It is provided a control system for a gas turbine engine. Therein, at least one piezoelectric, in particular piezoresistive element arranged at a bearing adapted to support a shaft of the gas turbine engine is provided, wherein the piezoelectric element is adapted to provide information indicative for a force acting on the bearing to a processing unit, wherein the processing unit is adapted to determine a thrust force of the gas turbine engine based on the information provided by the piezoelectric element.