A Continuous Timed Petri Net Model and Control for a Gas Turbine

This work developed the modeling and supervisory control for gas turbine. A CTPN (continuous timed Petri Net) model of a gas turbine, using a first linear order approximation for every state of the Brayton cycle is obtained. The Brayton cycle rules the functioning of a gas turbine, and it is composed by four states: compression, combustion, expansion and cooling. The principle of the gas turbine is developed by the Brayton cycle, a thermodynamic process which intervenes in the gas turbine components. The steady-state behavior of the gas turbine has been widely investigated in engineering area. Moreover, the dynamic behavior has been studied using non-linear models of its components, leading to complicated mathematical representations. The methodology of the current work begins with a simplification of the dynamical relations in every state (excepting the cooling phase) of the Brayton cycle. Temperature and pressure are modeled as first order linear systems, therefore, every system is translated into a CTPN. Furthermore, to guarantee a safety operation, an SC (supervisory controller) is designed to ensure the combustion chamber temperature is lower than 1,000 °C. Although the model presented is extremely simplified, it will be used as a starting point to develop more complex models.