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IFAC PapersOnLine 54-10 (2021) 388–393
Three-Spool Marine Gas Turbine Multi-Objective Switching Control System
Three-Spool
Three-Spool Marine
Marine Gas
Gas Turbine
Turbine
Design and Multi-Objective
OptimizationSwitching
Multi-Objective Switching Control
Control System
System
Three-Spool
Three-Spool Marine
Marine Gas
Gas Turbine
Turbine Multi-Objective
Multi-Objective Switching
Switching Control
Control System
System
Design
Design and
and Optimization
Optimization
Design
Yujia Ma*.Design
and
and
Jinfu Liu*.
Optimization
Optimization
Qi Li**. Huanpeng Liu*. Daren Yu*.
Yujia Ma*.
Yujia Ma*. Jinfu
Ma*. Jinfu
Jinfu Liu*.Liu*.
Liu*. Qi Qi Li**.
Qi Li**.
Li**. Huanpeng
Huanpeng Liu*. Liu*. Daren
Liu*. Daren
Daren Yu*.Yu*.
Yu*.
Yujia  Huanpeng
Yujia Ma*. Jinfu
* School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Liu*. Qi Li**.


Huanpeng Liu*. Daren
Institute of Technology, Harbin, Yu*. 150001, China
* School
(e-mail: of Energy Science
mayujiahit@outlook.com; and Engineering,
jinfuliu@hit.edu.cn; 
Harbin Institute of Technology,
liuhuanpeng@hit.edu.cn; Harbin, 150001,
yudaren@hit.edu.cn). China
*
* School of
of Energy
Energy Science
Science and
Schoolmayujiahit@outlook.com; and Engineering,
Engineering, Harbin
Harbin Institute
Institute of
of Technology,
Technology, Harbin,Harbin, 150001,
150001, China China
(e-mail:
* School
(e-mail: of
** Energy
Harbin Science
Boiler and
Company, jinfuliu@hit.edu.cn;
Engineering,
LTD, Harbin
Harbin, liuhuanpeng@hit.edu.cn;
Institute
150046, of
China Technology, yudaren@hit.edu.cn).
Harbin,
(e-mail:liqihlj@163.com) 150001, China
(e-mail: mayujiahit@outlook.com;
mayujiahit@outlook.com;
** Harbin Boiler Company,
jinfuliu@hit.edu.cn;
jinfuliu@hit.edu.cn;
LTD, Harbin,
liuhuanpeng@hit.edu.cn;
liuhuanpeng@hit.edu.cn;
150046, China
yudaren@hit.edu.cn).
yudaren@hit.edu.cn).
(e-mail:liqihlj@163.com)
(e-mail: mayujiahit@outlook.com;
** jinfuliu@hit.edu.cn; liuhuanpeng@hit.edu.cn; yudaren@hit.edu.cn).
** Harbin
Harbin Boiler
Boiler Company,
Company, LTD, LTD, Harbin,
Harbin, 150046, 150046, China China (e-mail:liqihlj@163.com)
(e-mail:liqihlj@163.com)
** Harbin Boiler Company, LTD, Harbin, 150046, China (e-mail:liqihlj@163.com)
Abstract:
Abstract:
Abstract:
Abstract:
Three-spool marine gas turbine engine multi-objective regulating and protecting problem is discussed in
Abstract:
Three-spool
this marine
paper. Multi-loop
Three-spool marine gas switching
turbine engine
control multi-objective
system is introduced regulating and
and protecting
compared problem
with is discussed
traditional controlin
Three-spool
this paper. marine gas
Multi-loop
turbine
turbine engine
gas switching engine
control
multi-objective
multi-objective
system is
regulating
regulatingand
introduced
and protecting
and compared
protecting withproblem
problem is
is discussed
discussed
traditional control
in
in
Three-spool
method.
this paper. marine component-level
Nonlinear
Multi-loop gas switching
turbine engine control multi-objective
model is developed
system regulating
to predict
is introduced
introduced and
and protecting
system
compared problem
dynamic,
with based is on
discussed
traditional which
controlin
an
this paper.
method. Multi-loop
Nonlinear switching
component-level control
model system
is developedis to predict and compared
system with
dynamic, traditional
based on control
which an
this paper.
equilibrium
method. Multi-loop
manifold
Nonlinear switching control
expansion
component-level model model system
is isconstructed
developedis introduced
totopredict
carry andsystem
outcompared
control with
dynamic,system traditional
based designing
on control
which and
an
method. Nonlinear
equilibrium manifoldcomponent-level
expansion model modelisisconstructed
developed totopredict carry system
out dynamic,
control based on whichand an
method. Nonlinear
parameter
equilibrium tuning. Acomponent-level
manifold family modelisisconstructed
of PI controllers
expansion model isdeveloped
designed to for
to predict
regulating
carry system
out loop
controland system
dynamic, based
protecting
system designing
on which
loops.
designing PSOan
and
equilibrium
parameter manifold expansion model is constructed to carry out control system designing and
algorithm istuning.
equilibrium
parameter A
manifold
introduced
tuning. A family
to tune
family of
expansion
of PI
the
PI controllers
model
parameters.
controllers is
is designed
is constructed
Simulation
designed for
to regulating
carrythat
reveals
for regulating loop
outswitching
control
loop and
and protecting
system
control method
protecting loops.
designing
loops. PSO
and
is better
PSO
parameter
algorithm tuning. A
A family of PI controllers is designed for regulating loop and protecting loops. PSO
in dynamicis
parameter
algorithm is introduced
tuning.
performance
introduced to
family
to tune
and
tune the
ofcan
the parameters.
PI still
controllers
guarantee
parameters. isSimulation
designed
safety. This
Simulation reveals
for
reveals provedthat
isregulating
that switching
toloop
be anand
switching control method
protecting
improvement
control method loops.is
brought
is better
PSO
by
better
algorithm
in dynamic is introduced
performance to tune
and the
can parameters.
still guarantee Simulation
safety. This reveals
is provedthat switching
to be an control
improvement method is
brought better
by
algorithm
the
in dynamic is
multi-loop introduced
structure
performance to
and tune
and the parameters.
appropriate
can still optimization
guarantee Simulation
safety. reveals
algorithm.
This is provedthat switching
to be an control
improvement method is
brought better
by
in dynamic
the multi-loop performance
structure andandappropriate
can still guarantee
optimization safety. This is proved to be an improvement brought by
algorithm.
in dynamic
Copyright
the
the ©performance
multi-loop
multi-loop 2021 andappropriate
The Authors.
structure
structure and
and
can
Thisstillis guarantee
appropriate open access
anoptimization
optimization
safety. Thisunder
article
algorithm.
algorithm.
is proved
the CCtoBY-NC-ND license brought by
be an improvement
Keywords: three-spool gas turbine; regulating/protecting multi-objective control; switching control;
(https://creativecommons.org
the multi-loop
Keywords:
structure
three-spool
and /licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
appropriate optimization algorithm.
safety protection;
Keywords: Particlegas
three-spool gas turbine;
Swarm
turbine; regulating/protecting
Optimization; equilibrium manifold
regulating/protecting multi-objective
multi-objective expansion control;
model.switching
control; switching control;
Keywords:
safety three-spool
protection; Particle gas turbine;
Swarm regulating/protecting
Optimization; equilibrium multi-objective
manifold expansion control;
model. switching control; control;
Keywords:
safety three-spool
protection; Particlegas turbine;
Swarm regulating/protecting
Optimization; equilibrium manifold multi-objective
manifold expansion control;
model.switching control;
safety protection; Particle Swarm Optimization; equilibrium
 expansion model.
safety protection; Particle Swarm Optimization; equilibrium manifold expansion model.
 control system is made up of one regulating loop and several
1. INTRODUCTION 
 control
control system
protecting system loops.is
is made
For most
made up
up of one
of of
onethe regulating
time, the
regulating loop
loop and
shaft several
androtation
several
1. INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION control system is made up of one regulating loop and several
Three-spool gas turbine 1. is device widely used in ship protecting
control
speed
protecting system
regulatingloops.
loops.is For
made
loop
For most
up
works
mostof of
one
to
of the
track
the time,
regulating
demanded
time, the
theloopshaft
and
signal.
shaft rotation
several
When
rotation
1. INTRODUCTION protecting
speed regulatingloops.loop For works
most toof track
the time,
demanded the shaft
signal. rotation
Three-spool
propulsion
Three-spool andgas
gas turbine
terrestrial
turbine is device
electricity
is widely
supply. used in
It is a complex ship protecting
operation
speed regulating isloops.
at
regulating loop the For
loop worksmost
neighbourhood
works to of the
to track of time,
a
track demanded the
safety
demanded signal. signal. When
shaft
boundary,rotation
Whenthe
Three-spool gasterrestrial is device
turbine electricity widely
widelyIt used
device supply. used in
in ship speed
ship corresponding
operation is at the neighbourhood of a safety boundary, When
propulsion
Three-spool
nonlinear and
propulsion andgas turbinewith
system
terrestrial is device is a
widelyItinterconnected
multiple
electricity supply. used
is complex
in ship operation
aa complex speed regulating
operation is is at
at the loop
protecting works
the neighbourhood to
neighbourhood of track
controller demanded
takes
of aa safety charge boundary, the
signal.
safety boundary,to When
prevent
the
the
propulsion and terrestrial electricity supply. It is complex corresponding protecting controller takes charge to
nonlinear
propulsion
thermodynamic
nonlinear and system
terrestrial
components
system with and multiple
electricity
with supply.
shafts,
multiple andItinterconnected
isis hard to be gas
a complex
interconnected operation
turbineisfrom
corresponding
corresponding
at protecting
the neighbourhood
danger
protecting
(Chen, 2012;
controller
controller
oftakes
a safety
Liu,
takes
2014).
charge
charge to prevent
boundary,
to
the
prevent
prevent
nonlinear system with and multiple interconnected gas
thermodynamic
nonlinear components
system
modelled or controlled
thermodynamic components with andlike
linearly shafts,
singleand
multiple
shafts, and is hard
interconnected
shaft is gas
hard to
turbine
to be
be gas turbine
gas turbine from
corresponding
turbine from
danger
danger (Chen,
fromprotecting
danger (Chen,
(Chen,
2012;
controller
2012;takes
2012;
Liu,
Liu, 2014).
Liu,
charge to prevent
2014).
2014).
thermodynamic
modelled or components
controlled linearlyand shafts,
like single andshaft is hard
gas to
turbine be With
gas the
turbine development
from danger of
(Chen,switching
2012; Liu, systems
2014). theory, gas
thermodynamic
(Balaghi,
modelled 2017).
or components
With
controlled the
linearlyand shafts,
development
like single and
of shaft is hard
three-spool
gas to
turbine be
gas With the development of switching systems theory, gas
modelled
(Balaghi, or controlled
2017). With linearly
the like
development single of shaft gas
three-spool turbinegas turbine
With theengine regulating
development ofand protecting
switching problem
systems is widely
theory, gas
modelled
turbine
(Balaghi, or controlled
technology,
2017). With linearly
control
the like single
technology
development applied
of shaft to gas
the turbine
three-spool system gas With
turbine
With the
the development
engine regulating
development of
ofandswitching
protecting
switching systems
problem
systems theory,
is
theory, gas
widely
gas
(Balaghi,
turbine 2017). With
technology, the technology
control development of three-spool
applied to the system gas studied turbine in the regulating
engine last decade. and Csank (2010)problem
protecting gives ais generic
widely
(Balaghi,
plays
turbine 2017). With
an increasingly the technology
important development
role. applied of three-spool gas studied turbine engine regulating andCsank
protecting problem is generic
widely
turbineantechnology,
plays technology,
increasingly
control
control
importanttechnology
role. applied to to the
the system
system commercial turbine
studied enginein
in the last
last decade.
regulating
aircraft
the engine
decade. andCsank (2010)
protecting
(2010)problem
gain-scheduled gives
PI aaswitching
gives is generic
widely
turbine
plays an technology,
an increasingly control
increasingly important technology
important role.
role. applied to the system studied
commercial in the last
aircraft decade.
engine Csank (2010)
gain-scheduled gives
PI a generic
switching
plays
Traditional gas turbine engine control studied
control in
system
commercial aircraft the last decade.
design
aircraft engine Csank
method. (2010)
Richter
engine gain-scheduled
gain-scheduled PI gives
(2011) a generic
controls
PI switching
switching
plays an increasingly important role. algorithms are easy to commercial control system design method. Richter (2011) controls
Traditional
implement
Traditional gas
in turbine
industry,
gas turbine engine
but cannot
engine control algorithms
deal with
control all engine
algorithms are
are easy
control
easy to
to commercial
turbine
control fan
system aircraft
engines design engine
with method. gain-scheduled
sliding mode
Richter control PIand
(2011) switching
proves
controls
Traditional in gas turbine butengine control algorithms are easy to turbinecontrol fan system engines designwith method.
sliding Richter
mode (2011)
control and controls
implement
Traditional
modes
implement industry,
gas turbine but
simultaneously,
in industry, cannot
engine deal
control
especially
cannot deal with all
algorithms engine
for allphysical
with engine control
are easy limit
control to turbinecontrol
stability
turbine fan system
of the
fan engines design
system
engines with method.
under min/max
with sliding
sliding mode Richter
switching
mode control (2011)
control and and proves
controls
theory. May
proves
proves
implement in industry, but cannot deal with all engine control stability of the system under min/max switching theory.
modes
implement
protection
modes simultaneously,
in industry, but especially
cannot
(Garg, 2008). especially
simultaneously, deal for
with all
This leadsforscholars physical
engine
physical limit
control
to study
limit turbine
(2012)
stability of
stability
fan
proposes
of the engines
the system a with
system under sliding
modification
under min/max mode
for
min/max switching control
min/max theory. May
switching theory. and proves
switching
May
May
modes simultaneously, especially for physical limit (2012)
stability proposes
ofWith
the system a modification
under min/max for min/max
switching switching
theory. May
protection (Garg,
modes simultaneously,
regulating/protecting
protection (Garg, 2008).
2008). This leads
especially
multi-objective
This forscholars
problem
leads physical
of gas
scholars to
to limit structure.
study
turbine
study (2012) proposes
(2012) proposes conditionally
a modification
a modification activeforlimit
for
regulator,
min/max
min/max
thrust
switching
switching
protection (Garg, 2008). This leads scholars to turbine
study response
regulating/protecting
protection (Garg, 2008).
engines. Parameters
regulating/protecting multi-objective
to This leads
be protected
multi-objective problem
problem of
scholars
formulate of gas
limits
gasto turbinegas structure.
ofstudy (2012)
structure.
isWith
structure.proposes With
conditionally
improved,
With a modification
while safety
conditionally
conditionally
active
active
active
forlimit
limitslimit
limit
areregulator,
min/max maintained.
regulator,
regulator,
thrust
switching
Shi
thrust
thrust
regulating/protecting
engines. Parameters multi-objective
to be protected problem
formulate of gas
limits turbine
of gas response
structure.
(2016) is
presents improved,
With while
conditionally
event-triggered safety
activelimits
switching limitare maintained.
regulator,
control strategy Shi
thrust
for
regulating/protecting
turbine
engines. engine multi-objective
operation,
Parameters to as shown in problem
Fig. 1. of gas turbine response is improved, while safety limits are maintained. Shi
engines.
turbine Parameters
engine to be
operation, beasprotected
protected
shown in
formulate
formulate
Fig. 1.
limits
limits of of gasgas (2016) response
response
aero-engines
is improved,
presents
is improved,
based on
while safety
event-triggered
while safety
switched EME
limits are
switching
limits are
model.
maintained.
control strategy
maintained.
Wang
Shi
for
Shi
(2016)
engines. Parameters
turbine engine
engine operation, to be
operation, as protected
as shown
shown in formulate
in Fig.
Fig. 1.1. limits of gas (2016)
(2016) presents
presents event-triggered
event-triggered switching
switching control
control strategy
strategy for
for
turbine aero-engines
(2016)
proposes presents
an based on switched
event-triggered
energy-based EME
switching
switching model.
control
logic Wang (2016)
strategy
to for
prevent
turbine engine operation, as shown in Fig. 1. aero-engines
aero-engines based on switched EME model. Wang (2016)
proposes an based
aero-engines
on switched
energy-based EME model.
switching logic Wang (2016)
to prevent
overshoot
proposes in
proposes an based
an
asymptoticon switched
energy-based
energy-based
regulation,EMEand
switching
switching
model.
logic
logic
Wang
the overshoot-free(2016)
to prevent
to prevent
overshoot
proposes
performance in
an asymptotic
is energy-based
theoretically regulation,
switching
proved. and
Imani the
logic overshoot-free
(2017) to prevent
overshoot in
overshoot in asymptotic
asymptotic regulation,
regulation, and and the overshoot-freea
utilizes
the overshoot-free
performance
overshoot
set of linear
performance is in is theoretically
asymptotic
matrix proved.
regulation,
inequalities
is theoretically
theoretically proved. to Imani
and
reduce
Imani the (2017)
the
(2017) utilizes
overshoot-free
danger
utilizes ofa
performance
set of linear matrix proved.
inequalities to Imani
reduce (2017)
the utilizesofaa
danger
performance
transient
set limitismatrix
theoretically
violation. Yuproved.
(2018) Imani (2017)
introduces utilizes
core shafta
set ofof linear
transient linear
limit matrix
violation.
inequalities
inequalities
Yu (2018)
to
to reduce
reduce
introduces
the danger
the core
danger of
of
shaft
set of linear
acceleration/deceleration
transient limit matrix
violation.inequalities
limiter
Yu toto min/max
(2018) reduce
introduces the danger
sliding
core modeof
shaft
transient limit violation. limiter
acceleration/deceleration Yu (2018) to introduces
min/max core mode
sliding shaft
transient
control limit and
system
acceleration/deceleration violation. Yu (2018)
gives asymptotic
limiter to introduces
stability
min/max core of
condition
sliding shaft
the
mode
acceleration/deceleration
control system and andItgives
gives limiter
asymptotic to min/max
stability sliding
condition mode
of the
acceleration/deceleration
whole
control controller.
system can be limiter
noticedtothat
asymptotic min/max
gas turbine
stability sliding mode
switching
condition of
control
whole system andItgives
controller. can asymptotic
be noticed stability
that gas condition
turbine of the
switchingthe
control
whole system
methods
controller. andaregives
It asymptotic
improved from stability
both condition
switching logicof the
and
whole controller.
controlcontroller.
methods are It can
can be
be noticed
improved noticed that
that
fromthat
gas
gas
bothgas
turbine
turbine switching
switching switching
logic and
whole
regulating/protecting
control methods It can
are loopbestructures.
improved noticed
from turbine switching
Fig. 1. Limits of aircraft engine operation (Liu, 2016) control methods are improved
regulating/protecting loop from both switching logic
structures.
both switching logic and
and
Fig. 1. Limits of aircraft engine operation (Liu, 2016) control methods are improved
regulating/protecting loop from both switching logic and
structures.
Fig. 1. Limits of aircraft engine operation (Liu, 2016) regulating/protecting
For a multi-loop loop structures.
switching control system, to find the
ForFig.
gas1.
Fig.
Limits
turbine of
1. Limits
aircraftcontrol
ofengine
engine operationthe
aircraft engine systems,
operation (Liu,
(Liu, 2016)
speediness
2016)
regulating/protecting loop structures.
For aa multi-loop switching control system, to find the
For gas
contradicts turbine engine
with theengine
security.control systems,
Multi-loop the
switching speediness
control is optimum optimum
For combination
multi-loop of parameters
switching control is a challenge,
system, to because
find the
For gas
For gas turbine
turbine engine control
control systems,
systems, the speediness
the speediness For a multi-loop combination switching
of controlis system,
parameters a challenge,to find the
because
contradicts
Foreffective with
gas turbine the security.
engine Multi-loop
control switching control is For
there
optimum a aremulti-loop
plenty
combination of switching
parameters
of control
to
parameters be is system,
decided.
a challenge,to find
Montazeri-Gh the
because
an
contradicts method
with the to solve this systems,
confliction. theA speediness
switching optimum combination of parameters is a challenge, because
contradicts with the security.
security. Multi-loop
Multi-loop switching
switching control
control is is there there are2012)
plenty optimizes
of parameters to be is decided. Montazeri-Gh
an
an effective
contradicts
effective method
with to solve
the security.
method to solve this confliction.
Multi-loop
this switching
confliction. A
A control is optimum
switching
switching
(2011,
there are
are
(2011,are2012)
combination
plenty
plenty of
of
of parameters
parameters
parameters
optimizes
a single-spool
to
to be
be
a single-spool
a challenge,
decided.
decided.
turbojet because
engine
Montazeri-Gh
Montazeri-Gh
turbojet engine
an
an effective
effective method
method to to solve
solve this
this confliction.
confliction. A A switching
switching there (2011, plenty optimizes
of parameters to be decided. Montazeri-Gh
(2011, 2012) optimizes a single-spool turbojet engine
2012) a single-spool turbojet engine
2405-8963 Copyright © 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.
(2011, 2012) optimizes a single-spool turbojet engine
Peer review under responsibility of International Federation of Automatic Control.
10.1016/j.ifacol.2021.10.193
 Yujia Ma et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 54-10 (2021) 388–393
min/max controller with genetic algorithm and later with
particle swarm optimization, and validated the simulation
results by experimental data. This proves availability of
Artificial Intelligence optimization methods in gas turbine
engine system gain tuning work. Jafari tunes turbojet engine
fuel controller gain with invasive weed optimization in 2013,
and compares four global optimization algorithms from the
aspects of optimization time and convergence indices in 2019,
and summarizes potential solutions and challenges.
It can be noticed that utilization of multi-objective control is
mostly for aircraft engine, but can seldom be found in three-
spool marine propulsion gas turbine. For a three-shaft
electricity generation gas turbine, Zhang (2019) gives a
theoretical study for the multi-loop control system, and
compares the effect of single-loop control system, multi-loop
feed-forward feedback control system, and cascade system.
However, parameter optimization of the control system is not
well studied. Therefore, in this paper, switching control
method is introduced to control a three-spool gas turbine
system. Nonlinear component-level model is constructed
based on which an equilibrium manifold expansion model is
developed. Multi-loop minimum logic based switching
control system and a traditional control system are designed
and tuned with PSO algorithm. Dynamic performance and
limit protection effects are compared, and the advantage of
multi-loop structure is analysed.
2. THREE-SPOOL MARINE GAS TURBINE MODEL
2.1 Nonlinear Component-Level Model
The model is derived from three-spool marine gas turbine
GT-25000. The overall structure of the system is shown in
Fig. 2. The symbols LC, HC, HT, LT and PT represent
respectively lower-pressure compressor, higher-pressure
compressor, higher-pressure turbine, lower-pressure turbine
and power turbine.
Fig.2. Schematic of three-spool marine gas turbine
Ambient air is compressed in the compressors and mixed
with gas fuel. Then mixture is burnt under nearly constant
pressure condition in the combustor. Hot gas is injected into
the turbine module and expanded to produce power. Power
produced in HT and LT drive HC and LC respectively, and
system load is driven by PT. In this paper, load is supposed to
be propeller load, as
n
Pload  PLoad 0 ( PT )3
nPT 0
389
where PLoad 0 is load at designed operating point (kW), nPT 0
and n PT are designed and actual PT rotation speed (rpm).
The system is runs under standard atmospheric environment,
and thermal parameters are calculated with mass, energy, and
momentum conservation laws. Thermal variables are all
normalized by their design values.
With the model, parameters that are hard to measure but
should be kept within limits can be evaluated. Risk of over-
temperature is monitored by combustor outlet temperature T3* ,
and danger of compressor surging is estimated by SM . T3* is
calculated with compressor outlet air parameters, pilot gas
mass flow rate and heat value. SM , a derived parameter
denoting the distance between current operating point and
surge margin, is calculated as
 s / mas
SM  (  1) 100% (2)
 w / maw
where mas and  s are corrected mass and pressure of air on
surge margin; maw and  w are corrected mass and pressure
on the operating point. Normally, SM should be above 10%.
The simulation results are compared with designed
parameters, and the maximum absolute error of 2.3% proves
that the model is able to work for gas turbine control study.
2.2 Equilibrium Manifold Expansion Model
Although the nonlinear component-level (NCL) model can
precisely predict behaviour of the system, control system
design and parameter optimization algorithms always employ
a simplified nonlinear model. Therefore, in this part,
equilibrium manifold expansion (EME) model is constructed
following the method by Yu (2011). The EME model is an
approximate nonlinear model developed from the
linearization family. It has been proved to be simple in
structure, good in capturing nonlinear behaviour, and needs
shorter computation time. Besides, the model can reflect the
influence of varying equilibrium points, and can be used in
aero-engine switching control problems (Shi, 2016). Till now,
there is not an EME model established targeting a three-spool
gas turbine, which has the structure of three state variables.
A nonlinear system described by the form
 x  f ( x, u )
 (3)
 y  g ( x, u )
has an equilibrium point xe if there exists ue that satisfies
f ( xe , ue )  0 (4)
where x  [ x1 x2 ... xn ] T
is the state,
f  [ f1 f 2 ... f n ]
T
and g  [ g1 g2 ... gr ] T
are the
(1) corresponding functions, y  [ y1 y2 ... yr ] is the output,
T
and u is the input. The subscript “e” denotes steady states.
Then the set of equilibrium points ( xe , ye , ue ) that satisfy
390 Yujia Ma et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 54-10 (2021) 388–393

 f ( xe , ue )  0 + Fuel mass EME

 (5) ref
PI Actuator
 g ( xe , ue )  ye
GT model
-
n_H
is called equilibrium manifold of the nonlinear system.
The Taylor expansion form of the nonlinear system on the Fig. 3. Traditional multi-objective controller diagram
equilibrium manifold is an equilibrium manifold expansion
(EME) model. For the three-spool gas turbine model, ignore The PI controller parameters kp ( nH ) and ki ( nH ) should be
energy storage between the components, the states variables carefully decided to protect system output from safety
are HT speed nH , LT speed n L , and PT speed nPT , boundaries. Here, parameters are determined by minimizing
the following performance function:
as x  [nH nL nPT ]T . Select fuel mass flow rate Qmf as

scheduling variable  , then the EME model is: J   t  e(t ) dt i Pi (7)
0

   Qmf where e(t )  r (t )  y (t ) denotes error between reference


 nH  a11 ( )(nH  nHe ( ))  a12 ( )( nL  nLe ( )) signal r (t ) and HP rotation speed y (t ) ;  i are weighting
  a13 ( )(nPT  nPTe ( )) coefficients for penalty functions, Pi are penalty functions for

 nL  a21 ( )(nH  nHe ( ))  a22 ( )(nL  nLe ( )) surging and over-temperature. When SM min  SM lim or

  a23 ( )(nPT  nPTe ( )) (6) *
T3,max  T3,lim
*
happens, penalty with a large value is given.
n  a ( )(n  n ( ))  a ( )(n  n ( ))
 PT 31 H He 32 L Le SM min is minimum value of SM during transient process, and
  a33 ( )(nPT  nPTe ( )) *
T3,max is maximum value of T3* . SM lim  0.1 , is lower limit of

 y  ye ( )  c1 ( )(nH  nHe ( ))  c2 ( )(nL  nLe ( )) HP surge margin which should not be touched.
  c3 ( )(nPT  nPTe ( )) *
T3,lim  1.05T3,0
*
, is upper limit of combustor outlet

System outputs y are parameters to be regulated or protected. temperature that cannot be violated. The penalties are
designed following the principle that system output SM and
In this paper, nH is regulated output, and SM , T3* are
T3* should be close to the constraints, but cannot go over them.
protected outputs. Once the system EME model formulation
is determined, with NCL simulation results, the partial- Optimize (7) under the most severe circumstance, and the
derivative terms can be derived.
optimized set of kp ( nH ) and ki ( nH ) will be the best
3. OPTIMAL CONTROLLERS DESIGN combination to balance safety and response performance.

In this chapter, based on the gas turbine model in Chapter 2, a 3.2 Multi-Loop Switching Controller
traditional control system and a multi-loop
regulating/protecting switching control system are designed A multi-loop regulating/protecting switching control system
separately. As most abnormal conditions occur during applied to the EME model is shown in Fig. 4.
acceleration, in this paper, only speeding up process is
discussed. n_H regulator

For a three-spool gas turbine, during acceleration, HC is apt T3* protection controller
to surge, and HT inlet blade is in danger of over-temperature.
SM HC protection Switching Fuel mass EME
Therefore, of all the outputs, HT rotation speed nH is to be controller Logic Actuator
GT model

regulated, SM and T3* are to be protected. SM LC protection

controller

The two control systems are both designed to tract reference ...

signal safety and quickly. As there is not a systematic way to Measurements

design switching control system parameters, an optimization
method is applied. A performance function to achieve fastest
response under the precondition of safe operation is designed.
Then simplex algorithm is applied to optimize control system
parameters. In the end, optimized parameters are listed.
3.1 Traditional Multi-Objective Controller
Fig. 4. Multi-loop regulating/protecting switching control
system diagram
Similar with the traditional control system, nH is regulated
with a PI controller. The other loops are protected with PI
controllers that tract proper constants. These constants are
introduced to trigger protecting loops. In this
paper, SM trigger  0.14 , T3,trigger  1.02T3,0 .
* *

A traditional multi-objective gas turbine control system

arrangement is shown in Fig. 3. A Proportional-Integral (PI) The switching logic determines which signal is passed
controller is applied in the nH regulating loop to track the through. Minimum law, a widely used switching logic in
acceleration processes, is used in this paper. The law
demanded signal.
 Yujia Ma et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 54-10 (2021) 388–393 391

guarantees that when operation is in danger of exceeding speeding up with a higher acceleration rate than the
protection limits, the corresponding protecting loop can traditional one, as can be seen in Fig. 5 and Fig.6. This can
switch to work instead of the speed regulating loop, and slow also be predicted by kp ( nH ) and ki ( nH ) values of the control
down the acceleration of fuel mass. In this way, operation is systems. It is obvious that the ability of tracking reference
close to the boundary but still remains within given ranges, safely and quickly is enhanced by switching logic.
and a better response can be attained.
The advantage of the switching method lies in that it allows
3.3 Parameter Optimization Result regulated parameter to increase faster in the early stage of
acceleration, and switch to protecting loop when operation is
near limit. This advantage can only be achieved by the multi-
The optimization problem formulated with the constructed
loop switching structure.
control system and performance function (7) is solved with
Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). PSO was first proposed
by Kennedy (1995). It is a nature-inspired global search
algorithm based on swarm intelligence, can deal with
nonlinear problems, and is robust with the growth of
dimension (Neumaier, 2004). It can search over a large set of
feasible solutions and find a global optimal solution.
When optimizing the parameters, gas turbine operates under
the most severe condition. The reference rotation speed signal
steps from the lowest operating condition (op1) to the highest
operating condition (op3). In this way, once the parameters
are tuned, the safety over the whole working range can be Fig. 5. Comparison of nH response (op1 to op2)
guaranteed. For the traditional control method, kp and ki of
regulating loop will be optimized. For the multi-loop control
system, kp and ki of regulating loop, SM protecting loop,
and T3* protecting loop need tuning. With the PSO algorithm,
the tuned parameters are displayed in Table 1.

Table 1. Optimized controller parameters of different

control methods
kp ( nH ) ki ( nH ) kp ( SM ) ki ( SM ) kp(T3* ) ki(T3* )
switching 21.70 26.08 1.57 1.13 7.41 4.71
Fig. 6. Comparison of nH response (op2 to op3)
traditional 9.44 8.54 / / / /
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
With the designed control systems and the optimized
parameters, simulation is carried out on the EME model.
Besides the two operating points used for parameter
optimization, another operating point (op2) between them is
introduced. The demanded signal steps from op1 to op2, and
from op2 to op3 are simulated separately.

The unified responses of nH tracking desired speed of the

first and second process is compared in Fig. 5 and Fig.6. It
can be noticed that in both cases shaft rotation speed tracks
reference properly. Although system with switching strategy
has larger overshoot, the rotation speed doesn’t surpass the
speed limit. Parameters to be protected and their limitation *
are shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. It is found that both Fig. 7. Comparison of SM and T3 response (op1 to op2)
controllers can satisfy the surging constraint and temperature
constraint in the two processes. This is because controller
parameters are tuned with the most severe accelerating
condition.

However, SM and T3* are more closed to the safety

boundaries in switching control cases, which means system is
392 Yujia Ma et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 54-10 (2021) 388–393
Fig. 8. Comparison of SM and T3* response (op2 to op3)
Switching of fuel mass during the first transient process is
revealed in Fig. 9. The min selector passes the minimum
signal from nH tracking controller, SM protecting controller
and T3* protecting controller. At the early stage, the
nH regulating controller responses fast to the reference signal.
Then at 0.07 sec, the T3* protecting loop takes charge, and
fuel mass decreases. Following, at 0.53sec, SM protecting
boundary is touched, leading to a continuous fall of fuel mass.
In the end, at 1.28sec, the danger of surging is also relieved,
and the main controller is in loop again to keep nH track
*
demanded signal. In this way, both SM limit and T are kept
3 In this paper, multi-loop switching control system is
in safe region successfully, proving that surging and over-
temperature are prevented. The command loop during
operation is revealed in Fig. 10.
Fig. 9. Switching system output (op2 to op3)
Fig. 10. Selected switching signal (op2 to op3)
Dynamic parameters during the first transient process (op1 to
op2) and the second process (op2 to op3) are summarized in
Table 2. Rise time tr is defined as the time required for the
response to rise to 95% of its final value. Settling time ts is
the time required for the response to reach and remain within
5% of its final value. It is obvious that multi-loop switching
control system responses faster, and gives smaller cumulative
error. Both SM and T3* are closer to constraint but still within
limit, which brings great improvement in dynamic
performance. In contrast, traditional control method is much
too conservative, and can’t offer satisfying performance.
This means even with the same performance function and
optimization algorithm, the switching control system is more
efficient and less conservative. The reason is that a multi-
loop structure has multiple parameters to be tuned. Once
optimized, they can collaborate to consider multiple
objectives. This is also part of advantage brought by structure
of the system.
Table 2. Comparison of multi-objective switching control
and traditional control ( tr : rise time; ts : settling time)
op 1→op 2 op 2→op 3
min/max traditional min/max traditional
tr (s) 0.866 2.261 1.180 2.341
ts (s) 2.248 2.261 2.557 2.341

0
t  e(t ) dt 0.851 2.145 2.149 2.963
SM min 0.134 0.146 0.126 0.139
*
T3,max (pu) 1.000 0.958 1.043 1.020
5. CONCLUSIONS
developed to solve three-spool marine gas turbine
regulating/protecting problem. An EME model is constructed
based on NCL system. The multi-loop control system and a
traditional control system are assessed to control the EME
model. The parameters are tuned with PSO algorithm.
Simulation is carried out between three different operating
points and the results are compared, and the following
conclusions can be derived:
1) A multi-objective switching control system is proved to be
an effective measure to prevent gas turbine from danger and
ensure dynamic performance simultaneously. The ability of
tracking reference safely and quickly is greatly enhanced.
The advantage of switching logic lies in its multi-loop
structure.
2）With the global optimization methodology introduced in
this paper, an optimized performance of the control system
can be achieved.
3）The switching control system has multiple loops, which
brings more parameters to tune. Once the parameters are well
designed, they can collaborate to consider multiple objectives.
This is also part of advantage brought by structure of the
control system.
4）For future researches, the performance function proposed
in this paper can be applied in more advanced switching
control systems, to reach a better dynamic performance.
 Yujia Ma et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 54-10 (2021) 388–393 393

max limit regulators (Vol. 44670, pp. 959-968).

American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Neumaier, A. (2004). Complete search in continuous global
optimization and constraint satisfaction. Acta
This work was supported by National Science and numerica, 13(1), 271-369.
Technology Major Project of China [grant number 2017-V- Richter, H. (2011). Advanced control of turbofan engines.
0005-0055]. Springer Science & Business Media.
Shi, Y., Zhao, J., and Liu, Y. (2016). Switching control for
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