Comparison of adaptive filters for gas turbine performance monitoring

Kalman filters are widely used in the turbine engine community for health monitoring purpose. This algorithm has proven its capability to track gradual deterioration with a good accuracy. On the other hand, its response to rapid deterioration is either a long delay in recognising the fault, and/or a spread of the estimated fault in several components. The main reason of this deficiency lies in the transition model of the parameters that assumes a smooth evolution of the engine's condition. The aim of this contribution is to compare two adaptive diagnosis tools that combine a Kalman filter and a secondary system that monitors the residuals. This auxiliary component implements on one hand a covariance matching scheme and on the other hand a generalised likelihood ratio test to improve the behaviour of the diagnosis tool with respect to abrupt faults. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.