Patent ID: 11913857
Assignee: nan
Field: Thermal processes and apparatus (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  G | IPC G

Claim 11:
12. A method of controlling an industrial furnace installation, the industrial furnace installation including:
an industrial furnace component;
a cooling circuit provided in thermal communication with the industrial furnace component the cooling circuit including a fluid conduit for receiving a cooling fluid flow therealong;
a fluid conduit leak detection system comprising,
an acoustic emitter positioned at a first location along said conduit; and
an acoustic sensor positioned at a second location along said conduit spaced from said first position,
a processor electronically communicating with the acoustic sensor and operable to output control signals to control at least one operating parameter of the industrial furnace installation,
the acoustic emitter operable to output and propagate at least one output acoustic signal through said cooling fluid flow, the at least one acoustic signal including one or more preselected frequency components, the preselected frequency components having a frequency range selected to preferentially propagate along said conduit to said acoustic sensor,
the acoustic sensor operable to receive and sense the at least one output acoustic signal to detect the at least one said preselected frequency component or a harmonic frequency correlated to the at least one preselected frequency component,
the method comprising:
the acoustic emitter outputting into and along the cooling fluid flow at least one said acoustic signal,
with the acoustic sensor, detecting the output acoustic signal; and
wherein on identifying in the detected acoustic signal a threshold change in one or more frequency bands in the frequency component or the harmonic frequency correlated to at least one said preselected frequency component, outputting at least one said control signal from said processor; and
wherein the step of identifying the threshold change in the one or more frequency bands or the harmonic frequency comprises effecting a short time Fourier Transform of the detected acoustic signal.