Patent Number: 056231091
Section: claims

1. A method of monitoring and diagnosing plant conditions comprising the steps of: detecting and accumulating plant operating conditions, apparatus operating conditions and environment conditions;  inputting and accumulating plant inspection data; and  monitoring and diagnosing said plant conditions based on plant record information including said accumulated detection data and inspection data;  detecting and accumulating plant operating conditions, apparatus operating conditions and environment conditions;  inputting and accumulating plant inspection data; and  monitoring and diagnosing said plant conditions based on plant record information including said accumulated detection data and inspection data;  wherein said plant record information is stored in the form of a plant chart in which said detection data and said inspection data are compressed and accumulated, and the plant conditions are diagnosed based on the data in said plant chart; and  wherein said detection data and said inspection data each comprise plural kinds of data, these plural kinds of data are given with predetermined weights before the plant conditions are monitored and diagnosed, these predetermined weights are changed in accordance with the result of diagnosing the plant conditions, and these changed detection data and said inspection data are compressed and stored as the data in said plant chart;  and wherein one of said plural kinds of detection data relates to a given operating condition;  determining a first plurality of values of said given operating condition for the respective different detection data using said inputted plurality of detection data; and storing correlations of said first plurality of values of said given operating condition as said plant chart for monitoring and diagnosis; and  wherein said diagnosing comprises comparing said correlation of said first plurality of values of said given operating condition stored as said plant chart and correlations of a second plurality of values of said given operating condition for the respective different detection data determined using a second plurality of values of said plurality of different detection data to monitor and diagnose an abnormality in a plant element relating to said operating condition. 2. A method of monitoring and diagnosing plant conditions comprising the steps of: 3. A method of monitoring and diagnosing plant conditions according to claims 1 or 2, wherein said first step further includes a step of inputting inspection data from a plant; and taking said inspection data into consideration to determine said correlation as a plant chart for monitoring and diagnosis. 4. A method of monitoring and diagnosing plant conditions according to claims 1 or 2, wherein when an abnormality is detected in said first step, an abnormal location and abnormal details are identified and an event which will ensue from the abnormality is predicted. 5. A method of monitoring and diagnosing plant conditions according to claim 4, wherein said identified abnormal location and details and said event which will ensue from the abnormality are indicated by display means. 6. A method of monitoring and diagnosing plant conditions according to claim 4, wherein a countermeasure for dealing with the detected abnormality is selected, and said identified abnormal location and details, said event which will ensue from the abnormality, and a countermeasure are indicated by display means. 7. A method of monitoring and diagnosing plant conditions according to claims 1 or 2, wherein a residual life for said plant element is evaluated based on the data in the plant chart and material degradation data calculated from the plant chart data. 8. A method of monitoring and diagnosing plant conditions according to claim 7, wherein an effect of crack propagation is evaluated based on the data in the plant chart, the inspection data, and the material degradation data, in terms of crack incubation time until microscopic cracks coalesce to become a macroscopic crack, a propagation length of the macroscopic crack, and a critical crack length which reflects deterioration of the material strength, thereby evaluating a residual life for said plant element.