Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method for improving operational data measurements in an apparatus having a monitoring system, said monitoring system comprising a plurality of sensors, said method comprising:receiving from a sensor in said plurality of sensors a measurement by said sensor of an observed condition of said apparatus;determining, via said monitoring system, a confidence level for said sensor as a function of said measurement;determining, via said monitoring system, an estimate of said measurement as a function of said confidence level; andusing said estimate of said measurement for fault detection in said apparatus. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said apparatus comprises power generation equipment. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of determining a confidence level comprises calculating the expression:      d    i    =                                                x            ~                    i                -                  y          i                                                          x          ~                -        y                  where {tilde over (x)} is an estimate of a sensor vector from all sensors combined using statistical modeling; {tilde over (x)}i is an estimate of a sensor vector from the i-th sensor; di is a normalized absolute difference between said measurement and an estimate for said i-th sensor measurement; and yi is an observed sensor vector at the i-th sensor. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of determining an estimate comprises calculating the expression:{circumflex over (x)}i=wi·yi+(1−wi)·{tilde over (x)}i where wi is a confidence of the i-th sensor; {circumflex over (x)}i is an improved estimate of said measurement; {tilde over (x)}i is an estimate of a sensor vector from the i-th sensor; and yi is an observed sensor vector at the i-th sensor. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of determining a confidence level comprises:calculating a normalized absolute difference between an observed sensor value and an estimated sensor value {tilde over (x)}; andmapping said normalized absolute difference to a confidence level. 6. The method of claim 5 wherein said step of mapping comprises mapping said normalized absolute difference to a confidence level function, said function defined by the expression:g(d)=exp(γd2)where d is the normalized absolute difference; and γ is a selected convergence factor. 7. The method of claim 6 wherein γ is selected in a way such that g(1)=0.001. 8. The method of claim 5 wherein calculating a normalized absolute difference between an observed sensor value and an estimated sensor value {tilde over (x)} comprises:determining a plurality of nodes in a set of training data, said nodes representing a normal operating range; andestimating a curve representing said normal operating range of said apparatus by connecting each node in said plurality of nodes with at least one other node in a way such that the sum of the length of said connections is a minimum. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein said estimated sensor value {tilde over (x)} is a vector located on said curve. 10. The method of claim 1 further comprising using said estimate of said measurement in place of said measurement to represent said observed condition for fault detection in said apparatus. 11. An apparatus for improving operational data measurements in equipment having a monitoring system, said monitoring system comprising a plurality of sensors, said apparatus comprising:means for receiving from a sensor in said plurality of sensors a measurement by said sensor of an observed condition of said apparatus;means for determining a confidence level for said sensor using said measurement; andmeans for determining an estimate of said measurement as a function of said confidence level. 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said equipment comprises power generation equipment. 13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said means for determining a confidence level comprises means for calculating the expression:      d    i    =                                                x            ~                    i                -                  y          i                                                          x          ~                -        y                  where {tilde over (x)} is an estimate of a sensor vector from all sensors combined using statistical modeling; {tilde over (x)}i is an estimate of a sensor vector from the i-th sensor; di is a normalized absolute difference between said measurement and the estimate for said i-th sensor; and yi is an observed sensor vector at the i-th sensor. 14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said means for determining an estimate comprises means for calculating the expression:{circumflex over (x)}i=wi·yi+(1−wi)·{tilde over (x)}i where wi is a confidence of the i-th sensor; {circumflex over (x)}i is an improved estimate of said measurement; {tilde over (x)}i is an estimate of a sensor vector from the i-th sensor; and yi is the observed sensor vector at the i-th sensor. 15. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said means for determining a confidence level comprises:means for calculating a normalized absolute difference between an observed sensor value and an estimated sensor value {tilde over (x)}; andmeans for mapping said normalized absolute difference to a confidence level. 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said means for mapping comprises means for mapping said normalized absolute difference to a confidence level function, said function defined by the expression:g(d)=exp(γd2)where d is the normalized absolute difference; and γ is a selected convergence factor. 17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein γ is selected in a way such that g(1)=0.001. 18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said means for calculating a normalized absolute difference between an observed sensor value and an estimated sensor value {tilde over (x)} comprises:means for determining a plurality of nodes in a set of training data, said nodes representing a normal operating range; andmeans for estimating a curve representing said normal operating range of said apparatus by connecting each node in said plurality of nodes with at least one other node in a way such that the sum of the length of said connections is a minimum. 19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein said estimated sensor value {tilde over (x)} is a vector located on said curve. 20. A method for improving operational data measurements in an apparatus having a monitoring system, said monitoring system adapted to compare at least a first observed value associated with one operating characteristic of said apparatus to a normal operating range of that characteristic, said method comprising:determining, via said monitoring system, a plurality of nodes from a set of training data, said nodes representing said normal operating range of said apparatus;connecting each node in said plurality of nodes with at least one other node in a way such that the sum of the length of said connections is a minimum, said connections forming a curve defining said normal operating range of said apparatus; andusing said curve for fault detection in said apparatus. 21. The method of claim 20 wherein said step of determining comprises identifying a plurality of centroids in a set of training data using a k-mean clustering algorithm. 22. The method of claim 21 wherein said step of determining a plurality of nodes comprises determining the distance from each element of data in said training data to at least one centroid. 23. The method of claim 22 wherein said step of determining a plurality of nodes comprises forming a plurality of nodes by associating each element of data to the at least one centroid to which said element is closest. 24. The method of claim 23 wherein said nodes are connected using a minimum spanning tree method. 25. A monitoring system for detecting fault conditions in equipment comprising:a first sensor in a plurality of sensors for taking a measurement of an observed condition of said equipment;means for determining a confidence level for said sensor using said measurement; andmeans for determining an estimate of said measurement as a function of said confidence level. 26. The monitoring system of claim 25 wherein said equipment comprises power generation equipment. 27. The monitoring system of claim 25 wherein said means for determining a confidence level comprises means for calculating the expression:      d    i    =                                                x            ~                    i                -                  y          i                                                          x          ~                -        y                  where {tilde over (x)} is an estimate of a sensor vector from all sensors combined using statistical modeling; {tilde over (x)}i is an estimate of a sensor vector from the i-th sensor; di is the normalized absolute difference between said measurement and an estimate for said i-th sensor; and yi is the observed sensor vector at the i-th sensor. 28. The monitoring system of claim 25 wherein said means for determining an estimate comprises means for calculating the expression:{circumflex over (x)}i=wi·yi+(1−wi)·{tilde over (x)}i where wi is a confidence of the i-th sensor; {tilde over (x)}i is an improved estimate of said measurement; {tilde over (x)}i is an estimate of a sensor vector from the i-th sensor; and yi is an observed sensor vector at the i-th sensor. 29. The monitoring system of claim 25 wherein said means for determining a confidence level comprises:means for calculating a normalized absolute difference between an observed sensor value and an estimated sensor value {tilde over (x)}; andmeans for mapping said normalized absolute difference to a confidence level. 30. The monitoring system of claim 29 wherein said means for mapping comprises means for mapping said normalized absolute difference to a confidence level function, said function defined by the expression:g(d)=exp(γd2)where d is the normalized absolute difference; and γ is a selected convergence factor. 31. The monitoring system of claim 30 wherein γ is selected in a way such that g(1)=0.001. 32. The monitoring system of claim 29 wherein said means for calculating a normalized absolute difference between an observed sensor value and an estimated sensor value {tilde over (x)} comprises:means for determining a plurality of nodes in a set of training data, said nodes representing a normal operating range; andmeans for estimating a curve representing said normal operating range of said monitoring system by connecting each node in said plurality of nodes with at least one other node in a way such that the sum of the length of said connections is a minimum. 33. The monitoring system of claim 32 wherein said estimated sensor value {tilde over (x)} is a vector located on said curve.