Abstract:
Various technologies and techniques directed to creating, encrypting, and updating a database of position coordinates of LDAR components. In one implementation, the method for creating a database of coordinates of leak detection and repair (LDAR) components includes receiving an input pertaining to an LDAR component, obtaining position coordinates of a handheld computer device and associating the position coordinates of the handheld computer device with the LDAR component.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     Implementations of various technologies described herein generally relate to various methods and/or systems for locating components in a Leak Detection And Repair (LDAR) program. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The following descriptions and examples do not constitute an admission as prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section. 
     Industrial plants that handle volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sometimes experience unwanted emissions of those compounds into the atmosphere from point sources, such as smokestacks, and non-point sources, such as valves, pumps, and/or vessels containing the VOCs. Emissions from non-point sources typically occur due to leakage of the VOCs from joints and/or seals and may be referred to herein as “fugitive emissions”. Fugitive emissions from valves typically occur as leakage through the packing set around the valve stem. 
     Most industrial plants have established an LDAR program to detect if any fugitive emissions are being released into the atmosphere. Given the obscure locations of many of these potential emission sources, technicians usually experience major difficulties in locating all of the LDAR components. 
     Further, there are security risks involved with storing the locations of hazardous gas/chemical equipment where LDAR components are positioned on an unsecured database. 
     SUMMARY 
     Described herein are one or more implementations of various technologies and techniques directed to creating, encrypting, and updating a database of position coordinates of LDAR components. In one implementation, the method for creating a database of coordinates of leak detection and repair (LDAR) components includes receiving an input pertaining to an LDAR component, obtaining position coordinates of a handheld computer device in response to receiving the input and associating the position coordinates of the handheld computer device with the LDAR component. 
     Described herein are also one or more implementations of various techniques for using the position coordinates to assist a user (technician) to locate an LDAR component in the field. In one implementation, the method for providing assistance to a user for locating a leak detection and repair (LDAR) component includes receiving a request to locate an LDAR component in a field, retrieving position coordinates of the LDAR component, obtaining position coordinates of a handheld computer device and providing directions from the position coordinates of the handheld computer device to the position coordinates of the LDAR component. 
     In one implementation, the method may further include obtaining current position coordinates of the handheld computer device when the user has reached the LDAR component, determining whether the current position coordinates are within a predetermined range of the retrieved position coordinates of the LDAR component and whether the dilution of precision of the current position coordinates are higher than the dilution of precision of the retrieved position coordinates, and if it is determined that the current position coordinates are within the predetermined range and that the dilution of precision of the current position coordinates are higher than the dilution of precision of the retrieved position coordinates, then replacing the retrieved position coordinates of the LDAR component with the current position coordinates. 
     Described herein are also one or more implementations of various techniques for a system for locating leak detection and repair (LDAR) components. In one implementation, the system includes one or more position coordinates satellites and a handheld computer device in communication with the position coordinates satellite. The handheld computer device includes a processor and a memory comprising program instructions executable by the processor to: receive an input pertaining to an LDAR component, obtain position coordinates of the handheld computer device using the position coordinates satellites and associate the position coordinates of the handheld computer device with the LDAR component. 
     In another implementation, the system includes a position coordinates satellite and a handheld computer device in communication with the position coordinates satellite. The handheld computer device includes a processor and a memory comprising program instructions executable by the processor to: receive a request to locate an LDAR component in a field, retrieve position coordinates of the LDAR component in response to receiving the request, obtain position coordinates of the handheld computer device using one or more position coordinates satellites and provide directions from the position coordinates of the handheld computer device to the position coordinates of the LDAR component. 
     The above referenced summary section is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description section. The summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Implementations of various technologies will hereafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the accompanying drawings illustrate only the various implementations described herein and are not meant to limit the scope of various technologies described herein. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic diagram of an LDAR component locator system in accordance with one or more implementations of various technologies and techniques described herein. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic diagram of a personal digital assistant (PDA) in accordance with one or more implementations of various technologies and techniques described herein. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a flow diagram of a method for creating a database of position coordinates for LDAR components in accordance with one or more implementations of various techniques described herein. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a flow diagram of a method for assisting a user to locate an LDAR component in accordance with various techniques described herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The discussion below is directed to certain specific implementations. It is to be understood that the discussion below is only for the purpose of enabling a person with ordinary skill in the art to make and use any subject matter defined now or later by the patent “claims” found in any issued patent herein. 
     The following paragraphs generally describe one or more implementations of various techniques directed to acquiring position coordinates of LDAR components and providing a user with a method in which to locate the immediate vicinity or the precise location of an LDAR component. In one implementation, the LDAR component locator system may include an LDAR component, a global positioning system device, one or more position coordinates satellites in communication with a PDA, a database of LDAR component information, and a database of position coordinates. 
     In operation, a user may perform monitoring, documenting, or maintenance work at each LDAR component. After the user has completed his maintenance work at one LDAR component, he may input an account of the work that he completed into his PDA. Upon receiving this information about a specific LDAR component, the PDA may retrieve its own position coordinates, encrypt it, and store it as the position coordinates for the specified LDAR component on a database for position coordinates. In order to keep the location of the LDAR components safe from sabotage, the component locator program may encrypt the position coordinates prior to storing them to the database. Further, the encrypted position coordinates may be stored in a database separate from the database that stores other information pertaining to LDAR components. 
     After an LDAR component&#39;s position coordinates have been stored, a user may request to locate the LDAR component on his PDA. Upon receiving a request to locate a specific LDAR component, the PDA may download the LDAR component&#39;s position coordinates, decrypt it, and compare it to its own current position coordinates. Using the two coordinates, the PDA may provide the user with a map or step-by-step directions on how to reach the vicinity of the specified LDAR component. 
     The accuracy of an LDAR component&#39;s location may be determined each time an LDAR component has been located by a user. If an LDAR component&#39;s newly acquired location coordinates are within a predetermined accuracy tolerance, the newly acquired coordinates may be stored in the database of the position coordinates in place of the previous coordinates for the LDAR component. Otherwise, if an LDAR component&#39;s newly acquired location coordinates exceed a predetermined accuracy tolerance, the PDA may display a warning notice to its user. The user may have the option to either replace the previously stored position coordinates with the newly acquired coordinates, or he may disregard the warning and keep the previously stored position coordinates on the database. 
     In one implementation, the component locator program may also determine the accuracy of a location by comparing the dilution of precision values between the position coordinates stored on the database and the PDA&#39;s newly acquired position coordinates. The dilution of precision may be calculated by determining the number of GPS satellites used in locating the PDA&#39;s position coordinates. If the newly acquired coordinates have a higher degree of precision than the previously stored coordinates, the component locator program may replace the previously stored coordinates with the newly acquired coordinates. 
     One or more implementations of various techniques for an LDAR component locator system will now be described in more detail with reference to  FIGS. 1-4  in the following paragraphs. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of a system or network  100  that may be used to locate LDAR components in accordance with one or more implementations of various technologies and techniques described herein. 
     The system  100  may include a computer device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA)  140 , in communication with a position coordinates satellite  110 , LDAR components  170 , a database  150  for storing LDAR information and a database  160  for storing position coordinates of the LDAR components  170 . LDAR components  170  may include devices such as valves, pumps, compressors, connectors, flanges, and other devices that can be found at industrial plants. 
     The PDA  140  may be configured for storing the hardware and software elements required to locate specific components. For instance, the PDA  140  may include hardware components, such as a position coordinates device  120 , and software components, such as a component locator program  130 . 
     The position coordinates device  120  may be used to assist position satellite  110  in obtaining the position coordinates of PDA  140 . The position coordinates device  120  may be any device that communicates with a position coordinates satellite  110  to determine its position coordinates. The satellite  110  may be configured to provide the position coordinates device  120  its position coordinates. Although only one position coordinates satellite is shown in  FIG. 1 , it should be understood that in some implementations the satellite  110  may include one or more medium Earth orbit satellites. In one implementation, the position coordinates device  120  may use Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to determine the PDA  140 &#39;s GPS coordinates. It should also be noted that satellite  110  may be replaced with other communications devices such as cellular phone towers or any other device that may be capable to provide position coordinates of the PDA  140 . 
     The component locator program  130  may be used to store the position coordinates of the LDAR components  170  into a database and to assist the user in locating LDAR components  170 . In one implementation, the component locator program  130  may link or associate an LDAR component  170  with its corresponding position coordinates obtained by the position coordinate device  120 . After making this association, the component locator program  130  may encrypt the position coordinates and store them in the position coordinates database  160 . The component locator program  130  may be described in more detail with reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4  in the following paragraphs. 
     The position coordinates database  160  may be configured to store position coordinates of each LDAR component  170 . The position coordinates database  160  may be located on a server, personal computer, or other similar computer medium. 
     The database  150  may be configured to store LDAR component information, such as tag number, size, component type and process stream information. Like the position coordinates database  160 , database  150  may also be located on a server, personal computer, or other similar computer medium. 
     Although various implementations described herein are with reference to a PDA, it should be understood that in some implementations the PDA  140  may be substituted with any other computer device that can utilize software programs, communicate wirelessly with other computer media, and interface with a position coordinates device  120 , such as a laptop, Pocket PC, and the like. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic diagram of a PDA  200  in accordance with one or more implementations of various technologies described herein. The PDA  200  may include a central processing unit (CPU)  220 , a system memory  280 , and a system bus  240  that couples various system components including the system memory  280  to the CPU  220 . Although only one CPU  220  is illustrated in  FIG. 2 , it should be understood that in some implementations the PDA  200  may include more than one CPU. The system bus  240  may be any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures may include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus also known as Mezzanine bus. The system memory  280  may include a read only memory (ROM)  281  and a random access memory (RAM)  283 . A basic input/output system (BIOS)  282 , containing the basic routines that help transfer information between elements within the PDA  200 , such as during start-up, may be stored in the ROM  281 . A video display  210  or other type of display device may also be connected to system bus  210  via an interface, such as a video adapter. 
     The PDA  200  may further include a hard disk drive  260  for reading from and writing to a hard disk. The hard disk drive  260  may be connected to the system bus  240  by a hard disk drive interface  250 . The drives and their associated computer-readable media may provide nonvolatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the PDA  200 . 
     The PDA  200  may further include computer-readable media that may be accessed by the CPU  220 . For example, such computer-readable media may include computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media may include volatile and non-volatile, and removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media may further include RAM, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the CPU  220 . 
     The PDA  200  may contain a communication interface  270  that may connect with other types of computer media such as servers, computers, the Internet, databases, and the like. In one implementation, the communication interface  270  may be a Bluetooth communications interface. However, it should be understood that some implementations may use other types of wired or wireless communications. 
     Communication media may embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and may include any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” may mean a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media may include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above may also be included within the scope of computer readable media. 
     A number of program modules may be stored on ROM  281  or RAM  283 , including an operating system  284 , a component locator program  286  and a component information program  288 . The operating system  284  may be any suitable operating system that may control the operation of a networked personal or server computer, such as Windows® XP, Mac OS® X, Unix-variants (e.g., Linux® and BSD®), and the like. In one implementation, the component information program  288  may be stored on RAM  225  or hard disk drive  227 . The component information program  240  may be used to outline and store information about certain components such as its identification number, size, location, pressure, etc. The component information program  240  may also be configured to initiate the component locator program  286  to store or locate specific LDAR components. 
     The PDA  200  may further include a position coordinate device  230 , which may provide the component locator program  286  the current position coordinates of the PDA  200 . The position coordinates device  230  may include an antenna, tuned to the frequency of the position satellites, receiver processors, a clock, and other components that may be used to interface with the PDA  200  and the position coordinates satellite  110 . In one implementation, the component locator program  286  may use the position coordinates provided by the position device  230  to create a database of position coordinates for each LDAR component. The component locator program  286  will be described in more detail with reference to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  in the paragraphs below. Although  FIG. 2  indicates that the position coordinate device  230  may be integrated into the PDA  140 , it should be noted that in other implementations the position coordinate device  230  may be a separate component that communicates with the PDA  140  over the PDA&#39;s communication interface  270 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a flow diagram of a method  300  for creating a database of position coordinates of LDAR components  170  in accordance with one or more implementations of various techniques described herein. At step  310 , a user may input an LDAR component&#39;s identification information into the PDA  140 . The component&#39;s identification information may reflect its attached tag number, serial number, or any other unique identification name that may or may not be physically attached to the actual LDAR component. 
     Upon receipt of the component&#39;s identification information, the component locator program  286  may obtain the current position coordinates of the PDA  140  (step  320 ). In doing so, the component locator program  286  may send a command to the position coordinates device  230  to retrieve the current position coordinates of PDA  140 . Here, the position coordinates device  230  may interface with the position coordinates satellite  110  to locate and store the exact position coordinates of the PDA  140 . The obtained coordinates may be stored in memory  280 , hard drive  260 , or any other memory storage device. 
     Although the component locator program  286  is described as obtaining position coordinates of the PDA  140  upon receipt of the LDAR component identification information, it should be understood that in some implementations, the component locator program  286  may obtain position coordinates of the PDA  140  at times other than receiving a component&#39;s identification. For instance, the component locator program  286  may obtain position coordinates of the PDA  140  when the user performs normal maintenance operations, such as monitoring, servicing, collecting data on a specific component, and the like. The component locator program  286  may also be programmed to automatically store the position coordinates of an LDAR component when a monitoring event is recorded or when a tag is documented into the PDA. Furthermore, it should be noted that the component locator program  286  may also be configured to store the position coordinates of a specific landmark, such as a control room, intersection, or major piece of equipment. 
     At step  330 , the component locator program  286  associates the position coordinates of PDA  140  with the component identification information received at step  310 . In this manner, the position coordinates of the LDAR component for which the identification information is received at step  310  may be obtained. 
     At step  340 , the component locator program  286  may encrypt the position coordinates. In one implementation, the component locator program  286  may also encrypt the link or association between the specific component identification number and its position coordinates. Various encryption methods may be used by the component locator program  286  to keep the position coordinates of the LDAR components invisible to the public. 
     At step  350 , the component locator program  286  may store the encrypted position coordinates into the position coordinates database  160 . Notably, the position coordinates database  160  is separate from the database  150  that stores other information about LDAR components. The component locator program  286  may use the communication interface  270  to send the encrypted data to the position coordinate database  160 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a flow diagram of a method  400  for assisting a user to locate an LDAR component in accordance with various techniques described herein. At step  410 , the component locator program  286  may receive a request from a user to download the user&#39;s assignment. 
     At step  420 , the component locator program  286  may retrieve the user&#39;s assignment, the information pertaining to the LDAR components listed in his assignment from the LDAR information database  150  and the corresponding encrypted position coordinates from the position coordinates database  160 . 
     At step  425 , the component locator program  286  may receive a request from a user to locate a specific LDAR component from his assignment list. 
     At step  430 , the component locator program  286  may decrypt the retrieved encrypted position coordinates. The component locator program  286  may decrypt the encrypted coordinates using a decryption algorithm or another similar decryption method. 
     At step  440 , the component locator program  286  may send a command to the position coordinates device  230  to retrieve the current position coordinates of the PDA  140 . As mentioned above, the position coordinates device  230  may interface with one or more position coordinates satellites to determine the current position of PDA  140 . In one implementation, the position coordinates device  230  may store the position coordinates of the PDA  140  on some memory device that may be accessed by the component locator program  286 . 
     At step  450 , the component locator program  286  may use the current position coordinates of PDA  140  and the decrypted position coordinates of the specified LDAR component to provide directions from the PDA  140 &#39;s current location to the location of the specified LDAR component. The directions provided by the component locator program  286  may include a heading and distance, a general area map, a map of the area or facility in which the specified LDAR component is identified with a pointer, a snapshot view map that indicates the general direction and distance to the specified component, travelogues, vocal directions, written directions, video presentation and the like. Although it may be understood that the video display  210  may update automatically to indicate the PDA  140 &#39;s progress in reaching the specified component, it should also be noted that directions displayed on the video display  210  may not update automatically as the PDA  140  moves closer to the specified LDAR component. Instead, the user may need to enter another request to the component locator program  286  to locate the specified LDAR component, in order for the video display  210  to update. In one implementation, the actual position coordinates of the LDAR component are never displayed to the user. 
     Once the user has physically reached the specified vicinity of the LDAR component&#39;s location, the user may perform various tasks, such as monitor, document, collect data, and the like. Upon completion of his tasks, the user may request to update or confirm the position coordinates of the LDAR component. In one implementation, such request may take place when the user presses the ENTER key on the PDA  140 . As such, at step  460 , upon receipt of the request to update the position coordinates of the LDAR component, the component locator program  286  may once again obtain the position coordinates of the PDA  140 . In another implementation, at step  460 , upon completion of his tasks, the user may record the task that he completed into the component information program  288 . Once an LDAR component is updated on the component information program  288 , the component information program  288  may automatically send a command to the component locator program  286  to retrieve the PDA  140 &#39;s current position coordinates. 
     At step  470 , the component locator program  286  may compare the PDA  140 &#39;s current position coordinates recently obtained at step  460  with the previously decrypted position coordinates. Using the two position coordinates, the component locator program  286  may determine if the two sets of coordinates are within a predetermined accuracy tolerance. For example, the accuracy of the sets of coordinates may be determined by calculating the distance between the two coordinates. The predetermined accuracy tolerance may be a distance defined by the client, the user&#39;s supervisor, or the like. 
     At step  472 , the component locator program  286  may display a warning notice to the user if the difference between the two position coordinates exceeds the predetermined tolerance. The warning notice may be displayed on the video display  210 . 
     At step  474 , the component locator program  286  may prompt the user to either replace the previous position coordinates associated with the LDAR component or disregard the warning. If the user selects the option to disregard the warning, then the component locator program  286  may await for its next request to locate another LDAR component. 
     On the other hand, if the user selects the option to replace the previous position coordinates with the current position coordinates, then at step  480 , the component locator program  286  may encrypt and store the newly acquired position coordinates on the position coordinates database  160 . As mentioned above, the component locator program  286  may also encrypt the link between the LDAR component identification information and its newly acquired position coordinates. 
     Referring back to step  470 , if the difference between the two position coordinates falls within the predetermined tolerance, then at step  480 , the component locator program  286  may encrypt and store the newly acquired position coordinates on the position coordinates database  160 . In one implementation, if the newly acquired position coordinates have a higher degree of precision based on the dilution of precision value, the component locator program  286  may replace the previous coordinates with the newly acquired coordinates in the position coordinates database  160 . 
     Referring back to step  474 , if the user selects the option to replace the previous position coordinates with the newly acquired position coordinates, then the component locator program  286  may encrypt and store the newly acquired position coordinates on the position coordinates database  160 . After the component locator program  286  encrypts and stores the newly acquired position coordinates, it may await for its next request to locate another LDAR component. 
     In one implementation, the component locator program  286  may not display a warning notice at step  472  if the difference between the two position coordinates exceeds the predetermined tolerance. Instead, the component locator program  286  may report the discrepancy on a separate database for quality assurance purposes. The quality assurance information may verify whether the user was in fact in the vicinity of the LDAR component that he was monitoring, documenting, or updating. 
     In another implementation, the component locator program  286  may create a separate file that keeps record of the user&#39;s completed tasks. For instance, the component locator program  286  may list the LDAR component that was monitored, the time and date it was monitored, and the LDAR components dilution of precision value. Using this information, the component locator program  286  may generate information outlining the user&#39;s route/path, his pace, his activities, his periods of inactivity, and the like. 
     While the foregoing is directed to implementations of various technologies described herein, other and further implementations may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, which may be determined by the claims that follow. Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.