Patent ID: 12196579

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

There follows below a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, by way of example and in no way limiting. Nevertheless, it will be clear to a technician skilled on the subject, from reading this description, possible additional embodiments of the present invention still comprised by the essential and optional features below.

The continuous condition monitoring system for dynamic equipment is characterized by comprising the following elements and their functions:1—Software—the computer program that performs the analysis of the acquired signals and Setup of the hubs and sensors;2—Server—performs communication with hubs and sensors and signal processing codes;3—HUBs communicates with sensors and manages acquisitions;4—Sensor Modules—perform the acquisition of vibration, temperature and acoustic noise signals.

FIG.1presents a diagram showing the relation between the components of the invention. The software, as in other equipment condition monitoring systems, is the component that automatically manages the data flow (vibration in the three axes X, Y, Z, temperature and sound signature (acoustic rumorosity), and/or other signal) after configuring the acquisition parameters, along the entire path, from the sensor modules, passing through the HUBs to their filing in the database acquired by the system. It is through the software that the equipment tree of the process plant is designed, a tree in which it is specified which equipment is being monitored and in which equipment each sensor module is mounted. It is used to analyze the signals acquired by the sensor modules (vibration, temperature and sound signature (acoustic rumorosity)) from different tools (trend, temporal analysis, spectral response, filtering, windowing, among others), in addition to having several functionalities for the setup of HUBs and sensor modules such as, for example, the registration of HUBs and sensor modules in the context of the industrial plant in application as described above, the inclusion of the sensitivity of the sensors involved and the time between data acquisitions of the physical quantities that can be monitored by the system (vibration in the three axes X, Y, Z, temperature and sound signature (acoustic rumorosity)).

The software is capable of communicating solely with the server; that is, the entire setup of the HUBs and sensor modules is done by the software through the server, which communicates with the HUBs. It is important to point out that the processing of the signals acquired by the sensors is done on the server. The software can be accessed from any computer (web-based interface), as long as the user has a registered login and password. Thus, when the analyst makes an analysis request, such as filtering a time signal acquired from his computer, a request is sent to the server that performs the process and returns the required information to the computer on which the request was made, such as, for example, a filtered signal. The server has a database with all the acquired signals, in addition to setup information for the HUBs and sensors in the context of the industrial plant being applied. The server can communicate with the HUBs (only) in three different ways: wireless network (wireless), LTE network or ethernet cable. The HUBs are responsible for managing the acquisition of signals of vibration, temperature and acoustic noise requested by the software through the server.

Finally, the sensors only communicate with the HUBs over a Zigbee wireless network. From a request made by the HUBs, the sensors measure and digitize the acquired signals. This information is then transferred to the HUBs, which then send the signals to the server. From there, the analyst can have access to the measurements performed directly in the software.

The invention can be used for continuous monitoring of vibration, temperature and acoustic noise of different machines and equipment in various industry segments (oil and gas, nuclear, naval, railway, automotive, food, etc.). It is important to emphasize that the HUBs and sensors of this invention have certification for operation in explosive environments in zone 0 (area where the formation of explosive mixture exists for long periods or is continuous and protection degree IP66 (protected against dust and strong jets of water).

The system sensors have the functionality of self-production of approximately one third of the energy required for its operation. This is achieved through a process of harvesting energy in which part of the vibrating mechanical energy of the machine on which the sensor is mounted is converted into electrical energy by an electromagnetic energy converter as indicated on the right inFIG.2, and duly stored by an electrical charge management electronic sub-module (Board B indicated on the right inFIG.2). The constructive details and main parts of the electromagnetic energy converter of the sensors are shown inFIG.3.

The system sensors also have the functionality of measuring the sound signature (acoustic rumorosity) of the monitored machines through the incorporation of a microphone. This functionality enables a significant expansion of diagnostic techniques that can be used to predict the operating condition of the machines monitored by the system.FIG.4shows three-dimensional details of the upper electronic boards of the sensors, in which the sensor microphones are installed.

EXAMPLES

The continuous vibration monitoring system has already been applied in two process plants of a large oil industry and allowed the detection of incipient failures in the equipment in which the system was installed. This allowed preventive maintenance interventions whose costs are, on average, 80% lower in relation to the maintenance costs involved when failures evolve into a catastrophic failure.