Patent ID: 7290433

Claim:
A method for checking a sensor and a measurement sequence associated with the sensor, comprising the steps of: providing an industrial installation equipped with the sensor, the industrial installation having a normal operation mode, the sensor, during the normal operation mode, being connected so that it can monitor a thermodynamic parameter of a monitored fluid circulating in the industrial facility; monitoring said thermodynamic parameter of said monitored fluid circulating in the industrial installation, by sensing said fluid using the sensor while the industrial installation is in normal operating mode and without changing the connection of the sensor, and by collecting and processing an electric signal emitted by the sensor using the measurement sequence; producing a perturbation of fluid origin of said thermodynamic parameter of said monitored fluid while the installation continues being in normal operating mode and the fluid circulates in the installation and the sensor continues sensing said monitored fluid circulating in the installation without changing the connection of the sensor, in order to act on a sensitive element of the sensor and cause a modification of the electric signal emitted by the sensor; collecting and analyzing said modified signal from the sensor using the measurement sequence; checking the availability of the sensor by checking whether the electrical signal emitted by the sensor, collected and analyzed using the measurement sequence, is modified by the perturbation of fluid origin.