Continuous Flow Engine Maintenance Scheduling for Failure Prognosis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Continuous flow engines, such as gas turbines, face challenges in managing fluctuating energy production from renewable sources, leading to increased strain and wear, with no available replacements and difficulty in predicting component failures, resulting in prolonged downtimes and high costs due to complex interrelated components.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for servicing continuous flow engines that includes identifying interrelated components using historic and simulated data to predict failure probabilities, optimizing maintenance lists, and utilizing a measurement device for real-time data collection to adapt the servicing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual expert assessment is used to predict component failures, then experience-based judgments can be made, but it becomes difficult or impossible to assess all interrelated components as continuous flow engines become more specialized and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual expert mechanical assessment with an automated computer-based system that uses algorithms and data processing to evaluate component failure probabilities. The system automatically retrieves data from databases, performs calculations, and generates maintenance lists without requiring manual intervention from experts, thereby scaling to handle increased system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by automatically assessing component conditions and generating maintenance recommendations without external expert intervention. The computer-based system independently retrieves data, evaluates failure probabilities, and produces optimized maintenance lists, making the assessment process autonomous and scalable.
2Ease of repair
If components are serviced individually based on component maintenance lists, then specific maintenance tasks can be completed, but downtime is prolonged due to repeated disassembly and assembly operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-identifying all components that should be serviced together during the same maintenance interval. By evaluating failure probabilities and interrelationships in advance, the system generates optimized maintenance lists that group components requiring simultaneous servicing, preventing the need for repeated disassembly and assembly operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple individual component maintenance tasks into a single integrated maintenance operation. By combining services for physically or functionally interrelated components that share the same failure mode, the system reduces the total number of separate disassembly and assembly cycles required during maintenance.
3Ease of operation
If spare parts are distributed across multiple servicing sites, then local availability improves, but managing and tracking components becomes increasingly difficult and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal centralized database system that serves multiple servicing sites simultaneously. This single database infrastructure provides failure probability data, component interrelationship information, and maintenance recommendations to all sites, eliminating the need for separate local databases and reducing management complexity while maintaining local access capabilities.
4Reliability
If continuous flow engines are adapted to compensate for renewable energy fluctuations, then grid stability improves, but strain and wear on engine components increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring component conditions and updating failure probability assessments based on actual performance data. This feedback loop allows the system to adapt maintenance recommendations to the increased strain and wear caused by fluctuating operational demands, optimizing maintenance timing to prevent failures under stressful conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
The present method refers to a method of servicing a continuous flow engine. Herein, the method makes use of an improved evaluation of the planning of a scheduled servicing to ensure the reliability of such continuous flow engine and improve the available options and benefits. Furthermore, the present invention refers to a computer program product including instructions operable to cause a computing entity to execute an inventive method. Additionally, the present invention refers to a storage device for providing an inventive computer program product. Furthermore, the present invention refers to a measurement device adapted to be utilized in maintenance or overhaul of a continuous flow engine. Additionally, the present invention refers to a use of the inventive measurement device.