Mechanical Face Seal Digital Twin for Early Failure Prediction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mechanical seal assemblies face challenges in predicting and preventing failures, particularly in ensuring safe sealing performance over their service life, as existing monitoring methods are not sufficiently effective in detecting potential issues early enough.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a digital twin of the mechanical seal assembly, which simulates and monitors operating and environmental data to predict potential problems, enabling remote control and maintenance through data filtering and reduction, edge computing, and learning systems for continuous adaptation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If temperature sensors are arranged close to the sealing rings to monitor temperature, then the ability to detect critical temperatures is improved, but the complexity of the monitoring system increases and early failure prediction remains insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital twin (virtual copy) of the mechanical seal assembly that replicates the physical system's behavior. This digital model receives operating data from sensors and simulates seal performance, enabling failure prediction without adding complex physical monitoring infrastructure to the actual seal assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The digital twin performs preliminary simulations and predictions of seal failure conditions before actual failures occur. By analyzing operating data against predetermined criteria and target data, the system identifies potential failures in advance, allowing proactive maintenance before critical temperatures or failures occur.
2Reliability
If comprehensive operating data and environmental data are collected and transmitted to a central computer for digital twin simulation, then the accuracy of failure prediction is improved, but the data transmission requirements and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential operating data and environmental data needed for digital twin simulation, separating critical information from unnecessary data. The system identifies and transmits specifically those parameters that directly impact seal performance and failure prediction, reducing overall data transmission requirements while maintaining prediction accuracy.
3Reliability
If the digital twin continuously simulates and monitors the mechanical seal operation with real-time data, then the early detection capability is improved, but the energy consumption and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The digital twin simulation operates periodically rather than continuously, updating the seal state at predetermined intervals or when specific triggers occur. This periodic operation maintains early detection capability by regularly assessing seal health while significantly reducing computational energy consumption compared to continuous real-time simulation.
4Measurement precision
If predetermined criteria and target data are used to compare with collected operating data in the digital twin, then the ability to identify deviations and predict failures is improved, but the complexity of data analysis and processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms complex operating data into simplified comparison parameters by changing the data representation format. Operating data are processed and compared against predetermined criteria and target data using standardized parameters, reducing analysis complexity while maintaining detection accuracy through mathematical transformation of the data.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method of operating a mechanical seal assembly (1) having a mechanical seal (2) with a rotating sliding ring (3) and a stationary sliding ring (4), defining a sealing gap (5) between the sliding surfaces thereof, comprising the steps of: collecting operating data and/or environmental data of the mechanical seal (2), transmitting the collected operating data and/or environmental data to a digital twin (31) of the mechanical seal (2), simulating and monitoring the operation of the mechanical seal (2) using the digital twin (31) based on the transmitted operating data and/or environmental data of the mechanical seal (2), and retransmitting a simulation result and/or data of the digital twin.