Flow Meter Condition Monitoring with Alarm Confidence Levels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ultrasonic flow meters face challenges in maintaining accuracy due to factors like contamination, flow restrictions, and environmental changes, lacking effective monitoring techniques to ensure operation within predetermined criteria, which complicates alarm justification and analysis.
Innovation Solution
A condition monitoring system that includes a parameter verification engine to acquire and compare operational parameters to thresholds, generating alarms and computing confidence levels to determine the certainty of proper operation, thereby guiding further analysis based on the confidence level.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional alarm systems are used without confidence levels, then alarms can be generated based on parameter thresholds, but the complexity of analyzing and justifying each alarm increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors operational parameters and provides feedback through confidence levels that indicate the reliability of alarm conditions. This feedback mechanism allows operators to prioritize alarms based on their confidence levels, reducing analysis complexity while maintaining high alarm accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new parameter (confidence level) that changes the nature of alarm information from binary (alarm/not alarm) to graded (high/medium/low confidence). This parameter transformation enables better triage and reduces the complexity of analyzing multiple alarms.
2Reliability
If continuous monitoring of operational parameters is implemented, then system reliability improves, but the computational resources and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system monitors multiple operational parameters but only generates detailed alarm responses with confidence levels when necessary. This partial action approach maintains reliability through continuous monitoring while reducing computational resource usage by avoiding unnecessary detailed analysis for all parameters at all times.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-establishes threshold values and confidence level criteria before operation. This preliminary configuration allows the monitoring system to operate efficiently by simply comparing current parameter values against pre-set thresholds, reducing real-time computational requirements while maintaining high monitoring accuracy.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If multiple operational parameters are monitored simultaneously, then the ability to detect operational changes improves, but the difficulty of analyzing and prioritizing alarms increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments alarm analysis by introducing confidence levels that categorize alarms into priority levels. This segmentation allows operators to focus first on high-confidence alarms while low-confidence alarms can be reviewed later or automatically, making multi-parameter monitoring manageable and improving operational ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The confidence level acts as an intermediary between the complex multi-parameter monitoring system and the operator. It translates complex operational state information into a simple reliability indicator, making alarm analysis easier while maintaining the ability to detect changes across multiple parameters.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances the ability to detect and address operational changes in ultrasonic flow meters, reducing the need for extensive expert analysis by providing a confidence level that justifies whether an alarm merits further investigation, ensuring accurate fluid flow measurement.
Implementation Method 1
Ultrasonic flow meters have sufficient accuracy to be used in custody transfer. In an ultrasonic flow meter, acoustic signals are sent back and forth across the fluid stream to be measured. Based on parameters of received acoustic signals, the fluid flow velocity in the flow meter is determined.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and method for monitoring flow meter operation. In one embodiment, a flow metering system includes a flow meter and a condition monitor. The flow meter is configured to measure volume of fluid flowing through the flow meter. The condition monitor is coupled to the flow meter and is configured to monitor a parameter of operation of the flow meter, and to compare a value of the parameter to a threshold. The condition monitor is also configured to generate an alarm based on the value exceeding the threshold, and to compute, based on the alarm, a confidence level indicating a degree of certainty that the system is operating in accordance with predetermined criteria.