Ultrasonic Flow Meter Histogram Diagnostics for False Fault Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ultrasonic flow meters lack reliable methods for determining their operational condition, including historical installation situations, and are prone to false diagnoses, with high inspection costs and limited regular maintenance.
Innovation Solution
The method involves continuously logging and comparing histograms of at least two operational variables, such as signal strength and transit time, to assess the flow meter's condition, using existing data without additional hardware, and applying statistical analysis to ensure consistency across these variables for accurate diagnostics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flow meters are inspected regularly according to legal regulations, then measurement accuracy is maintained, but inspection costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The flow meter performs self-diagnosis by autonomously monitoring its own operational variables (signal strength, transit time) and comparing them against historical data stored in histograms. This eliminates the need for expensive external inspection equipment and manual analysis, allowing the device to detect its own degradation trends and trigger maintenance only when necessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously feeds back operational data to itself by storing historical values in histograms and comparing current measurements against this historical data. This feedback mechanism enables the flow meter to detect changes in its operational condition over time and determine when maintenance is required, replacing the need for periodic external inspections.
2Device complexity
If only small control samples of flow meters are inspected, then inspection costs are reduced, but the ability to ensure accurate operation of all flow meters deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Each flow meter independently monitors its own performance using self-diagnosis capabilities, eliminating the need for selective external inspection. The device continuously tracks its operational variables and compares them against its own historical data, ensuring that every flow meter maintains accurate operation without requiring expensive external inspection of all units.
3Device complexity
If flow meters operate for years without inspection, then operational costs are reduced, but the risk of false diagnoses increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flow meter continuously monitors its operational variables and updates its histograms in real-time, maintaining an ongoing record of its performance history. This continuous data collection enables the system to detect gradual degradation trends and make accurate diagnostic conclusions about the meter's condition at any point in time, preventing false diagnoses that would occur with intermittent inspection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary data collection and analysis by continuously storing operational data in histograms before any diagnostic conclusion is drawn. This preliminary accumulation of historical data ensures that when a diagnostic assessment is made, there is sufficient historical context to accurately determine whether the current operational condition represents a genuine problem or normal variation.
4Reliability
If multiple operational variables are monitored continuously, then diagnostic reliability is improved, but data processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the monitoring task by creating separate histograms for each operational variable (signal strength, transit time, etc.), allowing independent analysis of each variable's historical distribution. This segmentation simplifies the data processing complexity by treating each variable separately rather than attempting to analyze all variables simultaneously, while still maintaining comprehensive diagnostic capability.
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
This approach provides more detailed and reliable information about the flow meter's condition, differentiating between installation issues and internal faults, enabling predictive maintenance and reducing the risk of false diagnoses.
Implementation Method 1
two ultrasonic transducers (27) arranged to exchange ultrasonic signals between each other through the fluid flowing through the flow channel
Data Source
AI summary
A method determines an operational condition of an ultrasonic flow meter. The method having steps of: continuously, regularly, and/or on demand determining values of at least two different pre-determined operational variables of the ultrasonic flow meter; for each of the at least two different pre-determined operational variables, filling a variable-specific histogram by aggregating the occurrences of the determined values of the operational variable in bins of the histogram; and determining an operational condition of the ultrasonic flow meter based on a statistical distribution in one of the histograms if a statistical distribution in another one of the histograms is consistent with the operational condition of the ultrasonic flow meter.