Impeller Condition Indicator Using Vane Pass Frequency Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
It is challenging to monitor the health of impellers due to their wide variety of types and failure modes, such as vane breakage, cracking, and wear, which complicates maintenance scheduling in process control systems.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize sensors to measure impeller characteristics, identify fault frequencies, decompose input signals using these frequencies, and compare reconstructed signals to baseline signals to provide health indicators, including a processor-based Impeller Condition Indicator device that detects faults by analyzing vane pass frequency and its harmonics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional monitoring methods are used for impellers, then the system is simple to operate, but it cannot accurately identify specific failure modes due to the wide variety of impeller types and failure modes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex impeller monitoring problem by decomposing vibration signals into specific frequency components (vanepass frequency and harmonics). This segmentation allows the system to focus on failure-mode-specific frequency signatures rather than analyzing the entire spectrum, thereby improving detection accuracy while managing system complexity through targeted signal processing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the monitoring approach by changing from general vibration monitoring to frequency-domain analysis. By converting time-domain vibration signals into frequency-domain representations and analyzing specific parameters (vanepass frequency, harmonics, sidebands), the system achieves higher measurement precision for identifying specific failure modes like cracks, erosion, or imbalance
2Reliability
If general impeller monitoring is implemented, then it can cover all impeller types, but it cannot provide specific health indicators for different failure modes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by continuously monitoring vibration signals, comparing them against baseline data, and providing real-time health indicators. The system feeds back specific failure mode information (crack, erosion, imbalance) based on detected frequency patterns, enabling proactive maintenance scheduling before actual failures occur
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces frequency analysis as an intermediary between raw vibration signals and failure mode identification. By using vanepass frequency and harmonic analysis as intermediaries, the system translates general vibration data into specific failure mode information, preventing loss of diagnostic information while maintaining broad applicability across impeller types
3Measurement precision
If detailed signal analysis is performed to identify specific failure modes, then fault detection accuracy improves, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the relevant frequency components (vanepass frequency and harmonics) from the complete vibration signal spectrum. By taking out and focusing on these specific frequency bands that are most indicative of impeller failures, the system achieves high failure mode identification accuracy while reducing computational burden compared to analyzing the entire frequency spectrum
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a plurality of sensors configured to measure one or more characteristics of an impeller. The system also includes an impeller condition indicator device, which includes a plurality of sensor interfaces configured to receive input signals associated with at least one stage of the impeller from the sensors. The impeller condition indicator device also includes a processor configured to identify a fault in the impeller using the input signals and an output interface configured to provide an indicator identifying the fault. The processor is configured to identify the fault by determining a family of frequencies related to at least one failure mode of the impeller, decomposing the input signals using the family of frequencies, reconstructing a impeller signal using the decomposed input signals, and comparing the reconstructed impeller signal to a baseline signal. The family of frequencies includes a vane pass frequency and its harmonics.