Fluid Pump Vibration Monitoring for Wear Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fluid pumps in the energy industry face operational inefficiencies and equipment damage due to component failure and wear, particularly in reciprocating pumps, where leaks can cause fluid end washout, necessitating effective monitoring techniques to prevent damage and ensure effective operations.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for monitoring fluid pumps using sensors to collect and process vibration data, filtering out cyclical motion frequencies, and estimating peak counts to detect wear and failure conditions, enabling timely alerts and potential automatic shutdown to prevent catastrophic failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If vibration monitoring is implemented to detect wear and failure conditions, then pump reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional sensors and processing systems
Solution Approach 1:
The pump monitoring system utilizes the pump's own operational vibrations as the monitoring signal source, eliminating the need for separate test equipment or external excitation sources. The existing operational data is repurposed for condition assessment, allowing the system to self-diagnose wear and failure conditions without adding complex external monitoring infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts specific diagnostic features (peak counts, frequency components, time-domain characteristics) from the complex vibration signal to create simplified monitoring metrics. By focusing on key extracted features rather than analyzing the entire complex signal, the system achieves reliable wear detection while reducing processing complexity.
2Strength
If real-time monitoring and automatic shutdown are implemented to prevent catastrophic failures, then equipment damage is reduced, but productivity decreases due to potential unplanned shutdowns
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system detects wear conditions and potential failures before they lead to catastrophic pump failure. By identifying degradation trends early through vibration analysis, the system enables planned maintenance interventions that prevent sudden breakdowns, thereby maintaining operational continuity while protecting equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors vibration parameters and provides feedback on pump condition status. This real-time feedback enables operators to adjust operations or schedule maintenance based on actual pump health, optimizing the balance between preventing damage and maintaining productivity through informed decision-making.
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
The solution allows for real-time identification of wear and failure conditions in fluid pumps, reducing equipment damage and operational inefficiencies by automatically detecting and responding to potential issues before they become major problems, thus enhancing operational efficiency and extending equipment lifespan.
Implementation Method 1
receiving time domain measurement data from at least one sensor disposed at a fluid pump, the measurement data indicating vibrations occurring in the fluid pump
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment includes a method of monitoring a fluid pump that includes receiving time domain measurement data indicating vibrations occurring in a fluid pump, and filtering the measurement data to remove measurement data components having frequencies below a threshold frequency, the removed measurement data components associated with cyclical motions of the fluid pump. The method also includes dividing the filtered measurement data into a plurality of subsets, each subset corresponding to a pump cycle, and estimating a peak count for each subset, the peak count being a number of peaks having an amplitude that exceeds a selected amplitude threshold, the amplitude threshold associated with impacts between internal components of the pump. The method further includes comparing the peak count with an expected peak count, and determining whether the pump is in a condition selected from at least one of a wear condition and a failure condition based on the comparison.