Valve Risk Factor Computation Using Sensor Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Determining instantaneous risk factors for critical components, such as valves in oil and gas production facilities, is challenging due to their dynamic operating status, requiring experienced personnel and lacking effective monitoring systems to ensure safety and reliability.
Innovation Solution
An instrumentation system with sensors monitoring torque, dynamic pressure differences, and actuating fluid pressures across valves, coupled with a data processing arrangement to compute risk factors and compare them against threshold levels, providing real-time indications of operating reliability and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If experienced personnel manually determine risk factors based on personal experience, then judgment accuracy may be improved, but time consumption and subjectivity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual risk assessment by experienced personnel with an automated instrumentation system that uses sensors, data processing arrangements, and computer algorithms to calculate risk factors in real-time, eliminating human subjectivity and time consumption while maintaining or improving accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-assessment of risk factors through automated monitoring of valve parameters, where the instrumentation system continuously evaluates risk without requiring external expert intervention, allowing the installation to monitor its own safety status
2Reliability
If comprehensive monitoring systems are implemented to track multiple parameters, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The instrumentation system is designed to monitor multiple parameters (torque, pressure differential, actuating fluid pressure) using a single integrated system that can assess risk factors for different valve types and operating conditions, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive monitoring
Solution Approach 2:
The system monitors changes in key operating parameters (torque, pressure differential, actuating fluid pressure) to detect potential failures, using parameter threshold comparisons and trend analysis to simplify complex monitoring into actionable risk assessments
3Speed
If real-time risk factor computation is implemented, then safety response time is improved, but measurement precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses continuous feedback from sensors monitoring torque, pressure differential, and actuating fluid pressure to dynamically compute risk factors in real-time, allowing rapid detection of deviations from normal operating conditions while using threshold-based comparisons to reduce the precision burden on individual sensors
Data Source
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AI summary
An instrumentation system (300) for monitoring one or more valves (20) of an assembly (110) includes one or more sensors (120) coupled to the one or more valves (20), and a data processing arrangement (140) for processing sensor signals generated by the one or more sensors (120) to provide an indication of operation of said one or more valves (20). The one or more sensors (120) and the data processing arrangement (140) are operable to compute one or more risk factors (R) from the sensor signals indicative of operating reliability and/or safety of the one or more valves (20). The instrumentation system (300) is, for example, suitable for use with valves of the X-mas tree (Christmas tree) assembly for oil and gas production, for example in a sub-sea environment.