IDENTIFICATION OF PROCESS PLANT SIGNATURES USING FLOW MEASUREMENT SIGNALS

The information currently used to identify the status of operating machinery or equipment is obtained from the analysis of the signals from a dedicated monitoring sensor. However, recent studies have demonstrated that the “noise” in the pulse output signals of certain industrial flowmeters can be analyzed to obtain condition information or “signatures” of associated process plant equipment. Thus the flowmeter can be used simultaneously for process measurement and plant health monitoring purposes. The additional information provided by the “noise” in the flowmeter signal might be complementary to that obtained from a vibration sensor or might in some applications make dedicated monitoring sensors redundant. This paper presents the hardware and some analysis methods used to obtain additional information from the output signals of two standard industrial flowmeters— orifice plate and turbine. Some typical equipment signatures identified from the output signals of the flowmeters are illustrated. The emphasis in this paper is on methods of enhancing the performance of existing process instrumentation—the flowmeter in this case. © 1990 IEEE