OPERATIONS SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND METHODS WITH ACOUSTICS EVALUATION AND CONTROL

• US 20140156166A1
• Filed: 11/30/2012
• Published: 06/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Moeckly, Kevin, Ling, Richard, Royalty, Chuck
• Granted Patent: US 9,376,983 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/102
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 45/00 Electrical control not provided for in groups F02D41/00 - F02D43/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 15/12 by monitoring vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0221 Preprocessing measurements, e.g. data collection rate adjustment; Standardization of measurements; Time series or signal analysis, e.g. frequency analysis or wavelets; Trustworthiness of measurements; Indexes therefor; Measurements using easily measured parameters to estimate parameters difficult to measure; Virtual sensor creation; De-noising; Sensor fusion; Unconventional preprocessing inherently present in specific fault detection methods like PCA-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

An operations support system is provided for an engine. The system includes a diagnostics module configured to receive engine data from the engine and to generate diagnostics data based on the engine data using a thermodynamic model, the thermodynamic model being based on component maps associated with the engine; an acoustics module coupled to the diagnostics module and comprising an acoustics calculation unit, the acoustics calculation unit configured to receive the diagnostics data and to determine an acoustics level for the engine based on the diagnostics data; and a graphical user interface coupled to the acoustics module and configured to display the acoustics level.

Claims

1. An operations support system for an engine, comprising:

a diagnostics module configured to receive engine data from the engine and to generate diagnostics data based on the engine data using a thermodynamic model, the thermodynamic model being based on component maps associated with the engine;

an acoustics module coupled to the diagnostics module and comprising an acoustics calculation unit, the acoustics calculation unit configured to receive the diagnostics data and to determine an acoustics level for the engine based on the diagnostics data; and

a graphical user interface coupled to the acoustics module and configured to display the acoustics level.

2. The operations support system of claim 1, wherein the acoustics module further comprises a controller coupled to the acoustics calculation unit and configured to evaluate the acoustics level.

3. The operations support system of claim 2, wherein the acoustics module further comprises a GPS unit coupled to the controller and configured to provide position information to the controller, the controller configured to evaluate the acoustics level based on the position information.

4. The operations support system of claim 3, wherein the acoustics module further comprises an acoustics optimizer unit coupled to the controller, the acoustics optimizer unit configured to generate engine adjustments to decrease the acoustics level.

5. The operations support system of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to provide commands based on the engine adjustments from the acoustics optimizer unit.

6. The operations support system of claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to determine a predetermined acoustics limit based on the position information.

7. The operations support system of claim 6, wherein the acoustics optimizer unit is configured to generate the engine adjustments until the acoustics level is less than the predetermined acoustics limit.

8. The operation support system of claim 1, wherein the acoustics calculation unit configured to continuously determine the acoustics level of the engine.

9. The operations support system of claim 1, wherein the diagnostics module is further configured to generate scalars based on the engine data.

10. The operations support system of claim 9, wherein the diagnostics module is further configured to adjust the thermodynamic model based on the scalars.

11. The operations support system of claim 10, wherein the thermodynamic model is an engine-specific model.

12. The operations support system of claim 11, wherein at least a portion of the scalars represent erosion within the engine.

13. A method for supporting operations of an engine, comprising the steps of:

collecting engine data;

generating diagnostics data from the engine data using a thermodynamic model based on component maps associated with the engine;

calculating acoustics level from the diagnostics data; and

displaying the acoustics level on a graphical user display.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of evaluating the acoustics level with a controller.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of receiving position information, and wherein the evaluating step includes evaluating the acoustics level based on the position information.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of generating engine adjustments to decrease the acoustics level.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of adjusting engine operation based on the acoustics level.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of determining a predetermined acoustics limit based on the position information.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the generating step includes generating the engine adjustments until the acoustics level is less than the predetermined acoustic limit.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the calculating step includes continuously calculating the acoustics level of the engine.