Method for monitoring the health of physical systems producing waste heat
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring the health of a monitored physical system of a type that produces waste heat at a waste heat temperature (TB) as a function of ambient temperature (TA) and discharges such waste heat into its ambient environment to generate the degradation of the physical system'"'"'s health when compared to a standardized model of the physical system in good health, wherein the physical system has a maximum rated operating temperature (TMR) and a failure temperature (TF) at which the physical system fails, the method comprising the steps of:
- measuring the waste heat temperature (TB) discharged by the standardized model as a function of ambient temperature (TA) and developing a standard baseline profile S(TA) of the standardized model representing the physical system in good health;
storing the standard baseline profile S(TA) in a memory means for retaining information suitable for later retrieval. said memory means accessible to a microprocessor;
measuring the ambient temperature of the monitored physical system by a first sensor monitored by said microprocessor to obtain a sample ambient temperature (TAS) at a sample time;
measuring the temperature of the waste heat of the monitored physical system by a second sensor monitored by said microprocessor at said sample time to obtain a sample waste heat temperature (TBS);
generating an expected waste heat temperature S(TAS) corresponding to the sample ambient temperature (TAS) from said standard baseline profile stored in said memory means; and
generating a proportionalized degradation indicator of the health of the monitored physical system by comparing in said microprocessor the sample waste heat temperature (TBS) to the expected waste heat temperature S(TAS) at the sample ambient temperature (TAS).
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Abstract
A method for monitoring the health of a physical system that produces waste heat as a function of ambient temperature includes the generation of a standard profile model of the system in good health and a degraded profile model of the system in bad health, each profile being within the same family of curves. The monitored system is then sampled for sample ambient temperature and sample waste heat temperature to generate a system degradation indicator, preferably as a percentage of degradation. Alarms and displays present relevant warnings and information to the user. Waste heat affecting variables in addition to ambient temperature may be included in the standard and degraded profiles, and these variables may be monitored to produce the degradation indicator. The method is preferably microprocessor controlled.
24 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring the health of a monitored physical system of a type that produces waste heat at a waste heat temperature (TB) as a function of ambient temperature (TA) and discharges such waste heat into its ambient environment to generate the degradation of the physical system'"'"'s health when compared to a standardized model of the physical system in good health, wherein the physical system has a maximum rated operating temperature (TMR) and a failure temperature (TF) at which the physical system fails, the method comprising the steps of:
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measuring the waste heat temperature (TB) discharged by the standardized model as a function of ambient temperature (TA) and developing a standard baseline profile S(TA) of the standardized model representing the physical system in good health; storing the standard baseline profile S(TA) in a memory means for retaining information suitable for later retrieval. said memory means accessible to a microprocessor; measuring the ambient temperature of the monitored physical system by a first sensor monitored by said microprocessor to obtain a sample ambient temperature (TAS) at a sample time; measuring the temperature of the waste heat of the monitored physical system by a second sensor monitored by said microprocessor at said sample time to obtain a sample waste heat temperature (TBS); generating an expected waste heat temperature S(TAS) corresponding to the sample ambient temperature (TAS) from said standard baseline profile stored in said memory means; and generating a proportionalized degradation indicator of the health of the monitored physical system by comparing in said microprocessor the sample waste heat temperature (TBS) to the expected waste heat temperature S(TAS) at the sample ambient temperature (TAS). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification