Integrated acoustic leak detection processing system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for detecting an anomaly in a monitored volume, comprising:
- a plurality of transducers coupled to a respective plurality of localized portions of said monitored volume, each of said transducers outputting a respective analog electrical signal having a low-frequency component which is a function of the vibrational displacement of said localized portions of said monitored volume;
means for converting said respective analog electrical signals into respective digital electrical signals;
means for multiplexing said respective digital electrical signals from said respective transducers; and
neural network processing means for recognizing a predetermined pattern in the digital electrical signals of any transducer having said predetermined pattern masked by background noise, said predetermined pattern reflecting a possible anomaly in said monitored volume.
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Abstract
A system for mapping absolute acoustic noise intensity in a three-dimensional acoustic noise field, and using three-dimensional absolute noise intensities to infer operational or performance characteristics of components or structures within the monitored field. Localized noise sources are extracted using a distant array of transducers, and the absolute intensity can be measured even when totally masked by background noise at the transducer locations. The system includes an integrated sensor installation; a neural network detection system algorithm; a zoom system to precisely examine a small region in the steam generator vessel; a fuzzy logic system detection algorithm; and an expert detection system. The signal processing subsystem operates at three different levels of detection. At the top level of detection a trained neural network system monitors the vessel length for any indication of a leak. The proposed approach uses discriminators which do not require any beamforming of the sensor signals. The presence of a leak and the general location in the vessel is determined using a fuzzy logic expert system. The leak indications are passed to a second level of detection: a beamformed system which will monitor the indicated portion of the vessel. A third level of detection systematically monitors the tagged locations to determine if a leak is really present, remaining on the specific locations to detect a leak above the defined threshold to a high degree of accuracy. The actions to be taken will be controlled by a second fuzzy logic expert interface controller.
99 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for detecting an anomaly in a monitored volume, comprising:
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a plurality of transducers coupled to a respective plurality of localized portions of said monitored volume, each of said transducers outputting a respective analog electrical signal having a low-frequency component which is a function of the vibrational displacement of said localized portions of said monitored volume; means for converting said respective analog electrical signals into respective digital electrical signals; means for multiplexing said respective digital electrical signals from said respective transducers; and neural network processing means for recognizing a predetermined pattern in the digital electrical signals of any transducer having said predetermined pattern masked by background noise, said predetermined pattern reflecting a possible anomaly in said monitored volume. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for preventing damage caused by an anomaly in a monitored volume, comprising the steps of:
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detecting acoustic waves produced by said anomaly at a plurality of locations in said monitored volume; detecting the amount of a chemical compound at a location inside said monitored volume, said chemical compound being produced when an anomaly of a predetermined kind is present in said monitored volume; applying a set of fuzzy logic rules to at least the data acquired by said detecting steps; and controlling the operating conditions within said monitored volume in dependence on the results of said step of applying fuzzy logic rules to at least said acquired data. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. An apparatus for detecting an anomaly in a monitored volume, comprising:
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a plurality of transducers coupled to a respective plurality of localized portions of said monitored volume, each of said transducers outputting a respective analog electrical signal having a low-frequency component which is a function of the vibrational displacement of said localized portions of said monitored volume; means for converting said respective analog electrical signals into respective digital electrical signals; beamforming means for combining said digital electrical signals corresponding to acoustic waves originating from a predetermined unit volume inside said monitored volume at the same instant in time; and fuzzy logic processing means for controlling the operating conditions inside said vessel by applying a set of fuzzy logic rules to at least the data output by said beamforming means. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A method for locating an anomaly within a monitored volume, comprising the step of:
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coupling a plurality of transducers to a plurality of localized portions of said monitored volume so that each of said plurality of transducers outputs an analog electrical signal having a low-frequency component which is a function of the vibrational displacement of a respective one of said plurality of localized portions of said monitored volume and a high-frequency component which is a function of the vibrational/ultrasonic waves propagating through said respective one of said plurality of localized portions of said monitored volume; converting said respective analog electrical signal components into respective digital electrical signals; processing said digital electrical signals through a neural network trained to recognize predetermined patterns in said respective digital electrical signals, said predetermined patterns reflecting possible anomalies within said monitored volume; monitoring for the presence in said monitored volume of a chemical compound produced when an anomaly of a predetermined kind is present in said monitored volume; and processing the results of said neural network processing and said monitoring in accordance with a first set of fuzzy logic rules to output predetermined commands in response to results indicating an anomaly. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification