Diagnosis system

• US 5,748,496 A
• Filed: 08/20/1996
• Issued: 05/05/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Yamada, Izumi, Fukuzaki, Takaharu, Nagase, Makoto, Koike, Masahiro, Uchida, Shunsuke, Takahashi, Fuminobu, Fujimori, Haruo
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stamber, Eric W.
• Application Number:
  US08/700,043
• Time in Patent Office: 623 Days
• Field of Search: 364/402, 364/550, 364/576, 364/551.01, 364/178, 364/507, 73/660, 73/579, 73/583, 73/763, 376/216, 376/217, 395/912, 395/915, 395/911
• US Class Current: 702/183
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0227 Qualitative history assessment, whereby the type of data acted upon, e.g. waveforms, images or patterns, is not relevant, e.g. rule based assessment; if-then decisions
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0272 Presentation of monitored results, e.g. selection of status reports to be displayed; Filtering information to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G21C 17/00 Monitoring; Testing measuring in general G01; Maintaining
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 30/30 Nuclear fission reactors
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 706/912 Manufacturing or machine, e.g. agricultural machinery, machine tool
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 706/915 Power plant

Abstract

A diagnosis system having sensors for supervising a plant, signal processors for processing signals of the sensors, and a state quantity arithmetic operation unit. The state quantity arithmetic operation unit calculates a quantity of state expressing the environment of the plant on the basis of supervisory information inputted through the signal processors. A state quantity prediction unit predictively calculates a quantity of state after a predetermined time on the basis of the quantity of state, supervisory information and a time change of the quantity of state inputted through the state quantity arithmetic operation unit. A future event prediction unit predicts a future event on the basis of predicted information of the quantity of state inputted through the state quantity prediction unit. An image information processor converts the quantity of state given by the state quantity arithmetic operation unit into image information and indicates the image information on a display unit. An image information processor converts the predicted quantity of state after the predetermined time, given by the state quantity prediction unit, into image information and indicates the image information on a display unit. An image information processor converts the future event predicted by the future event prediction unit into image information and indicates the image information on a display unit.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring and diagnosing a plant state of a plant which includes a pressure vessel, comprising:

a display means for displaying a form of a present pressure vessel;

a predicting means for predicting a quantity of a state regarding temperature and pressure at a time after a predetermined time on a basis of a quantity of a fluid flow into or out of said pressure vessel and said quantity of a present state of said pressure vessel; and

an inferring means for inferring an undetectable form of a deformed pressure vessel after said predetermined time on a basis of said predicted quantity of a state regarding temperature and pressure at said time after said predetermined time obtained from said predicting means;

wherein

said display means displays said undetectable form of the deformed pressure vessel inferred by said inferring means.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said display means displays said predicted quantity of a state at said time after said predetermined time.

3. A system according to claim 1, in which said predicting means predicts a change of said state regarding temperature and pressure and a change in said quantity of said fluid flow up to the predetermined time on a basis of a change of said state regarding temperature and pressure and a change of said quantity of a fluid flow up to present to predict said state regarding temperature and pressure at said time after said predetermined time.

4. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a means for, by using said predicted quantity of a state and said quantity of said present state, judging said quantity of a state regarding temperature and pressure of said time after said predetermined time deviated from a correlation near the quantity of said present state of temperature and pressure to be abnormal;

wherein

said display means displays a means for displaying a sensor, a signal system or a processing system which provides said temperature and pressure judged to be abnormal in the form of an image in distinction from said normal image.

5. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a means for predicting a change of said state regarding temperature and pressure in accordance with an inputted quantity of operation for the fluid flow indicative of a magnitude of output or movement of means for controlling plant operation; and

a means for inferring said state of deformation of said pressure vessel on a basis of a change of said state from said means for predicting;

wherein

said display means displays a typical image representing said deformation inferred for said inputted quantity of operation.

6. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a means for predicting a change of the quantity regarding temperature and pressure for a quantity of operation provisionally inputted for the fluid flow; and

a means for comparing said change of said quantity regarding temperature and pressure for the provisionally inputted quantity of operation with said quantity of temperature and pressure actually data changed in accordance with an actual quantity of temperature and pressure inputted for actual operation, and judging whether a state of any one of a sensor, a signal system and a processing system providing said actual quantity of temperature and pressure data is normal or abnormal;

wherein

said display means displays a result of a judged state from said means for comparing.

7. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

said inferring means for inferring a state of leakage of a fluid out of said piping on a basis of said predicted quantity of said state;

wherein

said display means displays an image representing said state of leakage of a fluid out of said piping at said time after said predetermined time.

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein said display means displays said predicted quantity of said state at said time after said predetermined time as said image representing said state of leakage of a fluid out of said piping.

9. A system according to claim 7, further comprising:

means, using said predicted quantity of a state and said quantity of said present state, for judging said quantity of a state regarding temperature and pressure of said time after said predetermined time deviated from a correlation near the quantity of said present state of temperature and pressure to be abnormal;

wherein

said display means displays a sensor, a signal or a processing system which provides said temperature and pressure judged to be abnormal in the form of an image in distinction from a normal state.

10. A system according to claim 7, further comprising:

means for predicting a change of said state regarding temperature and pressure in accordance with an inputted quantity of operation for the fluid flow; and

means for inferring said state of leakage of a fluid out of said piping on the basis of said change of state;

wherein

said display means displays an image representing said leakage inferred for said inputted quantity of operation.

11. A system according to claim 7, further comprising:

means for predicting a change of the quantity regarding temperature and pressure for a quantity of operation provisionally inputted for the fluid flow and;

means for comparing the change of said quantity regarding temperature and pressure for provisionally inputted quantity of operation with said quantity of said temperature and pressure actually changed in accordance with an actual operation, and judging whether a state of any one of a sensor, a signal system, and a processing system providing said actual quantity of temperature and pressure is normal or abnormal;

wherein

said display means displays a result of said judged state.

12. A system according to claim 7, further comprising:

compare means for comparing said quantity of a state regarding temperature and pressure predicted to occur at said time after said predetermined time and a quantity of a state regarding temperature and pressure actually obtained after said predetermined time; and

judging means, when a difference of comparison made in said compare means is larger than a predetermined value, for judging that an event other than said leakage has occurred out of said piping, wherein

said display means displays an image representing said event other than said leakage.

13. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

compare means for comparing said quantity of a state regarding temperature and pressure predicted to occur at said time after said predetermined time and a quantity of a state regarding temperature and pressure actually obtained after said predetermined time; and

judging means, when a difference of comparison made in said compare means is larger than a predetermined value, for judging that an event other that said deformation of said pressure vessel has occurred, wherein

said display means displays an image representing said event other than said deformation of said pressure vessel.

14. A system allowing inexperienced operator monitoring and diagnosing of an operation state of a plant by using pictoral illustration of an inferred physical event of components, said system comprising:

an obtaining means for obtaining by sensors disposed within a plant, current values of environmental parameters indicative of a plant condition, on a basis of monitoring data obtained by said sensors;

a graphical means for obtaining the current values from said obtaining means, and generating current graphical display information for pictoral illustration of a physical plant component operating according to the current values;

a predicting means for predicting prediction values of said environmental parameters after a predetermined time on a basis of the current values from said obtaining means;

a graphical inference means for inferring a future physical event in an operation of said physical plant component on a basis of said prediction values of said environmental parameters from said predicting means, and generating inferred graphical display information for pictoral illustration of said physical plant component affected by the inferred said future physical event; and

a display means for using said current graphical display information and said inferred graphical display information for displaying pictoral illustration of said physical plant component according to a current physical event and an inferred said future physical event for visual pictoral guidance for an inexperienced operator.

15. A system for monitoring and diagnosing a plant state of a plant which includes a pressure vessel, comprising:

a display means for displaying a form of a present pressure vessel;

a predicting means for predicting a future temperature and pressure expected within said pressure vessel at a time after a predetermined time on a basis of a quantity of a fluid flow into or out of said pressure vessel and the current temperature and pressure within said pressure vessel; and

an inferring means for inferring an undetectable form of a deformed pressure vessel after said predetermined time on a basis of the predicted future temperature and pressure at said time after said predetermined time obtained from said predicting means;

wherein

said display means displays said undetectable form of the deformed pressure vessel after said predetermined time to pictorially aid in the monitoring and diagnosing of the plant state.

16. A system for monitoring and diagnosing a plant state of a plant which includes a pressure vessel, comprising:

a display means for displaying an image illustrating a present form of said pressure vessel;

a predicting means for predicting a quantity of a state regarding temperature and pressure at a time after a predetermined time on a basis of quantity of a fluid flow into or out of said pressure vessel and said quantity of a present state of said pressure vessel; and

an inferring means for inferring an image illustrating a deformed pressure vessel after said predetermined time on a basis of said predicted quantity of a state regarding temperature and pressure at said time after said predetermined time obtained from said predicting means;

wherein

said display means displays said image of said deformed pressure vessel inferred by said inferring means, for visual pictoral guidance for an inexperienced operator.

17. A system for monitoring and diagnosing a plant state of a plant which includes a pressure vessel, comprising:

a display means for displaying an image illustrating a present form of said pressure vessel;

a predicting means for predicting a future temperature and pressure expected within said pressure vessel at a time after a predetermined time on a basis of a quantity of a fluid flow into or out of said pressure vessel and the current temperature and pressure within said pressure vessel; and

an inferring means for inferring an image illustrating a deformed pressure vessel after said predetermined time on a basis of the predicted future temperature and pressure at said time after said predetermined time obtained from said predicting means;

wherein

said display means displays said image of said deformed pressure vessel inferred by said inferring means after said predetermined time to pictorially aid in the monitoring and diagnosing of the plant state.