Method and apparatus of monitoring a machine

• US 7,417,332 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2006
• Issued: 08/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Baker Hughes, a GE Company, LLC (Baker Hughes Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Grant, John Wesley, Clark, Timothy J., Malakhova, Olga, Schmid, James Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Ponomarenko; Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US11/467,010
• Publication Number:
  US 20080069693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 733 Days
• Field of Search: 290/43, 290/44, 290/54, 290/55
• US Class Current: 290/44
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 17/00 Monitoring or testing of wind motors, e.g. diagnostics testing during commissioning of wind motors F03D13/30
• CPC Class Codes: F03D 7/047 characterised by the controller architecture, e.g. multiple processors or data communications
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/327 Rotor or generator speeds
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2270/807 Accelerometers
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 1/122 Speed recorders
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 1/127 for acceleration values
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/72 Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction

Abstract

A monitoring system for a machine is provided. The machine includes at least one movable member including at least one sensor configured to generate at least one speed measurement of the moveable member. The machine also includes at least one processor coupled in electronic data communication to the sensor. The sensor is configured to generate at least one time stamp value for the at least one speed measurement signal. The at least one processor is configured to generate a plurality of time-stamped speed measurement signals of the at least one moveable member. The processor is further configured to determine a prioritization of the plurality of time-stamped speed measurement signals as a function of at least one predetermined temporal value.

Claims

1. A monitoring system for a machine including at least one movable member comprising:

at least one sensor configured to generate at least one speed measurement signal of the moveable member; and

at least one processor coupled in data communication to said sensor, said at least one processor is configured to generate a plurality of time-stamped speed measurement signals of the at least one moveable member, said processor is further configured to determine a prioritization of the plurality of time-stamped speed measurement signals as a function of at least one predetermined temporal value.

2. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said at least one sensor comprises at least one accelerometer and at least one speed sensor.

3. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said at least one processor is configured to generate at least one of:

a start revolution per minute (rpm) time-stamped speed measurement signal;

an average rpm time-stamped speed measurement signal;

a moveable member time-stamped speed measurement signal;

a high-speed Keyphasor time-stamped speed measurement signal; and

a low-speed Keyphasor time-stamped speed measurement signal.

4. A system in accordance with claim 3 wherein said at least one processor is configured to transmit a moving member speed signal that substantially equals zero whenever a value of at least one of a start rpm time-stamped speed measurement signal, a high-speed Keyphasor time-stamped speed measurement signal, and a movable member time-stamped speed measurement signal exceeds at least one predetermined temporal value.

5. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said at least one processor is further configured to generate a calculated moving member speed signal using at least one pre-defined algorithm.

6. A system in accordance with claim 5 wherein said at least one processor is configured to generate the calculated moving member speed signal when at least one time-stamped value exceeds at least one predetermined temporal value.

7. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said at least one processor is further configured to:

receive a plurality of speed measurement signals from said at least one sensor;

assign a time stamp value to each of the plurality of speed measurement signals to generate the plurality of time-stamped speed measurement signals;

determine a prioritization of the plurality of time-stamped speed measurement signals; and

transmit at least one prioritized time-stamped speed measurement signal.