Methods to monitor system sensor and actuator health and performance
DCFirst Claim
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1. A method of monitoring an oilfield equipment system, comprising the steps of:
- identifying a physical coupling among three or more oilfield equipment subsystems;
monitoring a plurality of signals with a computer-based monitoring system, each signal being associated with one of the three or more oilfield equipment subsystems;
transforming one or more of the oilfield equipment subsystem signals into units associated with the type of physical coupling among the three or more oilfield equipment subsystems;
comparing at least some of the signals; and
indicating at least one oilfield equipment subsystem'"'"'s signal that does not agree with at least two other oilfield equipment subsystems'"'"'signals.
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Abstract
A method for assessing health and performance of a system. In one example, the system comprises subsystems (preferably physically coupled subsystems), at least some of which are characterizable by transmitted signals. Some of these signals are transformed into a comparable form and compared, so as to identify signals that are outside of operating bounds.
83 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring an oilfield equipment system, comprising the steps of:
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identifying a physical coupling among three or more oilfield equipment subsystems; monitoring a plurality of signals with a computer-based monitoring system, each signal being associated with one of the three or more oilfield equipment subsystems; transforming one or more of the oilfield equipment subsystem signals into units associated with the type of physical coupling among the three or more oilfield equipment subsystems; comparing at least some of the signals; and indicating at least one oilfield equipment subsystem'"'"'s signal that does not agree with at least two other oilfield equipment subsystems'"'"'signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of operating an oilfield equipment system, comprising the steps of:
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controlling system operation using readings for dissimilar physical parameters transformed into comparable data from multiple subsystems of the system; checking the respective readings of said multiple subsystems against each other to determine whether any subsystems have readings which are physically inconsistent with each other; and under at least some conditions, changing the controlling step to exclude the output of a respective subsystem which has been determined, in the checking step, to be showing inconsistent output. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for operating a system with a computer-based controller, comprising the steps of:
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in a first procedure, monitoring a first sensor for a first physical reading, and generating a first estimate of at least one parameter thereby; in a second procedure, monitoring a second sensor for a second physical reading, and generating a second estimate of said parameter thereby; wherein the first physical reading and second physical reading are for differing physical conditions; and comparing said first and second estimates to thereby selectively generate communications indicating undesired mismatch between said estimates. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A method of controlling a complex system computer controller, comprising the steps of:
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monitoring signals associated with a plurality of nodes in the system; identifying a node from the plurality whose respective signal is outside an operation limit; and switching from a first mode of operation to a second mode of operation in dependence on which node of the plurality has been identified as having a signal outside the operational limit. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of monitoring an oilfield equipment system, comprising the steps of:
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monitoring with a computer system three or more signals at respective physical interfaces to at least one oilfield equipment subsystem, said signals being associated with physical states which are physically coupled but not identical; transforming one or more of said signals into a set of units associated with the type of physical coupling between the three or more signals; and indicating any oilfield equipment subsystem signal which is physically inconsistent with others of said signals.
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Specification