2D and 3D display system and method for furnace tube inspection
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A system for displaying inspection data collected from a furnace with a specified physical geometry, wherein said furnace comprises a plurality of tube segments interconnected by a plurality of bends so as to allow stacking of at least a portion of said tube segments, said system comprising:
- a storage device for storing said inspection data; and
a computer programmed to;
partition said inspection data at a plurality of data markers each of which identifies a location of a physical feature of said furnace so as to correlate said inspection data to said physical geometry of said furnace;
generate a display of at least a portion of said partitioned inspection data arranged to represent said physical geometry of a plurality of said tube segments and enable visual detection of a problem area comprising one or more of said tube segments; and
wherein said inspection data is collected by one or more devices selected from the following group;
an ultrasonic transducer, a laser profilometer, and combinations thereof.
10 Assignments
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for displaying inspection data collected from a furnace is disclosed. The system comprises a storage device for storing the inspection data. The system also comprises a computer programmed to partition the inspection data at a plurality of data markers so as to correlate the inspection data to the physical geometry of the furnace. Each of the data markers identifies the location of a physical feature of the furnace (such as a bend, an external raised surface, cross-over piping, a thermal well, a weld, a flange, a schedule change and/or a diameter change). Preferably, the computer is also programmed to generate a display of the partitioned inspection data, wherein the display is a two-dimensional or three-dimensional representation of the tube segments of the furnace. This display may then be used to visually detect problem areas within the furnace. Various exemplary embodiments of the system and associated method are provided.
9 Citations
41 Claims
-
1. A system for displaying inspection data collected from a furnace with a specified physical geometry, wherein said furnace comprises a plurality of tube segments interconnected by a plurality of bends so as to allow stacking of at least a portion of said tube segments, said system comprising:
-
a storage device for storing said inspection data; and a computer programmed to; partition said inspection data at a plurality of data markers each of which identifies a location of a physical feature of said furnace so as to correlate said inspection data to said physical geometry of said furnace; generate a display of at least a portion of said partitioned inspection data arranged to represent said physical geometry of a plurality of said tube segments and enable visual detection of a problem area comprising one or more of said tube segments; and wherein said inspection data is collected by one or more devices selected from the following group;
an ultrasonic transducer, a laser profilometer, and combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A computerized method for displaying inspection data collected from a furnace with a specified physical geometry, wherein said furnace comprises a plurality of tube segments interconnected by a plurality of bends so as to allow stacking of at least a portion of said tube segments, said method comprising:
-
partitioning said inspection data at a plurality of data markers each of which identifies a location of a physical feature of said furnace so as to correlate said inspection data to said physical geometry of said furnace; generating a display of at least a portion of said partitioned inspection data arranged to represent said physical geometry of a plurality of said tube segments and enable visual detection of a problem area comprising one or more of said tube segments; and wherein said inspection data is collected by one or more devices selected from the following group;
an ultrasonic transducer, a laser profilometer, and combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method of displaying inspection data collected from a furnace, wherein said furnace comprises a plurality of tube segments interconnected by a plurality of bends so as to allow stacking of at least a portion of said tube segments, said method comprising:
-
generating a plurality of data markers each of which identifies a location of a physical feature of said furnace; partitioning said inspection data at said data markers so as to correlate said inspection data to an appropriate one of said tube segments of said furnace; generating a display of at least a portion of said partitioned inspection data arranged to represent said physical geometry of a plurality of said tube segments and enable visual detection of a problem area comprising one or more of said tube segments; and wherein said inspection data is collected by one or more devices selected from the following group;
an ultrasonic transducer, a laser profilometer, and combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
-
33. A method for displaying inspection data collected from a furnace, said furnace comprising a plurality of tube segments interconnected by a plurality of bends so as to allow stacking of at least a portion of said tube segments, said method comprising:
-
identifying said bends of said furnace in relation to said inspection data; partitioning said inspection data at said bends so as to correlate said inspection data to an appropriate one of said tube segments of said furnace; generating a two-dimensional or three-dimensional representation of at least a portion of said inspection data arranged to represent a physical geometry of a plurality of said tube segments and enable visual detection of a problem area comprising one or more of said tube segments; and wherein said inspection data is collected by one or more devices selected from the following group;
an ultrasonic transducer, a laser profilometer, and combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
-
-
37. A method for displaying inspection data collected from a furnace comprising a plurality of tube segments interconnected by a plurality of bends so as to allow stacking of at least a portion of said tube segments, said method comprising:
-
generating a two-dimensional or three-dimensional representation of said inspection data collected from a plurality of said tube segments of said furnace, said data arranged to represent a physical geometry of said tube segments; analyzing said two-dimensional or three-dimensional representation and visually detecting a problem area comprising one or more of said tube segments of said furnace; and wherein said inspection data is collected by one or more devices selected from the following group;
an ultrasonic transducer, a laser profilometer, and combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39)
-
-
40. A system for displaying inspection data collected from a furnace with a specified physical geometry, wherein said furnace comprises a plurality of tube segments interconnected by a plurality of bends so as to allow stacking of at least a portion of said tube segments, said system comprising:
-
a storage device for storing said inspection data and sensor data collected from said furnace; and a computer programmed to; analyze said sensor data and generate a plurality of data markers based upon said analysis of said sensor data, wherein each of said data markers identifies a location of a physical feature of said furnace so as to correlate said inspection data to said physical geometry of said furnace; partition said inspection data at said data markers; generate a display of at least a portion of said partitioned inspection data arranged to represent said physical geometry of a plurality of said tube segments and enable visual detection of a problem area comprising one or more of said tube segments; and wherein said sensor data comprises a plurality of readings collected by one or more auxiliary sensors selected from the following group;
an axial encoder, an accelerometer, a roll encoder, a gyroscope, an inertial navigation system, and combinations thereof.
-
-
41. A system for displaying inspection data collected from a furnace with a specified physical geometry, said system comprising:
-
a storage device for storing said inspection data; and a computer programmed to; generate a plurality of individual data markers; normalize said individual data markers; generate a composite data marker by calculating a root mean square of said normalized individual data markers; generate a plurality of data markers each of which comprises a composite data marker; partition said inspection data at said plurality of data markers each of which identifies a location of a physical feature of said furnace so as to correlate said inspection data to said physical geometry of said furnace; and generate a display of said partitioned inspection data to thereby enable visual detection of problem areas within said furnace.
-
Specification