Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
PIPELINE AND EQUIPMENT DYNAMIC MONITORING SYSTEM AND
METHOD THEREFOR
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
The present disclosure relates generally to vibration sensing-analysis systems
and
methods, and in particular, to systems and methods for analyzing pipeline flow
dynamics,
pipeline integrity and equipment predictive maintenance measures obtained from
an
integrated vibration array detection, data transmission, network server data
processing,
database management, machine learning and user interface systems.
BACKGROUND
Pipeline systems including key equipment like pumps and compressors are
utilized
in oil and gas transportation, water, chemical, refined product
transportation, storage and
various processing facilities and industries.
Pipeline related systems in general face reliability issues related to line
rupture or
equipment damages triggered by several reasons, including equipment
vibrations, internal
and external stress, displacements, movements, geohazards and ground motions.
The pipeline and equipment reliability issues caused by various reasons are
difficult to detect prior to the failures, mainly due to the variations of
causes or variations
of failure mechanism, and due to lack of early indicator information.
Therefore, in many
occasions the pipeline and equipment failures situations are unpredictable,
and mostly
handled by after-the-fact reactions, where clean-ups, repairs and replacement
are
performed after the incidents of line leak through cracks, line ruptures or
equipment
failures and damages.
SUMMARY
According to one aspect of this disclosure, there is provided a vibration-
based
pipeline and equipment dynamic monitoring system. The dynamic monitoring
system
comprises: an array of broadband vibration sensing nodes for detecting
vibration and
outputting broadband vibration digital signals; a wired or wireless network
system to
communicate the nodal digital signals; a data-processing software computing
module
located locally or remotely; a database server or cloud storage, and an access
interface for
local and remote viewing, data analysis, and remote control.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system network, according to
some embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 shows a pipeline sensing arrangement to identify pipeline slug, with
calculation of arrival time to compression processing facility;
FIG. 3 shows a vibration pattern recognition to match flow volumetric
characters
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments herein disclose a vibration-analysis system having one or more
server computers, one or more client-computing devices, and one or more
vibration-
detection units, all functionally connected via a network. The one or more
vibration-
detection units may be deployed in a site for detection of vibrations. The
detected vibration
data are sent to the one or more server computers for vibration analysis.
In some embodiments, the vibration-analysis system also comprises one or more
data hubs, each functionally coupled to one or more vibration-detection units.
The data
hub collects vibration data from the vibration-detection units and transmits
the collected
vibration data to the server computer.
In some embodiments, each vibration-detection unit node comprises a vibration-
detection sensor, a communication module as shown in FIG.1, and a positioning
module
such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) module for automatically determining
the
position or geolocation of the vibration-detection unit, thereby avoiding the
manual
recording and/or updating of the geolocations of the vibration-detection units
during their
deployment and re-deployment. The GPS also provide time information for data
time
stamping. The signal time stamp from multiple sensors in the network is then
used to
calculation locations of the concerned events.
In some embodiments, the signal-processing module may be implemented as a
report by exception digital filter. In some other embodiments, the signal-
processing
module may be implemented as a signal-processing firmware or software program
acting
as a digital filter. The digital filter or the signal-processing program may
be implemented
in the vibration-detection unit, in the data hub, and/or in the server
computer.
The vibration-detection units may be deployed in the site individually or in
an
independent array arrangement. Each vibration-detection unit may operate
independently
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within an independent array arrangement. In various embodiments, the vibration-
detection
units may be field-operated or remotely-controlled to continuously or
intermittently collect,
store, and transmit vibration data to the server computer for automatic data
processing,
recognition, and generate visualization with an integrated map interface. Real-
time
vibration data transmission of the broadband vibration data is used for real-
time frequency
spectrum analysis and analysis in velocity, acceleration and displacement
domains. The
data patterns in the analysis domains is stored in system database for system
training and
pattern recognition
In some embodiments, the vibration-detection units are mounted along gas
gathering pipelines to detect pipeline liquid slugging patterns in a gas
system. An example
is illustrated in FIG. 2, where the liquid slug traveling in the gas line is
detected by the
unique patterns of the vibration signals, the slug arrival time to the
downstream processing
equipment is calculated, a warning signal or a control signal can be generated
to trigger
system protection and mitigation measures, therefor reducing slug impacts to
downstream
processing equipment and plant operations.
In some embodiments, the vibration-detection units are mounted along pipelines
to
detect impacts of Geohazards, e.g. sinkhole, falling rocks, earthquake, and
other ground
motion that can cause pipeline damages. Network array arrangement is used to
analyze
event or failure locations.
In some embodiments, the vibration-detection units are mounted along pipelines
to
monitor impacts of vibration motions to pipeline integrity. Based on the
vibration data
collected, fatigue stress is calculated to predict preventive maintenance
required for the
pipeline and related equipment in the region.
In some embodiments, the vibration-detection units are mounted along pipelines
to
monitor pigging progress and locations.
In some embodiments, the vibration-detection units are mounted along pipelines
to
monitor flow volumes in the pipeline. The vibration signal patterns in
amplitude-time
domain are used to train system quantification recognition and provide
volumetric
measures. FIG. 3 shows a vibration pattern recognition to match flow
volumetric
characters.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system network, according to
some embodiments of the present disclosure. The networking interface comprises
one or
more networking modules for connecting to other computing devices or networks
through
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the network by using suitable wired or wireless communication technologies
such as
Ethernet, WI-Fl , (WI-Fl is a registered trademark of the City of Atlanta DBA
Hartsfield-
Jackson Atlanta International Airport Municipal Corp., Atlanta, GA, USA),
BLUETOOTH (BLUETOOTH is a registered trademark of Bluetooth Sig Inc.,
Kirkland,
WA, USA), ZIGBEE (ZIGBEE is a registered trademark of ZigBee Alliance Corp.,
San
Ramon, CA, USA), 3G, 4G and 5G wireless mobile telecommunications
technologies,
and/or the like. In some embodiments, parallel ports, serial ports, USB
connections, optical
connections, or the like may also be used for connecting other computing
devices or
network.
Although embodiments have been described above with reference to the
accompanying drawings, those of skill in the art will appreciate that
variations and
modifications may be made without departing from the scope thereof as defined
by the
appended claims.
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