Method of optimal sensor selection and fusion for heat exchanger fouling diagnosis in aerospace systems

A processor-implemented method of determining whether a heat exchanger is fouling, the processor-implemented method executable by a processor of a diagnosis system in communication with an environmental control system, the processor-implemented method comprising:

• a) training, by the processor, classifiers to indicate a plurality of fouling conditions associated with the heat exchanger, the heat exchanger being within the environmental control system by utilizing a model to generate sensor data based on the plurality of fouling conditions and parametric combinations of ambient temperature and occupancy count, wherein the ambient temperature is a temperature external to and affects the operation of the environmental control system, the classifiers being encoded as computer executable instructions on a tangible computer readable memory that when executed by the processor causes the processor to carry out the computer executable instructions to indicate the plurality of fouling conditions associated with the heat exchanger, wherein the training of the classifiers further comprises performing an extraction of features from each sensor and processing the features by the classifiers to determine a fouling severity for each of the fouling conditions;
• and
• b) testing, by the processor, the classifiers with sensor data from sensors to determine whether the fouling is being experienced by the heat exchanger.