Health assessment of a mechanical system

A health assessment system for assessing health of a mechanical system, the health assessment system comprising:

• a memory configured to store a plurality of programmable instructions;
• and
• at least one processing device in communication with the memory, wherein the at least one processing device, upon execution of the plurality of programmable instructions is configured to:
• receive from one or more discontinuous system data sources discontinuous system data that is obtained intermittently and is associated with health of the system;
• generate a discontinuous health index that is based on the discontinuous system data;
• receive from one or more continuous system data sources continuous system data that is obtained continuously and is associated with the health of the system;
• generate a continuous health index that is based on the continuous system data, wherein the discontinuous health index and the continuous health index are configured to be combinable;
• combine the discontinuous health index and the continuous health index, including applying a combinatory method for combining one or more discontinuous health indexes generated over time and once or more continuous health indexes generated over time;
• generate an overall health index based on the combination of the discontinuous health index and the continuous health index;
• determine at least one of a discontinuous confidence indicator (DC-CI) and a continuous confidence indicator (C-CI), the DC-CI indicating a level of confidence in at least one of the received discontinuous system data and the determined discontinuous health index, the C-CI indicating a level of confidence in at least one of the received continuous system data and the determined continuous health index;
• generate an overall confidence indicator (O-CI) that is a function of at least one of the DC-CI and the C-CI, trends of at least one of the DC-CI and C-CI, and/or one or more previously determined O-CIs;
• and
• automatically take one or more actions to maintain or improve health of the mechanical system and/or avoid risk based on the overall health index, wherein a determination whether to automatically take the one or more actions and/or a selection of the one or more actions to be taken is based on the O-CI and/or changes in the O-CI, wherein the one or more actions are selected from one or more of performing an emergency shutdown of relevant equipment associated with the mechanical system, adjusting a number of or settings of the discontinuous system data sources and/or the continuous system data sources;
• activating an alarm to notify personnel in a vicinity of the mechanical system to evacuate the vicinity and/or to notify the personnel when it is safe to return to the vicinity;
• and causing a request to be submitted for maintenance or servicing for a component of the mechanical system.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having one or more computer programs embedded therein, which when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to:

• receive from one or more discontinuous system data sources discontinuous system data that is obtained intermittently and is associated with health of the system;
• generate a discontinuous health index that is based on the discontinuous system data;
• receive from one or more continuous system data collection sources continuous system data that is obtained continuously and is associated with the health of the system;
• generate a continuous health index that is based on the continuous system data, wherein the discontinuous health index and the continuous health index are configured to be combinable;
• combine the discontinuous health index and the continuous health index, including applying a combinatory method for combining one or more discontinuous health indexes generated over time and once or more continuous health indexes generated over time;
• generate an overall health index based on the combination of the discontinuous health index and the continuous health index;
• determine at least one of a discontinuous confidence indicator (DC-CI) and a continuous confidence indicator (C-CI), the DC-CI indicating a level of confidence in at least one of the received discontinuous system data and the determined discontinuous health index, the C-CI indicating a level of confidence in at least one of the received continuous system data and the determined continuous health index;
• generate an overall confidence indicator (O-CI) that is a function of at least one of the DC-CI and the C-CI, trends of at least one of the DC-CI and C-CI, and/or one or more previously determined O-CIs;
• and
• automatically take one or more actions to maintain or improve health of the mechanical system and/or avoid risk based on the overall health index, wherein a determination whether to automatically take the one or more actions and/or a selection of the one or more actions to be taken is based on the O-CI and/or changes in the O-CI, wherein the one or more actions are selected from one or more of performing an emergency shutdown of relevant equipment associated with the mechanical system, adjusting a number of or settings of the discontinuous system data sources and/or the continuous system data sources;
• activating an alarm to notify personnel in a vicinity of the mechanical system to evacuate the vicinity and/or to notify the personnel when it is safe to return to the vicinity;
• and causing a request to be submitted for maintenance or servicing for a component of the mechanical system.