Method for monitoring a tube sheet of a heat exchanger
AssigneeArkema Inc.
InventorsMichael S. DECOURCY, Kishlay TRIPATHY
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Shell-and-tube devices typically require regular maintenance. Described herein is an automated method for tracking the status of individual tubes during maintenance activities and recording status data for review and analysis. Status data may optionally be reported in real-time summary format and/or used to predict time-to-completion. The method helps to reduce the expense of performing maintenance activities in shell-and-tube devices, including shell-and-tube reactors and heat exchangers.
Claims24
A method for monitoring a status of a shell and tube device during a projection-type maintenance activity, said method comprising:
- acquiring an initial digital image (Di) of a tube end on at least a portion of a tube sheet of the shell and tube device;
- acquiring a later digital image (Dx) of the tube end at a later time during the projection-type maintenance activity;
- and
- comparing the initial digital image (Di) with the later digital image (Dx) to identify a presence of an object projecting from the tube end.
For a shell and tube device comprising a tube sheet including a plurality of tube ends arranged in a fixed pattern of rows and columns, a method for monitoring the status of the shell and tube device during a projection-type maintenance activity, said method comprising:
- a) assigning a unique identifier to each of the tube ends,
- b) at an initial acquisition time (Ti), acquiring one pair of initial digital images (Dai and Dbi) of at least a portion of the tube sheet from two different vantage points,
- c) determining an initial state of an attribute (Ai) having at least two states for each of the tube ends within said pair of initial digital images (Dai and Dbi), and
- d) creating an initial data record in a relational database for each tube end within said pair of initial digital images (Dai and Dbi), said initial data record including:
- i. the initial acquisition time (Ti),
- ii. the unique identifier for the tube end, and
- iii. an initial state of the image attribute (Ai) at the initial acquisition time (Ti).
For a shell and tube device comprising a tube sheet including a plurality of tube ends arranged in a fixed pattern of rows and columns, a method for monitoring the status of the shell and tube device during a projection-type maintenance activity, said method comprising:
- a) assigning a unique identifier to each of the tube ends,
- b) at an initial acquisition time (Ti), acquiring at least one pair of initial digital images (Dai and Dbi) of at least a portion of the tube sheet from two different vantage points,
- c) processing the at least one pair of initial digital images to create an initial Enhanced Digital Image (Ei),
- d) determining an initial state of an attribute (Ai) having at least two states for each of the tube ends within said initial Enhanced digital image (Ei), and
- e) creating an initial data record in a relational database for each tube end within said initial Enhanced digital image (Ei), said initial data record including:
- i. the initial acquisition time (Ti),
- ii. the unique identifier for the tube end, and
- iii. an initial state of the image attribute (Ai) at the initial acquisition time (Ti).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.