Utilizing elastic sensing elements as a monitoring technique for early fault detection of control valve diaphragm failure

A pneumatic control valve comprising:

• a diaphragm for controlling a fluid passage of the pneumatic control valve;
• and
• an elastic sensing element disposed on the diaphragm for early failure detection,
• wherein a baseline sensor record is generated using the elastic sensing element and comprises initial elasticity measurements of the diaphragm,
• wherein a sequence of periodic sensor records during a useful life of the control valve is generated using the elastic sensing element and comprises periodic elasticity measurements of the diaphragm,
• wherein an alarm is generated in response to any periodic sensor record differs from the baseline sensor record by a pre-determined threshold, and
• wherein a maintenance operation of the control valve is performed in response to the alarm.

A system for early detection of control valve diaphragm failure, comprising:

• a pneumatic control valve comprising:
• a diaphragm for controlling a fluid passage of the pneumatic control valve;
• and
• an elastic sensing element disposed on the diaphragm for early failure detection;
• and
• a data gathering and analysis system configured to:
• generate, using the elastic sensing element, a baseline sensor record comprising initial elasticity measurements of the diaphragm;
• generate, using the elastic sensing element and during a useful life of the control valve, a sequence of periodic sensor records comprising periodic elasticity measurements of the diaphragm;
• generate, in response to any periodic sensor record differs from the baseline sensor record by a pre-determined threshold, an alarm;
• and
• facilitate, in response to the alarm, a maintenance operation of the control valve.