US 5,517,537 A · Integrated acoustic leak detection beamforming system

Abstract

A system for mapping absolute acoustic noise intensity in a three-dimensional acoustic noise field, and using three-dimensional absolute noise intensities to infer operational or performance characteristics of components or structures within the monitored field. Localized noise sources are extracted using a distant array of transducers, and the absolute intensity can be measured even when totally masked by background noise at the transducer locations. The system includes an integrated sensor installation; a neural network detection system algorithm; a zoom system to precisely examine a small region in the steam generator vessel; a fuzzy logic system detection algorithm; and an expert detection system. The signal processing subsystem operates at three different levels of detection. At the top level of detection a trained neural network system monitors the vessel length for any indication of a leak. The proposed approach uses discriminators which do not require any beamforming of the sensor signals. The presence of a leak and its general location in the vessel is determined using a fuzzy logic expert system. The leak indications are passed to a second level of detection: a beamformed system which will monitor the indicated portion of the vessel. A third level of detection systematically monitors the tagged locations to determine if a leak is really present, remaining on the specific locations to detect a leak above the defined threshold to a high degree of accuracy. The actions to be taken will be controlled by a second fuzzy logic expert interface controller.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An apparatus for detecting anomalies within a monitored volume, comprising:

a set of transducers coupled to a respective plurality of localized portions of said monitored volume, each of said transducers outputting a respective analog electrical signal having a low-frequency component which is a function of the vibrational displacement of said localized portions of said monitored volume;
means for sampling the analog electrical signals output from a subset of said set of transducers;
means for converting said sampled analog electrical signals into a data array of respective digital electrical signals;
beamforming means for processing said data array to obtain a three-dimensional noise field in a volume of interest, said noise field consisting of the absolute noise intensity at each nodal point of a mesh located within said volume of interest;
and
decision means for processing said noise field to determine a likelihood that an anomaly is present within said volume of interest.

3 more elements

A method for detecting anomalies within a monitored volume, comprising the steps of:

coupling a set of transducers to a respective plurality of localized portions of said monitored volume, each of said transducers outputting a respective analog electrical signal having a low-frequency component which is a function of the vibrational displacement of said localized portions of said monitored volume;
sampling the analog electrical signals output from said set of transducers;
converting said sampled analog electrical signals into a first data array of respective digital electrical signals;
recognizing a discriminating pattern of data in said first data array without beamforming, said discriminating pattern indicating the possibility that an anomaly is present inside said monitored volume;
identifying a volume of interest from which said discriminating pattern of data was derived;
sampling the analog electrical signals output from a subset of said set of transducers;
converting said sampled analog electrical signals into a second data array of respective digital electrical signals;
processing said second data array to obtain a three-dimensional noise field in said volume of interest, said noise field consisting of the absolute noise intensity at each nodal point of a mesh located inside said volume of interest;
and
processing said noise field to determine a likelihood that an anomaly is present within said volume of interest.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Integrated acoustic leak detection beamforming system

Life of this patent

Integrated acoustic leak detection beamforming system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20