Prognostic health monitoring of fluidic systems using MEMS technology
AssigneePTI Technologies, Inc.
InventorDaniel Moscaritolo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to a filter module that may incorporate sensors to measure various characteristics of fluid flow and filtration. The sensors may be MEMS and may measure the temperature, flow rate, pressure, etc. of the fluid. One or more MEMS sensors may be included in a sensor package which, in turn, may be included in a sensor component. The latter, which may also include a processor, conductor pins, etc. for data communication, may be coupled to a sensor port in such a way as to allow contact between the sensor(s) and the fluid. Sensor measurements may be used to determine the occurrence of harmful events, such as cavitation or particle breakthrough, or to predict the remaining service life of a filter element.
Claims44
A filtration health monitoring system comprising:
- a filter module including a filter element, said filter element having an inlet side, an outlet side, and a membrane separating said inlet side from said outlet side such that there exists a differential pressure across said membrane when said filter element is in service;
- a first micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) pressure sensor disposed proximate said inlet side for measuring a first pressure on the inlet side;
- a second MEMS pressure sensor disposed proximate said outlet side for measuring a second pressure on the outlet side;
- and
- a processing device, said device being configured to:
- receive measurement data from said first and second MEMS pressure sensors;
- calculate the differential pressure across said membrane based on said measurement data;
- calculate a remaining contaminant capacity of the filter element based on a correlation of said differential pressure to an amount of contaminant removed by said filter element;
- calculate a rate of contaminant removal;
- and
- determine the remaining service life of said filter element.
A filtration health monitoring system comprising:
- a filter module including a filter element, said filter element having an inlet side, an outlet side, and a membrane separating said inlet side from said outlet side such that there exists a differential pressure across said membrane when said filter element is in service;
- a first micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) pressure sensor disposed proximate said inlet side for measuring a first pressure on the inlet side;
- a second MEMS pressure sensor disposed proximate said outlet side for measuring a second pressure on the outlet side;
- and
- a processing device, said device being configured to:
- receive measurement data from said first and second MEMS pressure sensors;
- calculate the differential pressure across said membrane based on said measurement data;
- calculate a rate of change of said differential pressure;
- and
- determine the remaining service life of said filter element based on a differential pressure limit.
A filtration health monitoring system comprising:
- a filter module including a filter element, said filter element having an inlet side, an outlet side, and a membrane separating said inlet side from said outlet side such that there exists a differential pressure across said membrane when said filter element is in service;
- a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) differential pressure sensor disposed proximate at least one of said inlet side and said outlet side for measuring said differential pressure;
- and
- a processing device, said device being configured to:
- receive differential pressure measurement data from said MEMS sensor;
- calculate a remaining contaminant capacity of the filter element based on a correlation of said differential pressure to an amount of contaminant removed by said filter element;
- calculate a rate of contaminant removal;
- and
- determine the remaining service life of said filter element.
A filtration health monitoring system comprising:
- a filter module including a filter element, said filter element having an inlet side, an outlet side, and a membrane separating said inlet side from said outlet side such that there exists a differential pressure across said membrane when said filter element is in service;
- a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) differential pressure sensor disposed proximate at least one of said inlet side and said outlet side for measuring said differential pressure;
- and
- a processing device, said device being configured to:
- receive differential pressure measurement data from said MEMS sensor;
- calculate a rate of change of said differential pressure;
- and
- determine the remaining service life of said filter element based on a differential pressure limit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.