System for monitoring the health of electrical generators and method thereof
AssigneeProton Energy Systems, Inc.
InventorA. John Speranza
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus is provided for a system for maintaining hydrogen purity in an electrical power generator where the system monitors the health of the electrical generating system by calculating the time remaining until preventative maintenance is required based on hydrogen usage. The system also monitors the health of the system by detecting the occurrence of major leaks within the electrical power generator and adapting the operation of the system to maintain a desired operating environment.
Claims20
A method for operating a hydrogen cooled electrical generator comprising:
- generating hydrogen gas;
- flowing said hydrogen gas at a first flow rate to an electrical generator located in an enclosure;
- measuring said gas pressure in said electrical generator;
- measuring said rate of hydrogen gas flow to said generator;
- and,
- generating a first signal when said rate of change of hydrogen flow is increasing and said gas pressure is decreasing.
A non-transitory tangible computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing a method for monitoring the operation of a hydrogen cooled electrical generator, said method comprising:
- receiving a first signal representative of said rate of hydrogen gas flow to an electrical generator;
- determining the rate of change of hydrogen gas flow from said first signal;
- generating a second signal if said rate of change of hydrogen gas flow exceeds a predetermined value;
- and
- generating a third signal representing operating time remaining until preventative maintenance is required.
A method for operating a hydrogen cooled electrical generator comprising:
- disassociating water into hydrogen and oxygen gas with an electrochemical cell;
- flowing said hydrogen gas to an electrical generator;
- measuring the differential gas pressure between said electrochemical cell and said electrical generator;
- measuring the rate of hydrogen gas flow to said generator;
- generating a first signal if the rate of change of hydrogen flow is increasing and said gas pressure differential remains constant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.