Flare characterization and control system
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorsAnnemarie Diepenbroek, Joel T. Langill, Isaac Cohen, Kwong Wing Au
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A video analytics system for characterization of a flare. A video of a flare may be taken for obtaining information so as to appropriately control the flare in an interest of reducing emissions not necessarily favorable to the environment. The system may incorporate a control scenario involving one or more parameters of a flare which are to be controlled in view of a flare characterization from an algorithmic analysis of the video.
Claims19
A flare characterization system comprising:
- at least one camera for obtaining video images of a flare emitted by a flare stack of a plant;
- a video analytics module connected to the at least one camera, the video analytics module analyzing the video images captured by the at least one camera to obtain a characterization of the flare, the characterization including an approximation of the three dimensional shape of the flare using a generalized cylinder defined by a medial axis and edges;
- a control system connected to the video analytics module;
- and
- a user interface connected to the control system, wherein video analytics module is configured to provide the characterization of the flare to the user interface via the control system, and the user interface is configured to display a visual sense of the characterization of the flare to a user;
- wherein the flare characterization system is configured to store the obtained video images of the flare for later retrieval, review, or regulatory purposes.
A method for flare characterization comprising:
- capturing a video stream of a flare of a flare stack of a plant with at least one camera;
- analyzing the video stream, the analysis including an analysis of the color of the flare and an analysis of the shape of the flare;
- characterizing the flare according to an analysis of the video stream and other plant information including wind speed and process control system sensors;
- presenting the characterization of the flare to a user via a user interface;
- and
- storing the video stream of the flare for later retrieval or review.
A video flare characterization system comprising:
- two or more cameras for obtaining video images of a flare mechanism;
- a video analytics module connected to the two or more cameras, wherein the video analytics module is configured to integrate information from a first silhouette obtained from a first camera and a second silhouette obtained from a second camera;
- a control system connected to the video analytics module;
- and
- a camera server connected to the two or more cameras and the control system, the camera server configured to store the video images of the flare mechanism with a digital signature to ensure proven authentication and integrity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.