Evaluating condition of components using acoustic sensor in lighting device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10024823-B2
Application number	US-201615206382-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 11, 2016
Priority date	Jul 11, 2016
Publication date	Jul 17, 2018
Grant date	Jul 17, 2018

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure include systems, methods, and program products for evaluating the condition of a component using an acoustic sensor embedded within a lighting device. A system according to the present disclosure can include a first lighting device configured to illuminate an area of an industrial plant; a first acoustic sensor embedded within the first lighting device and configured to detect an acoustic signature of a component in the industrial plant; a computing device communicatively connected to the first acoustic sensor and configured to evaluate a condition of the component in the industrial plant based on the acoustic signature.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system that detects an acoustic signature of a component in an industrial plant and evaluates a condition of the component, wherein the component has an operational performance and a status, the system comprising:
a first lighting device configured to illuminate an area of the industrial plant;
a first acoustic sensor embedded within the first lighting device and configured to detect the acoustic signature of the component in the industrial plant; and
a computing device communicatively connected to the first acoustic sensor and configured to evaluate the condition of the component in the industrial plant based on the acoustic signature, wherein the condition of the component includes the operational performance and the status of the component.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to compare the acoustic signature detected by the first acoustic sensor with a baseline acoustic signature to evaluate the condition of the component.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the computing device is further configured to determine whether one of an amplitude and a frequency of the acoustic signature is outside a tolerance window of the baseline acoustic signature to evaluate the condition of the component.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to identify the component from a plurality of components based on a directional analysis of the acoustic signature detected by the first acoustic sensor.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to locate a position of the component based on the acoustic signature, a position of the first lighting device, and a position of a second acoustic sensor for detecting the acoustic signature.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein an electric current transmitted to the first lighting device powers the first acoustic sensor.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is at least partially included within the first lighting device.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device evaluates the condition of the component based on an operating attribute of an assembly including the component therein, in addition to the acoustic signature detected by the first acoustic sensor.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first lighting device comprises one of a plurality of lighting devices configured to illuminate respective areas of the industrial plant, at least one of the plurality of lighting devices including a respective acoustic sensor therein, and wherein the computing device is communicatively connected to the acoustic sensors in each of the plurality of lighting devices.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the component is included within a power generation system, and wherein the component includes one of a compressor, a combustor, a generator, and a turbine component of the power generation system.

11. A method for evaluating a condition of a component in an industrial plant, where the component has an operational performance and a status, the method comprising:
detecting an acoustic signature of the component in the industrial plant with a first acoustic sensor included within a first lighting device of the industrial plant;
determining a difference between a baseline acoustic signature and the acoustic signature of the component in the industrial plant;
identifying the component from a plurality of components based on at least the acoustic signature and a position of the first lighting device; and
evaluating the condition of the component based on a position of the component and the difference between the acoustic signature and the baseline acoustic signature, wherein the condition of the component includes the operational performance and the status of the component.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the evaluating the condition of the component further includes determining whether one of an amplitude and a frequency of the acoustic signature is outside a tolerance window of the baseline acoustic signature.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the identifying the component includes locating a position of the component based on the acoustic signature, the position of the first lighting device, and a position of a second acoustic sensor for detecting the acoustic signature.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the component is included within a power generation system, and wherein the component includes one of a compressor, a combustor, a generator, and a turbine component of the power generation system.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the evaluating of the condition of the component is further based on an operating attribute of an assembly including the component.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the evaluating of the condition of the component is further based on a video feed of the component recorded substantially contemporaneously with the acoustic signature of the component.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the determining, the locating, and the evaluating are performed with a computing device communicatively connected to the first acoustic sensor, and wherein the computing device is at least partially included within the first lighting device.

18. A program product stored on a computer readable storage medium for evaluating a condition of a component in an industrial plant, wherein the component has an operational performance and a status, the computer readable storage medium comprising program code for causing a computer system to:
determine a difference between a baseline acoustic signature and an acoustic signature of the component in the industrial plant, the acoustic signature of the component being detected by a first acoustic sensor included within a first lighting device of the industrial plant;
identify the component from a plurality of components based on at least the acoustic signature and a position of the first lighting device; and
evaluate the condition of the component based on a position of the component and the difference between the acoustic signature and the baseline acoustic signature, wherein the condition of the component includes the operational performance and the status of the component.

19. The program product of claim 18 , wherein the computer system and the first acoustic sensor is included within the first lighting device, and wherein the computer system is communicatively connected to a second acoustic sensor included in a second lighting device of the industrial plant.

20. The program product of claim 18 , further comprising program code for causing the computer system to evaluate the condition of the component further based on historical data generated from a previous operation of the industrial plant.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Trayhan Jr David Terry
• Zhang Hua

Classifications

• G01H3/12

  by electric means (G01H3/14 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04R2410/00

  Microphones · CPC title

• H05B45/00

  Circuit arrangements for operating light-emitting diodes [LED] · CPC title

• H05B47/12

  by detecting audible sound · CPC title

• G01H1/006

  of the rotor of turbo machines · CPC title