Utilizing elastic sensing elements as a monitoring technique for early fault detection of control valve diaphragm failure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12140249-B2
Application number	US-202218147523-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2022
Priority date	Dec 28, 2022
Publication date	Nov 12, 2024
Grant date	Nov 12, 2024

Abstract

A method for early detection of control valve diaphragm failure is disclosed. The method includes disposing an elastic sensing element on a diaphragm of a pneumatic control valve, generating, using the elastic sensing element, a baseline sensor record comprising initial elasticity measurements of the diaphragm, generating, using the elastic sensing element and during a useful life of the control valve, a sequence of periodic sensor records comprising periodic elasticity measurements of the diaphragm, generating, in response to any periodic sensor record differs from the baseline sensor record by a pre-determined threshold, an alarm, and performing, in response to the alarm, a maintenance operation of the control valve.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for early detection of control valve diaphragm failure, the method comprising:
disposing an elastic sensing element on a diaphragm of a pneumatic control valve;
generating, using the elastic sensing element, a baseline sensor record comprising initial elasticity measurements of the diaphragm, wherein the baseline sensor record is a collection of recorded measurement data of sensor measurements generated throughout one or more complete stroking travel of the diaphragm;
generating, using the elastic sensing element and during a useful life of the control valve, a sequence of periodic sensor records comprising periodic elasticity measurements of the diaphragm;
generating, in response to any periodic sensor record differs from the baseline sensor record by a pre-determined threshold, an alarm;
performing, in response to the alarm, a maintenance operation of the control valve; and
storing the sensor measurements, the baseline sensor record, the periodic sensor records, and the alarm into a buffer.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the baseline sensor record is generated within a pre-determined time period of initial installation of the control valve in a production system.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the baseline sensor record is generated within a pre-determined time period of replacing the diaphragm in the control valve that is installed in a production system.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the elastic sensing element comprises a stress-sensitive resistance element.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the elastic sensing element comprises a strain gauge.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the maintenance operation comprises replacing the diaphragm in the control valve.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the maintenance operation comprises refurbishing the control valve.

8. The pneumatic control valve according to claim 1 , wherein the baseline sensor record is generated within a pre-determined time period of initial installation of the control valve in a production system.

9. The pneumatic control valve according to claim 1 , wherein the baseline sensor record is generated within a pre-determined time period of replacing the diaphragm in the control valve that is installed in a production system.

10. The pneumatic control valve according to claim 1 , wherein the elastic sensing element comprises a stress-sensitive resistance element.

11. The pneumatic control valve according to claim 1 , wherein the elastic sensing element comprises a strain gauge.

12. The pneumatic control valve according to claim 1 , wherein the maintenance operation comprises replacing the diaphragm in the control valve.

13. The pneumatic control valve according to claim 1 , wherein the maintenance operation comprises refurbishing the control valve.

14. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the maintenance operation comprises refurbishing the control valve.

15. A system for early detection of control valve diaphragm failure, comprising:
a pneumatic control valve comprising:
a valve head,
a valve seat,
a valve stem,
an outer housing encompassing the valve head, the valve stem, and the valve seat,
a diaphragm for controlling a fluid passage of the pneumatic control valve; and
an elastic sensing element disposed partially on the diaphragm and partially on the diaphragm plate for early failure detection; and

a data gathering and analysis system configured such that the data gathering and analysis system:
generates, using the elastic sensing element, a baseline sensor record comprising initial elasticity measurements of the diaphragm;
generates, using the elastic sensing element and during a useful life of the control valve, a sequence of periodic sensor records comprising periodic elasticity measurements of the diaphragm;
generates, in response to any periodic sensor record differs from the baseline sensor record by a pre-determined threshold, an alarm; and
facilitates, in response to the alarm, a maintenance operation of the control valve.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the baseline sensor record is generated within a pre-determined time period of initial installation of the control valve in a production system.

17. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the baseline sensor record is generated within a pre-determined time period of replacing the diaphragm in the control valve that is installed in a production system.

18. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the elastic sensing element comprises a stress-sensitive resistance element or a strain gauge.

19. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the maintenance operation comprises replacing the diaphragm in the control valve.

20. A pneumatic control valve comprising:
a diaphragm for controlling a fluid passage of the pneumatic control valve, the control valve comprising:
a valve head,
a valve seat,
a valve stem, and
an outer housing encompassing the valve head, the valve stem, and the valve seat,
wherein the valve stem is coupled to a diaphragm plate and the diaphragm; and

an elastic sensing element disposed partially on the diaphragm and partially on the diaphragm plate for early failure detection,
wherein a baseline sensor record is generated using the elastic sensing element and comprises initial elasticity measurements of the diaphragm,
wherein a sequence of periodic sensor records during a useful life of the control valve is generated using the elastic sensing element and comprises periodic elasticity measurements of the diaphragm,
wherein an alarm is generated in response to any periodic sensor record differs from the baseline sensor record by a pre-determined threshold, and
wherein a maintenance operation of the control valve is performed in response to the alarm.

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Alramadhan Ibrahim Samir

Classifications

• Y10T137/0486

  Specific valve or valve element mounting or repairing · CPC title

• F16K41/12

  with approximately flat diaphragm · CPC title

• G08B21/182

  Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold · CPC title

• E21B34/025

  Chokes or valves in wellheads and sub-sea wellheads for variably regulating fluid flow · CPC title

• F16K37/0041

  for measuring valve parameters (F16K37/0033 takes precedence) · CPC title