Fault analysis

The detection and diagnosis of malfunctions in technical systems. Such systems include production equipment (chemical plants, steel mills, paper mills, and power stations), transportation vehicles (ships, airplanes, automobiles), and household appliances (washing machines, air conditioners). In any of these systems, malfunctions of components may lead to damage of the equipment itself, degradation of its function or product, jeopardy of its mission, and hazard to human life. While the need to detect and diagnose malfunctions is not new, advanced fault detection has been made possible only by the proliferation of the computer. Fault detection and diagnosis actually means a scheme in which a computer monitors the technical equipment to signal any malfunction and determines the components responsible. The detection and diagnosis of the fault may be followed by automatic actions, enabling the fault to be corrected such that the system may operate successfully even under the particular faulty condition.

 

Diagnostic concepts

 

Fault detection and diagnosis applies to both the basic technical equipment and the actuators and sensors attached to it. In the case of a chemical plant, the former includes the reactors, distillation columns, heat exchangers, compressors, storage tanks, and piping. Typical faults are leaks, plugs, surface fouling, and broken moving parts. The actuators are mostly valves, together with their driving devices (electric motors and hydraulic or pneumatic drives). The sensors are devices measuring the different physical variables in the plant, such as thermocouples, pressure diaphragms, and flow meters. Actuator and sensor fault detection is very important because these devices are prone to faults.

The on-line or real-time detection and diagnosis of faults means that the equipment is constantly monitored during its regular operation by a permanently connected computer, and any discrepancy is signaled almost immediately. On-line monitoring is very important for the early detection of any component malfunction before it can lead to more substantial equipment failure. In contrast, off-line diagnosis involves monitoring the system by a special, temporarily attached device, under special conditions (for example, car diagnostics at a service station).

The diagnostic activity may be broken down into several logical stages. Fault detection is the indication of something going wrong in the system. Fault isolation is the determination of the fault location (the component which malfunctions), while fault identification is the estimation of its size. On-line systems usually contain the detection and isolation stage; in off-line systems, detection may be superfluous. Fault identification is usually less important than the two other stages.

Fault detection and isolation can never be performed with absolute certainty because of circumstances such as noise, disturbances, and model errors. There is always a trade-off between false alarms and missed detections, with the proper balance depending on the particular application. In professionally supervised large plants, false alarms are better tolerated and missed detections may be more critical, while in consumer equipment (including cars) the situation may be the opposite.