Claims:Claims
We claim:
1. A smart valve positioner system for automatic data logging, self-diagnosis, and preventive maintenance, the system (100) comprising:
a. a smart valve positioner (101) which is interfaced with an actuator (102) for enabling the operation of a control valve at pre-defined intervals of time, wherein the smart valve positioner (101) collects the data pertaining to the control valve operation at pre-defined intervals of time;
b. a microprocessor unit (103) for receiving the data collected by smart valve positioner (101) and automatically logging the data with a timestamp, wherein the microprocessor unit (103) comprises a storage unit (103a) for storing the logged data for further reference or analysis;
c. a user interface device (104) for providing user access to the logged data through a wired or wireless network infrastructure, wherein the user interface device (104) comprises a native application for observing the trend of the logged data and enabling preventive actions in the system (100) in the case of faults or abnormalities in the logged data.

2. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the smart valve positioner (101) is loop powered or powered through two-wired Fieldbus or Profibus thereby eliminating the dependency on external power supply.

3. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the smart valve positioner (101) collects data pertaining to a plurality of parameters at pre-defined time intervals and stores it on the storage unit (103a) along with a time stamp for the purpose of future diagnosis.

4. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pre-defined time interval for automatic data logging by the smart valve positioner (101) is variable based on the user requirement.

5. A method for automatic data logging, self-diagnosis, and preventive maintenance in a smart valve positioner system, the method (200) comprising the steps of:

a. collecting data pertaining to the operation of at least one control valve at pre-defined intervals of time in the system (100) and transmitting the collected data to the microprocessor unit (103) by the smart valve positioner (101);
b. analyzing the transmitted data by the microprocessor unit (103) and performing real-time self-diagnostic operations in case faults or abnormalities are detected in the data by the microprocessor unit (103);
c. logging the data automatically in the storage unit (103a) provided in the microprocessor unit (103), wherein the data is logged along with timestamps for future reference or analysis;
d. accessing the logged data present in the storage unit (103a) by a user using a user interface device (104), wherein the access to logged data is facilitated through a wired or wireless network infrastructure;
e. observing and analyzing the logged data using the native application provided on the user interface device (104), wherein the native application enables the user to observe the trend of the logged data and take preventive actions in the system (100) in the case of faults or abnormalities in the logged data.

6. The method (200) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the native application provided on the user interface device (104) provides alerts or alarm notifications when faults or abnormalities are detected in the logged data.

7. The method (200) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the native application provided on the user interface device (104) preemptively predicts the occurrence of faults or errors by enabling the user to observe the logged data and undertake remedial actions to ensure that the system (100) is operating as per requirement.
, Description:PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION:
[0001] The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Technical field of the invention
[0002] The present invention discloses a smart valve positioner system and method for automatic data logging, self-diagnosis, and preventive maintenance. The invention particularly relates to a method for analyzing real-time live data as well as logged data and providing predictive insights and remedial actions to ensure that the occurrence of faults or errors are significantly reduced thereby allowing the system to operate efficiently.
Background of the invention
[0003] In a process control system, a positioner valve is employed for controlling the operation of a control valve. The existing valve control systems employ multiple components which may have numerous issues such as leakage, failure, breakdown, irregular operation and so on. Such situations seek manual intervention which typically takes place once the problem has occurred, and the operation of the system has been affected. Further, with manual intervention comes the risk of manual errors which may occur during rectification of the issue(s) in the system. Additionally, even though the existing systems may be equipped with alerting mechanisms/notifications during the occurrence of an error, the rectification of the problem is solely dependent on the manual intervention and does not happen automatically.
[0004] Further, it is observed that in the existing valve positioners the data does not get collected at regular intervals of time which makes it very difficult for designated personnel to analyze the data and diagnose the issue during problem occurrences. Additionally, the data logged by the existing valve positioners provide limited access to a user thereby making it difficult for performing timely diagnosis and take remedial measures if necessary. Furthermore, the existing valve positioners are not equipped to predict the occurrence of a problem in the future by observing and analyzing logged data trends automatically without any human intervention.
[0005] The Patent No. US8072343B2 titled “Local emergency isolation valve controller with diagnostic testing and trouble indicator” relates to a local logic solver that operates with a local smart valve controller to control, test and monitor performance characteristics of a local field-mounted emergency isolation valve device, outputting a local indication of trouble on the device, which is mounted in the field away from the facility's central control panel for the process. The local logic solver includes a recording function and memory for retrieval of detected faults that are time-stamped and recorded locally to generate documentation and to track the elapsed time, starting when the degraded state of the device was detected and first signaled as a problem. Other performance data is also recorded. Accordingly, the operation of the overall system is simplified by eliminating the need for an external computer to diagnose any problems. A local control panel preferably includes pushbuttons and lights used during routine operations of the valve and a fault indicator light substantially adjacent to or in close proximity to the device being monitored to alert personnel of detected faults.
[0006] The Patent No. CN110715174B titled “Valve position accumulation method and device of intelligent valve positioner, storage medium and electronic terminal” relates to a valve position accumulation method of an intelligent valve positioner, which comprises the following steps: collecting valve position data according to a set sampling frequency; acquiring the variable quantity of valve position data acquired twice in a neighboring way; accumulating the variable quantity of the valve position data to obtain valve position accumulated quantity; comparing the valve position cumulant with a valve position set value; and outputting an alarm prompt according to the comparison result. The invention can accumulate valve position data, can pre-judge that the regulating valve needs to be maintained in advance, and can give out warning to a user, so that the user can maintain the regulating valve in advance in a planned way.
[0007] Hence, there exists a need for a solution to reduce or eliminate manual intervention in monitoring the operation of the existing valve control systems.
Summary of the invention:
[0008] The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art by disclosing a smart valve positioner system and method for automatic data logging, self-diagnosis, and preventive maintenance. Data pertaining to the operation of a control valve is collected at pre-defined intervals of time by a smart valve positioner which is either loop powered or powered through two-wired Fieldbus, Profibus and so on thereby eliminating the dependency on external power supply. The collected data is transmitted to a microprocessor unit for analysis and real-time self-diagnosis in case faults or abnormalities detected in the data. In one embodiment, the system may provide a user with one or more options pertaining to the parameters to be monitored for a particular requirement thereby allowing the user a pre-defined degree of customization. Further, the data is automatically logged along with timestamps in a storage unit and is accessible on a user interface device through a wired or wireless network infrastructure. Further, the logged data is analyzed using a native application provided on the user interface device which enables a user to observe the trend of the logged data and take preventive actions in case of faults or abnormalities in the logged data.
[0009] The present invention provides a smart valve positioner system which performs data logging, self-diagnosis, and preventive maintenance. The challenges encountered in the existing technologies such as dependency on external power supply, manual data logging leading to manual errors, manual intervention for fault detection and so on has been overcome by the present invention, wherein the system facilitates automatic logging of data along with timestamps which enables the native application on the user interface device to observe the trend and automatically enable preventive actions to ensure the smooth operation of the system thereby eliminating the requirement of human intervention and the resultant errors caused by human intervention. Additionally, the system is also capable of preemptively predicting the occurrence of faults or errors by observing the logged data and providing remedial actions to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the system. Therefore, the present invention analyzes both, real-time live data as well as logged data to ensure that the occurrence of faults or errors are significantly reduced thereby allowing the system to operate efficiently.
Brief description of the drawings:
[0010] The foregoing and other features of embodiments will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements.
[0011] FIG 1 illustrates a block diagram of a smart valve positioner system which performs data logging, self-diagnosis, and preventive maintenance.
[0012] FIG 2 illustrates a method for automatic data logging, self-diagnosis, and preventive maintenance in a smart valve positioner system.
Detailed description of the invention:
[0013] Reference will now be made in detail to the description of the present subject matter, one or more examples of which are shown in figures. Each example is provided to explain the subject matter and not a limitation. Various changes and modifications obvious to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the invention.
[0014] FIG 1 illustrates a block diagram of a smart valve positioner system for automatic data logging, self-diagnosis, and preventive maintenance. The system (100) comprises a smart valve positioner (101) which is interfaced with an actuator (102) for enabling the operation of a control valve at pre-defined intervals of time. “Smart valve positioners” are digital valve controllers, microprocessor-based, current to pneumatic instruments with internal logic capability. They are designed to convert a current signal to a pressure signal to operate a valve. The smart valve positioner (101) is loop powered or powered through two-wired Fieldbus, Profibus and so on thereby eliminating the dependency on external power supply. Further, the system (100) is designed in a manner in which low power consumption components are used thereby allowing the system (100) to function efficiently with the limited supply of power.
[0015] In one embodiment, the actuator (102) employed in the system (100) is a pneumatic actuator which controls the position of a control valve. In another embodiment, the actuator (102) may be a linear actuator or a rotating actuator with single action or double action. The smart valve positioner (101) collects the data pertaining to the control valve operation at pre-defined intervals of time. In one embodiment, the smart valve positioner (101) is capable of collecting data pertaining to more than 20 parameters. In another embodiment, the system (100) may provide a user with one or more options pertaining to the parameters to be monitored for a particular requirement thereby allowing the user a pre-defined degree of customization.
[0016] The data collected by the smart valve positioner (101) is transmitted to a microprocessor unit (103) for receiving the data collected by smart valve positioner (101), wherein the microprocessor unit (103) is pre-programmed to analyze the data in real-time and perform self-diagnostic operations in case faults or abnormalities are detected in the real-time data. For example, in situations where the temperature of the of the smart valve positioner (101) attached to the control valve is above a pre-defined threshold temperature, the microprocessor unit (103) automatically actuates the actuator (102) and moves the control valve to fail safe mode.
[0017] Further, a storage unit (103a) present in the microprocessor unit (103) is employed for automatically logging the collected data along with the timestamps, wherein the pre-defined time interval for automatic data logging is variable based on the user requirement. In one embodiment, the storage unit (103a) is a non-volatile memory such as Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, Ferroelectric Random-Access Memory (FRAM), Magnetoresistive Random-Access Memory (MRAM) and so on. The storage unit (103a) is sufficiently large to allow the storage of data accumulated for at least 10 years.
[0018] The logged data stored in the storage unit (103a) is accessible to a user using a user interface device (104) such as a mobile phone, laptop, tablet or any handheld device through a wired or wireless network infrastructure. This feature of the present invention ensures that the user is not required to access the central system such as the Distributed Control System (DCS) to access the logged data. In one embodiment, the wired infrastructure includes a Universal Serial Bus On The Go (USB OTG) adapter which may be connected between the microprocessor unit (103) and the user interface device (104). In another embodiment, the wireless network infrastructure includes a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) which facilitates the wireless transmission of the logged data along with the timestamps. Despite the system (100) being loop powered or powered through two-wired Fieldbus, Profibus and so on, the wired or wireless network infrastructure employed in the present invention works efficiently as the system (100) is designed using low power consumption components. The present invention shall also extend to other existing wired or wireless network infrastructures which may be employed based on the user requirement.
[0019] The user interface device (104) comprises a native application for observing the trend of the logged data and enables preventive actions in the system (100) in the case of faults or abnormalities in the logged data. For example, if the logged data is straying from a pre-defined pattern of data as per user’s expectation, the native application on the user interface device (104) immediately identifies the abnormal pattern indicated by the logged data and automatically takes preventive action to ensure that the system (100) operates efficiently as per requirement thereby reducing the need for manual intervention.
[0020] FIG 2 illustrates a method for automatic data logging, self-diagnosis, and preventive maintenance in a smart valve positioner system, wherein the method (200) comprises the steps of collecting data pertaining to the operation of at least one control valve at pre-defined intervals of time in the system (100) and transmitting the collected data to the microprocessor unit (103) by the smart valve positioner (101) in step (201). In step (202), the transmitted data is analyzed by the microprocessor unit (103) which performs real-time self-diagnostic operations in case faults or abnormalities are detected in the data by the microprocessor unit (103). In step (203), the data is automatically logged in the storage unit (103a) provided in the microprocessor unit (103), wherein the data is logged along with timestamps for future reference or analysis.
[0021] In step (204), the logged data present in the storage unit (103a) is accessed by a user using the user interface device (104), wherein the access to logged data is facilitated through a wired or wireless network infrastructure. Subsequently in step (205), the logged data is observed and analyzed using the native application provided on the user interface device (104), wherein the native application enables the user to observe the trend of the logged data and take preventive actions in the system (100) in the case of faults or abnormalities in the logged data. In one embodiment, the user interface device (104) may employ a web-based application or a hybrid application for the purpose of data observation and analysis.
[0022] Further, the native application provided on the user interface device (104) provides alerts or alarm notifications when faults or abnormalities are detected in the logged data. The user is allowed to download ten thousand or more alarm events on the user interface device (104) for further analysis. Additionally, the native application provided on the user interface device (104) preemptively predicts the occurrence of faults or errors by observing the logged data and provides remedial actions to ensure that the system (100) is operating as per requirement thereby reducing the need for manual intervention.
[0023] The present invention provides a smart valve positioner system which performs data logging, self-diagnosis, and preventive maintenance. The challenges encountered in the existing technologies such as dependency on external power supply, manual data logging leading to manual errors, manual intervention for fault detection and so on has been overcome by the present invention, wherein the system (100) facilitates automatic logging of data along with timestamps which enables the native application on the user interface device (104) to observe the trend and automatically enable preventive actions to ensure the smooth operation of the system (100) thereby eliminating the requirement of human intervention and the resultant errors caused by human intervention. Additionally, the system (100) is also capable of preemptively predicting the occurrence of faults or errors by observing the logged data and providing remedial actions to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the system (100). Therefore, the present invention analyzes both, real-time live data as well as logged data to ensure that the occurrence of faults or errors are significantly reduced thereby allowing the system (100) to operate efficiently.
[0024] While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist.
Reference numbers:
Components Reference Numbers
System 100
Smart Valve Positioner 101
Actuator 102
Microprocessor Unit 103
Storage Unit 103a
User Interface Device 104