RU2812373C1 - Unmanned aircraft for monitoring condition of cryogenic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: remote monitoring.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to devices for air monitoring of the condition of equipment at hazardous production facilities and can be used for remote monitoring of the condition of cryogenic tanks, tanks, pipelines and other cryogenic equipment. An inertial navigation module, a data reception and transmission module, a GPS/GLONASS receiver, a control and display unit, a power supply, an RFID tag reader, a data storage unit, a USB port, a video camera, a thermal imager, and an air temperature sensor, air humidity sensor and a microprocessor capable of processing information received from a video camera, thermal imager, temperature and humidity sensors, inertial navigation module, GPS/GLONASS receiver and radio frequency identification tag reader are integrated into the UAV body. The body is made of non-flammable, chemically inert material and is equipped with a radio frequency identification tag.

EFFECT: production losses of gas are reduced due to preventive information about changes in the technical condition of equipment during operation.

1 cl, 1 dwg

Description

The invention relates to devices for remote monitoring of the condition of equipment at hazardous production facilities and can be used to monitor the technical condition of cryogenic tanks, tanks, pipelines and other cryogenic equipment with various types of thermal insulation.

In the process of drainless storage of cryogenic products (liquid nitrogen, liquid oxygen, liquefied natural gas, etc.), heat inflows through vacuum insulation lead to an increase in pressure in the tank or tank. During long-term storage, when for various reasons there is no selection of liquid product from the vessel for consumption for a long time, this can lead to losses due to the automatic discharge of excess gas through safety devices. This, in turn, causes a high level of risk of an emergency, including an explosion and fire hazard. In this case, the level of losses directly depends on the technical condition of the vessel, mainly on the vacuum level in the heat-insulating cavity of the reservoir or tank.

In the event that we are talking about storing cryogenic products at constant pressure in large-capacity isothermal tanks with perlite thermal insulation, local damage to the thermal insulation can lead to increased losses (perlite crumbles over time). Violation of the integrity of the vacuum thermal insulation of cryogenic pipelines also leads to additional losses or disruption of production processes.

At the same time, carrying out appropriate diagnostics of thermal insulation is difficult due to the absence, in the vast majority of cases, of stationary vacuum pressure sensors. In these cases, a visual inspection of the outer surface of the equipment for the presence of frost is used, as well as more accurate and efficient diagnostics using a thermal imager. However, carrying out diagnostics in most cases is extremely difficult due to the large dimensions of the tanks, as well as due to the location of sections of cryogenic pipelines in places that are difficult to access for inspection (on overpasses, at high altitudes, in limited spaces, etc.). The number of objects to be monitored can reach several dozen within one enterprise, or several hundred within one industrial cluster.

Taking into account the above, it is relevant to carry out regular diagnostics of the technical condition of equipment using unmanned aerial vehicles, thanks to which it becomes possible to carry out remote inspection of areas of the surface of equipment located in hard-to-reach places.

Methods and devices for monitoring the condition of containers and pipelines by detecting leaks using unmanned aerial vehicles are known from the prior art (the closest analogue of the claimed invention is invention patent US No. 20210231518 A1). In known technical solutions, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with the ability to take off and land vertically is equipped with rotors (in most cases a quadcopter is used, i.e. an aircraft with four rotors), a power source, telemetry equipment, and leak detector or special monitoring devices (infrared camera, video camera, etc.).

At the same time, in the known technical devices there is no possibility of using them to assess the technical condition of the vacuum cavity in cryogenic storage systems and pipelines. To correctly recognize images of external icing on the surface of equipment obtained by a UAV using a camera, it is necessary to additionally monitor the current values of temperature and humidity of the environment, as well as compare the received data taking into account climatic conditions, depending on the current date and the current values of the object’s GPS coordinates.

As already mentioned, the lack of regular diagnostics of the thermal insulation of cryogenic systems can lead to increased losses of cryogenic products, the emergence of an explosion and fire hazard and emergency shutdown of production processes.

The technical objective of the claimed invention is to monitor the condition of cryogenic equipment by automatically detecting and determining the exact location of heat leaks through the insulation.

The solution to the technical problem is achieved by the fact that the unmanned aerial vehicle for monitoring the condition of cryogenic equipment is a vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle that implements its functional purpose automatically in accordance with the algorithm and operating programs embedded in it, or in manual mode under remote control and control a person, and an inertial navigation module, a data reception and transmission module, a GPS/GLONASS receiver, a control and display unit, a power supply, a radio frequency identification tag reader, a data storage unit, a USB port, connected via a system bus, are built into the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle, a video camera, a thermal imager, an air temperature sensor, an air humidity sensor and a microprocessor configured to process information received from the video camera, thermal imager, temperature and humidity sensors, an inertial navigation module, a GPS/GLONASS receiver, a radio frequency identification tag reader, and the body of an unmanned aerial vehicle made of non-flammable, chemically inert material and equipped with a radio frequency identification tag.

The technical result achieved by the combination of features of the claimed invention is to reduce production losses of gas due to preventive information about changes in the technical condition of the thermal insulation of vessels, pipelines and other equipment during operation. This allows you to prevent gas leaks through safety devices, prevent the occurrence of an explosion and fire hazard, and also prevent an emergency shutdown of production processes due to a decrease in the efficiency of cryogenic pipelines.

The components of the claimed invention are known from the prior art.

The inertial navigation module can be made according to the technical solution set out in the invention patent RU No. 2539140С1;

The data reception and transmission module can be made according to the technical solution set out in the patent for the invention WO No. 2016200978A1;

The GPS/GLONASS receiver can be made in accordance with the technical solution set out in the patent for the invention US No. 5923287A;

The reader of radio frequency identification tags (RFID tags) can be made according to the technical solution set out in the patent for the invention US No. 9922306 B1;

A thermal imager and a video camera can be made together according to the technical solution set out in the invention patent CN No. Yu5763783A.

The operation of the invention is illustrated by the drawing, which shows: 1 - system bus; 2 - inertial navigation module; 3 - control and display unit; 4 - data reception and transmission module; 5 - GPS/GLONASS receiver; 6 - power supply; 7 - reader; 8 - temperature sensor; 9 - humidity sensor; 10 - microprocessor; 11 - thermal imager; 12 - video camera; 13 - data storage unit; 14 - USB port.

Block 1 - the system bus is made in the form of external and internal conductive layers on a multilayer printed circuit board and connects the device blocks with information connections through inputs and outputs. Also, power supply to the aircraft units from the power supply is organized via the system bus.

Block 2 - inertial navigation module is used to determine the position of the UAV in space using the properties of inertia of bodies. The block contains linear acceleration and angular velocity sensors, an altimeter, a compass, a thermometer, and a controller for processing navigation data.

Block 3 - control and indication unit includes a microcircuit, a set of LEDs and buttons for controlling operating modes.

Block 4 - data reception and transmission module is a device that exchanges information with the monitoring and control server. Communication can be carried out via 3G, 4G (LTE) communication channels.

Block 5 - GPS/GLONASS receiver - a device for receiving and transmitting data, combining GPS and GLONASS receivers, receiving and processing signals from navigation satellites.

Block 6 - the power supply is a battery power adapter (usually 12 V).

Block 7 - reader is a device that reads information from RFID tags.

Block 8 - air temperature sensor based on a platinum resistance thermometer.

Block 9 is a capacitive-type air humidity sensor based on a thermosetting polymer.

Block 10 is a microprocessor with special software designed to process images coming from observation blocks 11, 12, taking into account current navigation information from blocks 2, 5 and information from sensors 7, 8, 9.

Block 11 - thermal imager - a device for monitoring the temperature distribution on the surface of a vessel or pipeline.

Block 12 - video camera - is used to record local external freezing of the surface of a vessel or pipeline.

Block 13 - data storage unit is a microchip of a solid-state storage device connected to the system bus. Allows recording and backup storage of processed and transmitted information.

Block 14 is a USB port, used to connect removable media and read information from block 13.

The named components of the proposed device are interconnected by assembly operations and are in functional and structural unity.

For safe operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle, its body is made of non-flammable, chemically inert material.

To simplify the storage and search of an unmanned aerial vehicle upon landing, its body is equipped with a radio frequency identification tag (RFID tag).

The operation of the invention is as follows.

A vertical take-off and landing UAV includes a body, a landing frame, rotors (usually 4 pieces) with engines, a battery, and a device for attaching a surveillance device (camera). The UAV flies along a given route in automatic or semi-automatic mode (the route is adjusted by the actions of the operator from the monitoring and control center) mode. The flight mission is loaded through the data reception and transmission module 4. Information exchange between the units of the device is carried out via the system bus 1. Also, through the system bus, all units are powered from the power adapter 6. The main task of the sensors of the inertial navigation module 2 is to continuously receive navigation data for carrying out mathematical calculations by a controller that sets the position of the aircraft relative to the horizon, and also detects changes in orientation angles relative to the previous position of the aircraft in space. The data is then sent to the electronic speed controllers of the main rotor engines. Data from the navigation module controller allows the aircraft to fly by controlling the throttle, roll, pitch and yaw angles.

When the UAV approaches the monitoring object at a given distance, information is read from the RFTD tag, previously placed on the surface of the equipment, using reader 7. Information from the tag is read in order to identify a specific piece of equipment (vessel, pipeline, etc.) and facilitate subsequent searching for the location of a heat leak.

After identifying a piece of equipment, the observation units are turned on: thermal imager 11 and video camera 12. Next, a flight is carried out along a given route in the area adjacent to the object. During the flight, a stream of images from a thermal imager and video camera is sent to the microprocessor 10. Also, information from the GPS/GLONASS receiver 5 about the current coordinates, information from the navigation module about the flight altitude, as well as data about the current environmental conditions: information from the ambient temperature sensor 8 and the outside air humidity sensor 9 are sent to the microprocessor.

The microprocessor 10 processes information received from observation modules 11 and 12. In the process of material recognition, images received from a video camera are selected, on which local surface icing is detected, and subsequently recorded in the data storage unit 13. Images with temperature distribution are also selected equipment surfaces obtained from a thermal imager, in which areas with a temperature below the minimum permissible for a given object were detected, taking into account the instantaneous value of ambient temperature and humidity, the current date and current GPS coordinates that determine the corresponding climatic conditions.

Information about detected heat leaks is sent to data storage unit 13, from where, if necessary, it can be rewritten to removable media connected to the device via USB port 14. In the case of using the UAV in semi-automatic mode, information in real time is sent to the dispatch center for monitoring and control via data reception and transmission module 4. The control and display unit 3 also provides a function for controlling the preview of images recorded in the data storage unit.

The possible application of the device is not limited to the field of cryogenic technology. The proposed device can be used in any subject area where it is necessary to detect and determine the exact location of heat leaks recorded using a thermal imager or video camera.

Claims (1)

An unmanned aerial vehicle for monitoring the condition of cryogenic equipment, characterized by the fact that it is an unmanned aerial vehicle for vertical take-off and landing, realizing its functional purpose automatically in accordance with the algorithm and operating programs embedded in it, or in manual mode under remote control and human control , and an inertial navigation module, a data reception and transmission module, a GPS/GLONASS receiver, a control and display unit, a power supply, an RFID tag reader, a data storage unit, a USB port, and a video camera are built into the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle, connected via the system bus. , a thermal imager, an air temperature sensor, an air humidity sensor and a microprocessor configured to process information received from a video camera, a thermal imager, temperature and humidity sensors, an inertial navigation module, a GPS/GLONASS receiver, a radio frequency identification tag reader, wherein the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle is made made of non-flammable, chemically inert material and equipped with a radio frequency identification tag.

Images