Systems and methods for detecting discrepancy in a combustion system

Abstract

Systems and methods for determining operating discrepancy a process heater. The discrepancy may be identified by solving a fired-systems model of the heater. The fired-systems model is then compared to current operating data. If the sensed current operating data is outside of the expected value(s), as defined by the fired-systems model, the systems and methods may take a remediation action to resolve the discrepancy. The discrepancy may include convection fouling identification and identification of tramp-air leaks within the process heater that are otherwise not easily detected by a human operator.

1 . A method for determining discrepancy in air-flow of a process heater, comprising:
 receiving sensed current oxygen level within a housing of the process heater;   calculating a delta between the sensed current oxygen level and an expected oxygen level;   comparing the delta to a predetermined threshold;   when the delta indicates excess air-flow, determining an amount of the excess air-flow in terms of leakage area within the housing based at least in part on geometry of the housing, and an identified draft within the housing; and,   outputting a remediation action in response to the delta breaching the predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising comparing the leakage area to size of known components of the process heater; wherein outputting a remediation action includes outputting the remediation action with respect to at least one known component of the known components when the leakage area matches the size of the at least one known component. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , the at least one known component including a viewing access panel. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying the leakage area at a process controller of the process heater. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, determining the predetermined threshold based at least in part on verified air-flow settings. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , the verified air-flow settings including one or more of: burner damper settings, stack damper settings, stack fan settings, and forced fan settings. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein identifying sensed oxygen level includes identifying a plurality of sensed oxygen levels each respectively corresponding to a plurality of heights within the housing of the process heater; and,   wherein calculating a delta between the sensed current oxygen level and an expected oxygen level includes calculating a plurality of deltas each respectively corresponding to at least one of the plurality of sensed oxygen levels and a corresponding at least one of a plurality of expected oxygen levels;   the method further comprising identifying a height at which one or more of the plurality of deltas breach the predetermined threshold; and   the outputting a remediation action including outputting a zone of the housing having likely tramp-air penetration based at least in part on the height.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 performing an optical scan of inside the housing of the process heater; and   identifying irregularity within the optical scan indicating tramp-air penetration;   the outputting a remediation action including outputting a zone of the housing of the process heater having the irregularity.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , the optical scan including an infrared image. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , the optical scan including a tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) scan. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , when the delta indicates deficient air within the process heater, the method further comprising:
 performing an optical scan of a burner of the process heater;   identifying irregularity of a burner flame based at least in part on the optical scan; and,   the outputting a remediation action including outputting a zone of the process heater based at least in part on the irregularity.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , the optical scan including an infrared image. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , the optical scan including a tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) scan. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, prior to outputting a remedial action, verifying fuel-flow rates within the process heater. 
     
     
         16 . A system for determining operating discrepancy a process heater, comprising:
 a processor; and,   memory storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, operate to:
 receive sensed current operating data within the process heater; 
 calculate a delta between the sensed current operating data and an expected current operating data corresponding to the sensed current operating data; 
 compare the delta to a predetermined threshold; 
 when the delta indicates excess air-flow, determine an amount of the excess air-flow in terms of leakage area within the process heater based at least in part on geometry of the process heater, and an identified draft within the process heater; and, 
 output a remediation action in response to the delta breaching the predetermined threshold. 
   
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A combustion system having burner tip plugging indication, comprising:
 a burner having a burner tip;   a fuel pressure sensor generating fuel pressure data of a fuel source input into the burner;   a processor; and,   memory operatively coupled to the processor storing a burner tip monitor as computer readable instructions that when executed by the processor operate to:
 generate a calculated fuel heat release of the burner by executing a fired-systems model of the burner based at least in part on fuel information, a fuel pressure, and burner geometry, and 
 compare the calculated fuel heat release of the burner to a measured heat release to generate a burner tip health indication of the burner tip. 
   
     
     
         22 . The combustion system of  claim 21 , the measured heat release being further based at least in part on fuel temperature data sensed by a fuel temperature sensor of the combustion system. 
     
     
         23 . The combustion system of  claim 21 , the burner tip health indication including a ratio of the measured heat release to the calculated fuel heat release. 
     
     
         24 . The combustion system of  claim 23 , the computer readable instructions including computer readable instructions that when executed by the processor operate to compare the ratio to a burner tip health threshold to identify a plugged burner tip. 
     
     
         25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . (canceled) 
     
     
         28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . The combustion system of  claim 21 , the burner including a plurality of burners;
 the burner tip monitor including further computer readable instructions that when executed by the processor operate to:   identify a specific burner or group of burners having a tip malfunction identified in the burner tip health indication based at least in part on in-heater data.   
     
     
         32 . (canceled) 
     
     
         33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . (canceled) 
     
     
         35 . (canceled)