Burner monitor

Abstract

For monitoring burner operation, such as in a refinery, boiler or the like, an acoustic sampler such as a piezo-electric microphone is located in a position to record an acoustic sample of the burner operation. The acoustic sample can be processed to determine whether the burner is operating normally or has suffered a flame out condition. Remedial actions can be undertaken to control the fuel supply to the burner if a flame out condition has been detected.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for detecting an abnormal operation condition in at least one burner, the method comprising:
 (A) obtaining, by at least one microphone, at least one acoustic sample of an operation of the at least one burner;   (B) passing the at least one acoustic sample from the at least one microphone to a processing system comprising at least one processor;   (C) processing, by the processing system, the at least one acoustic sample; and   (D) determining, by the processing system from at least one processed acoustic sample, whether the at least one burner is operating abnormally.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  comprising:
 (A) generating an operating profile of the at least one burner from the at least one processed acoustic signal; 
 (B) comparing, by the processing system, the generated operating profile with at least one stored profile; and 
 (C) determining, by the processing system from the comparison, whether the at least one burner is operating abnormally. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  comprising, when it is determined that the at least one burner is operating abnormally, automatically switching off a fuel supply to the at least one burner. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein processing the at least one acoustic sample comprises calculating a Root Mean Square (RMS) value of the at least one acoustic sample. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  comprising providing a heat shield over the at least one microphone. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  comprising disposing the at least one microphone in a gas supply line to the at least one burner. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein gas expansion at a region where the at least one microphone is disposed provides a cooling effect to the at least one microphone. 
     
     
         8 . A system for detecting an abnormal operation condition in at least one burner comprising:
 (A) at least one microphone that obtains an acoustic sample of an operation of the at least one burner;   (B) at least one processor that is programmed to:
 (a) receive the acoustic sample; 
 (b) process the at least one acoustic sample to a processed signal; and 
 (c) determine from the processed signal whether the at least one burner is operating abnormally. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8  comprising at least one microphone probe, the microphone probe comprising:
 (A) the at least one microphone; and 
 (B) at least one connector connected to the at least one microphone; 
 (C) wherein the at least one microphone probe is configured to dispose the at least one microphone adjacent the at least one burner. 
 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the at least one microphone probe is disposed in an optical monitoring conduit. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8  comprising wherein the at least one microphone probe is at least partially disposed in a gas supply line of the at least one burner. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the at least one microphone is disposed such that expanding gas within the gas supply line provides a cooling effect to the at least one microphone. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8  comprising a computer interface for displaying a current operating state of the at least one burner. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8  comprising at least one mount for mounting the at least one microphone to the at least one burner, wherein the at least one mount allows the orientation of the microphone to be adjusted. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the mount comprises at least a partial spherical section that provides for orientation of the microphone through at least two rotational axes. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 8  comprising at least one heat shield disposed over the at least one microphone. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the at least one microphone comprises at least one piezo-electric microphone. 
     
     
         18 . A measurement apparatus for measuring the operating condition of at least one burner, the measurement apparatus comprising:
 (A) microphone means for obtaining an acoustic sample from the at least one burner; and   (B) electronic means for processing the at least one acoustic sample to determine a current operating condition of the at least one burner.   
     
     
         19 . The measurement apparatus of  claim 18  comprising probe means for locating the at least one microphone means adjacent the at least one burner. 
     
     
         20 . The measurement apparatus of  claim 18  comprising mount means for mounting the at least one microphone means to the at least one burner. 
     
     
         21 . The measurement apparatus of  claim 18  comprising means for determining a signal level of the at least one acoustic sample and determining whether the signal level indicates an abnormal operating condition of the at least one burner. 
     
     
         22 . The measurement apparatus of  claim 18  comprising interface means for displaying an operating condition of the at least one burner.