Sensor value validation based on implicit sensor redundancy for reliable operation of power plants

This paper presents an innovative sensor value validation technique that can systematically explore the embedded sensor redundancies in power plants and utilize them in validating sensor values. The proposed technique uses the relationships existing among the sensor values, which is called causal relations (CRs) in this paper. A data structure called a sensor redundancy graph (SRG) is formulated to explore systematically the sensor redundancies existing throughout the plants. In the SRG, CRs are represented as nodes and two CRs having a common sensor are connected with an edge. The criteria are also provided for testing whether a given sensor relationship expressed as a CR holds with the actual measurement values. If the relationship holds, the necessary condition for the validities of the sensors participated in the CR is satisfied. A technique that can examine the compatibility of the precisions among the sensors in a CR for testing the usability of the given CR is also developed based on sensor precision indices and statistical inference. The proposed technique is applied to flow meter data provided from an actual super critical steam power plant and its application potential is demonstrated.