Pressure transmitter surveillance using quaternion numbers

Rosemount pressure transmitters are widely used in Nuclear Power Plants. Mandatory surveillance is focused on the ramp response time. which is calculated using noise analysis techniques. But the response time only accounts for the sensing diaphragm degradation. Considering the other components. a technique for early failure detection is developed. It uses simple properties of the quaternion algebra, mainly the non-commutativity of the multiplication rule. Quaternions are built from the transmitter noise signal. The design of a specific quaternion for a given component is based on an electrical analogy of the transmitter physical model. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.