An algorithmic approach to predicting mechanical draft cooling tower fan speeds from infrasound signals

Samuel W. Eaton; Edna S. Cárdenas; Jay D. Hix; James T. Johnson; Scott M. Watson; David L. Chichester; Milton A. Garcés; Steven A. Magaña-Zook; Monica Maceira; Omar E. Marcillo; Chengping Chai; Brian P. d'Entremont; Thomas A. Reichardt

doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2022.109015

An algorithmic approach to predicting mechanical draft cooling tower fan speeds from infrasound signals

Samuel W. Eaton, Edna S. Cárdenas, Jay D. Hix, James T. Johnson, Scott M. Watson, David L. Chichester, Milton A. Garcés, Steven A. Magaña-Zook, Monica Maceira, Omar E. Marcillo, Chengping Chai, Brian P. d'Entremont, Thomas A. Reichardt

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mechanical draft cooling towers (MDCTs) serve a critical heat management role in a variety of industries. For nuclear reactors in particular, the consistent, predictable operation of MDCTs is required to avoid damage to infrastructure and reduce the potential for catastrophic failure. Accurate, reliable measurement of MDCT fan speed is therefore an important maintenance and safety requirement. To that end, we have developed an algorithm for automatically predicting the rotational speeds of multiple, simultaneously operating fan rotors using contactless, infrasound measurements. The algorithm is based on identifying the blade passing frequencies (BPFs), their harmonics, as well as the motor frequencies (MFs) for each fan in operation. Using the algorithm, these frequencies can be automatically identified in the acoustic waveform's short-time Fourier transform spectrogram. Attribution is aided by a set of filters that rely on the unique spectral and temporal characteristics of fan operation, as well as the intrinsic frequency ratios of the BPF harmonics and the BPF/MF signals. The algorithm was tested against infrasound data acquired from infrasound sensors deployed at two research reactors: the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) located at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). After manually identifying the MDCT gearbox ratio, the algorithm was able to quickly yield fan speeds at both reactors in good agreement with ground truth. Ultimately, this work demonstrates the ease by which MDCT fans may be monitored in order to optimize operational conditions and avoid infrastructure damage.

Original language	English
Article number	109015
Journal	Applied Acoustics
Volume	199
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2022.109015
State	Published - Oct 2022

Funding

We thank Thomas Kulp, Christopher Katinas, Stephanie DeJong, and Daniel Bowman (Sandia National Laboratories) for useful discussions and feedback on the manuscript. We also thank Kristian Carlquist (INL) for facilitating sensor deployment at the ATR. This work was supported by Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development. M. Garcés work supported in part by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Numbers DE-NA 0002534 (CVT), DE-AC07-05ID14517 (MINOS), DE-NA0003920 (MTV), and DE-NA0003921 (ETI). This article has been co-authored by an employee of National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The employee owns the right, title and interest in and to the article and is responsible for its contents. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this article or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan https://www.energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan . This manuscript has been co-authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The publisher acknowledges the US government license to provide public access under the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). This article has been co-authored by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344 with the U.S. Department of Energy. Accordingly, the United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this article or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. We thank Thomas Kulp, Christopher Katinas, Stephanie DeJong, and Daniel Bowman (Sandia National Laboratories) for useful discussions and feedback on the manuscript. We also thank Kristian Carlquist (INL) for facilitating sensor deployment at the ATR. This work was supported by Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development. M. Garcés work supported in part by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Numbers DE-NA 0002534 (CVT), DE-AC07-05ID14517 (MINOS), DE-NA0003920 (MTV), and DE-NA0003921 (ETI). This article has been co-authored by an employee of National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The employee owns the right, title and interest in and to the article and is responsible for its contents. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this article or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan https://www.energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan. This manuscript has been co-authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The publisher acknowledges the US government license to provide public access under the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). This article has been co-authored by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344 with the U.S. Department of Energy. Accordingly, the United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this article or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.

Funders	Funder number
DOE Public Access Plan
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development
United States Government
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-AC05-00OR22725, DE-AC52-07NA27344
National Nuclear Security Administration	DE-AC07-05ID14517, DE-NA0003921, DE-NA0003920, DE-NA 0002534

Keywords

Blade passing frequency
Fan speed
Mechanical draft cooling tower
Nuclear research reactor

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10.1016/j.apacoust.2022.109015

Cite this

Eaton, S. W., Cárdenas, E. S., Hix, J. D., Johnson, J. T., Watson, S. M., Chichester, D. L., Garcés, M. A., Magaña-Zook, S. A., Maceira, M., Marcillo, O. E., Chai, C., d'Entremont, B. P., & Reichardt, T. A. (2022). An algorithmic approach to predicting mechanical draft cooling tower fan speeds from infrasound signals. Applied Acoustics, 199, Article 109015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2022.109015

@article{d045ce78fd134437bd720bbee4ca5bf8,

title = "An algorithmic approach to predicting mechanical draft cooling tower fan speeds from infrasound signals",

abstract = "Mechanical draft cooling towers (MDCTs) serve a critical heat management role in a variety of industries. For nuclear reactors in particular, the consistent, predictable operation of MDCTs is required to avoid damage to infrastructure and reduce the potential for catastrophic failure. Accurate, reliable measurement of MDCT fan speed is therefore an important maintenance and safety requirement. To that end, we have developed an algorithm for automatically predicting the rotational speeds of multiple, simultaneously operating fan rotors using contactless, infrasound measurements. The algorithm is based on identifying the blade passing frequencies (BPFs), their harmonics, as well as the motor frequencies (MFs) for each fan in operation. Using the algorithm, these frequencies can be automatically identified in the acoustic waveform's short-time Fourier transform spectrogram. Attribution is aided by a set of filters that rely on the unique spectral and temporal characteristics of fan operation, as well as the intrinsic frequency ratios of the BPF harmonics and the BPF/MF signals. The algorithm was tested against infrasound data acquired from infrasound sensors deployed at two research reactors: the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) located at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). After manually identifying the MDCT gearbox ratio, the algorithm was able to quickly yield fan speeds at both reactors in good agreement with ground truth. Ultimately, this work demonstrates the ease by which MDCT fans may be monitored in order to optimize operational conditions and avoid infrastructure damage.",

keywords = "Blade passing frequency, Fan speed, Mechanical draft cooling tower, Nuclear research reactor",

author = "Eaton, {Samuel W.} and C{\'a}rdenas, {Edna S.} and Hix, {Jay D.} and Johnson, {James T.} and Watson, {Scott M.} and Chichester, {David L.} and Garc{\'e}s, {Milton A.} and Maga{\~n}a-Zook, {Steven A.} and Monica Maceira and Marcillo, {Omar E.} and Chengping Chai and d'Entremont, {Brian P.} and Reichardt, {Thomas A.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors",

year = "2022",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1016/j.apacoust.2022.109015",

language = "English",

volume = "199",

journal = "Applied Acoustics",

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Eaton, SW, Cárdenas, ES, Hix, JD, Johnson, JT, Watson, SM, Chichester, DL, Garcés, MA, Magaña-Zook, SA, Maceira, M , Marcillo, OE , Chai, C, d'Entremont, BP & Reichardt, TA 2022, 'An algorithmic approach to predicting mechanical draft cooling tower fan speeds from infrasound signals', Applied Acoustics, vol. 199, 109015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2022.109015

TY - JOUR

T1 - An algorithmic approach to predicting mechanical draft cooling tower fan speeds from infrasound signals

AU - Eaton, Samuel W.

AU - Cárdenas, Edna S.

AU - Hix, Jay D.

AU - Johnson, James T.

AU - Watson, Scott M.

AU - Chichester, David L.

AU - Garcés, Milton A.

AU - Magaña-Zook, Steven A.

AU - Maceira, Monica

AU - Marcillo, Omar E.

AU - Chai, Chengping

AU - d'Entremont, Brian P.

AU - Reichardt, Thomas A.

PY - 2022/10

Y1 - 2022/10

N2 - Mechanical draft cooling towers (MDCTs) serve a critical heat management role in a variety of industries. For nuclear reactors in particular, the consistent, predictable operation of MDCTs is required to avoid damage to infrastructure and reduce the potential for catastrophic failure. Accurate, reliable measurement of MDCT fan speed is therefore an important maintenance and safety requirement. To that end, we have developed an algorithm for automatically predicting the rotational speeds of multiple, simultaneously operating fan rotors using contactless, infrasound measurements. The algorithm is based on identifying the blade passing frequencies (BPFs), their harmonics, as well as the motor frequencies (MFs) for each fan in operation. Using the algorithm, these frequencies can be automatically identified in the acoustic waveform's short-time Fourier transform spectrogram. Attribution is aided by a set of filters that rely on the unique spectral and temporal characteristics of fan operation, as well as the intrinsic frequency ratios of the BPF harmonics and the BPF/MF signals. The algorithm was tested against infrasound data acquired from infrasound sensors deployed at two research reactors: the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) located at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). After manually identifying the MDCT gearbox ratio, the algorithm was able to quickly yield fan speeds at both reactors in good agreement with ground truth. Ultimately, this work demonstrates the ease by which MDCT fans may be monitored in order to optimize operational conditions and avoid infrastructure damage.

AB - Mechanical draft cooling towers (MDCTs) serve a critical heat management role in a variety of industries. For nuclear reactors in particular, the consistent, predictable operation of MDCTs is required to avoid damage to infrastructure and reduce the potential for catastrophic failure. Accurate, reliable measurement of MDCT fan speed is therefore an important maintenance and safety requirement. To that end, we have developed an algorithm for automatically predicting the rotational speeds of multiple, simultaneously operating fan rotors using contactless, infrasound measurements. The algorithm is based on identifying the blade passing frequencies (BPFs), their harmonics, as well as the motor frequencies (MFs) for each fan in operation. Using the algorithm, these frequencies can be automatically identified in the acoustic waveform's short-time Fourier transform spectrogram. Attribution is aided by a set of filters that rely on the unique spectral and temporal characteristics of fan operation, as well as the intrinsic frequency ratios of the BPF harmonics and the BPF/MF signals. The algorithm was tested against infrasound data acquired from infrasound sensors deployed at two research reactors: the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) located at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). After manually identifying the MDCT gearbox ratio, the algorithm was able to quickly yield fan speeds at both reactors in good agreement with ground truth. Ultimately, this work demonstrates the ease by which MDCT fans may be monitored in order to optimize operational conditions and avoid infrastructure damage.

KW - Blade passing frequency

KW - Fan speed

KW - Mechanical draft cooling tower

KW - Nuclear research reactor

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DO - 10.1016/j.apacoust.2022.109015

M3 - Article

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VL - 199

JO - Applied Acoustics

JF - Applied Acoustics

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ER -

An algorithmic approach to predicting mechanical draft cooling tower fan speeds from infrasound signals

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