A multi-model approach for detection and isolation of sensor and process faults for a heat exchanger

An approach for model-based fault detection and isolation (FDI) of sensor and process faults for nonlinear processes is presented. The process is decomposed into several sub-processes and for each process a nonlinear model is identified. This model bank consisting of fuzzy models (Takagi-Sugeno type) is used to generate several different estimates for process outputs and states. Comparing these estimates with the actual measured ones leads to residuals which indicate the state of the system and provide information about the source of possible faults. The two ways to implement a model, as a parallel or as a series-parallel model lead to different FDI results. Hence, this different sensitivity is also investigated in this contribution. The practical applicability is illustrated on an industrial scale thermal plant. Here, seven different process faults and eight different sensor faults can be detected.