On the robustness of fault detection in reciprocating compressor valves

This paper examines robustness issues of fault detection methods for reciprocating compressor valves. The authors have previously proposed two independent fault detection approaches for reciprocating compressor valves. One method is based on vibration analysis of accelerometer data, the other one on analyzing pV diagrams. Based on real world data, experiments are conducted to conclude on the robustness of those methods. The data are manipulated in two ways: decreasing the sampling rate and adding noise. The results suggest that the method analyzing pV diagrams is very robust against noise and especially downsampling, while the vibration analysis method is very sensitive if the sampling rate drops below a certain level. Additionally, a sequential probability ratio test is employed. The experiments show the capability of the test to increase the detection accuracy for both methods.