US 11,927,557 B2
Apparatus, system and method for monitoring external properties of plant equipment and/or pipe work
Thomas Sperle, Trondheim (NO); and Ole Alexander Eek, Trondheim (NO)
Assigned to INDUSENZ AS, Trondheim (NO)
Filed by Indusenz AS, Trondheim (NO)
Filed on Oct. 5, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/494,289.
Prior Publication US 2022/0107286 A1, Apr. 7, 2022
Int. Cl. G01N 27/12 (2006.01); G01N 27/22 (2006.01); G01N 27/24 (2006.01); G01N 25/18 (2006.01); G01N 25/56 (2006.01)
CPC G01N 27/223 (2013.01) [G01N 27/24 (2013.01); G01N 25/18 (2013.01); G01N 25/56 (2013.01); G01N 27/121 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A sensor system for detecting a presence of water in an insulating material surrounding plant equipment and/or pipe work, the sensor system comprising:
a plurality of sensors located in and spatially distributed over the insulating material, each sensor being operable to provide a sensor output indicative of the presence of water in an insulating material;
at least one reference sensor operable to provide a reference sensor output indicative of the presence of water in an ambient environment in a vicinity of the plurality of sensors; and
a processor configured to receive the sensor outputs from the plurality of sensors and the reference sensor output;
wherein the processor is configured to correlate the sensor outputs from the plurality of sensors and the reference sensor output to identify whether one or more of the plurality of sensors has a sensor output which closely correlates to or deviates from the reference sensor output to determine whether one or more of the plurality of sensors is located in a substantially dry portion of the insulating material or a substantially wet portion of the insulating material and provide a correlation data output for use in evaluating a corrosion condition.