System and method to detect flame rod/sensor malfunction
A method of monitoring a flame rod of a furnace including: detecting an average current of the flame rod during a burn cycle of the furnace; determining a burn time of the burn cycle of the furnace; and determining a remaining life of the flame rod based on at least the average current and the burn time.
1 . A method of monitoring a flame rod of a furnace, the method comprising:
initiating a burn cycle of the furnace by igniting a fuel supplied to the furnace;
applying a flame excitation voltage across the flame rod;
detecting an average current of the flame rod during the burn cycle of the furnace, maintaining a constant flame excitation voltage across the flame rod when the average current is being detected;
determining a burn time of the burn cycle of the furnace; and
determining a remaining life of the flame rod based on at least the average current and the burn time.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting the remaining life to a computing device; and
activating an alarm on the computing device in response to the remaining life.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
activating a status light on the furnace based on the remaining life of the flame rod; or
displaying a notification on a status display screen of the furnace based on the remaining life of the flame rod.
4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
transmitting the remaining life to a controller of the furnace.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the remaining life of the flame rod based on at least the average current and the burn time further comprises:
inserting the average current and the burn time into a current degradation data model for the flame rod; and
determining the remaining life of the flame rod based on the average current, the burn time, and the current degradation data model.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the current degradation data model is a data analytics linear regression algorithm that depicts how a measured electrical current of the flame rod degrades over time.
7 . A flame rod monitoring system for monitoring a flame rod of a furnace, the flame rod monitoring system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
initiating a burn cycle of the furnace by igniting a fuel supplied to the furnace;
applying a flame excitation voltage across the flame rod;
detecting an average current of the flame rod during the burn cycle of the furnace, maintaining a constant flame excitation voltage across the flame rod when the average current is being detected;
determining a burn time of the burn cycle of the furnace; and
determining a remaining life of the flame rod based on at least the average current and the burn time.
8 . The flame rod monitoring system of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
transmitting the remaining life to a computing device; and
activating an alarm on the computing device in response to the remaining life.
9 . The flame rod monitoring system of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
activating a status light on the furnace based on the remaining life of the flame rod; or
displaying a notification on a status display screen of the furnace based on the remaining life of the flame rod.
10 . The flame rod monitoring system of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:
transmitting the remaining life to a controller of the furnace.
11 . The flame rod monitoring system of claim 7 , wherein determining the remaining life of the flame rod based on at least the average current and the burn time further comprises:
inserting the average current and the burn time into a current degradation data model for the flame rod; and
determining the remaining life of the flame rod based on the average current, the burn time, and the current degradation data model.
12 . The flame rod monitoring system of claim 11 , wherein the current degradation data model is a data analytics linear regression algorithm that depicts how a measured electrical current of the flame rod degrades over time.
13 . A computer program product tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
initiating a burn cycle of the furnace by igniting a fuel supplied to the furnace;
applying a flame excitation voltage across the flame rod;
detecting an average current of a flame rod during the burn cycle of the furnace, maintaining a constant flame excitation voltage across the flame rod when the average current is being detected;
determining a burn time of the burn cycle of a furnace; and
determining a remaining life of the flame rod based on at least the average current and the burn time.
14 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
transmitting the remaining life to a computing device; and
activating an alarm on the computing device in response to the remaining life.
15 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
activating a status light on the furnace based on the remaining life of the flame rod; or
displaying a notification on a status display screen of the furnace based on the remaining life of the flame rod.
16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
transmitting the remaining life to a controller of the furnace.
17 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein determining the remaining life of the flame rod based on at least the average current and the burn time further comprises:
inserting the average current and the burn time into a current degradation data model for the flame rod; and
determining the remaining life of the flame rod based on the average current, the burn time, and the current degradation data model.
18 . A furnace comprising:
a burner box;
a burner assembly located within the burner box;
a gas valve configured to supply fuel to the burner assembly;
a flame rod configured to detect a flame in the burner box;
a controller configured to perform operations comprising:
detecting an average current of the flame rod during a burn cycle of the furnace;
determining a burn time of the burn cycle of the furnace; and
initiate determining a remaining life of the flame rod based on at least the average current and the burn time.