Determining shear rate and/or shear stress from sonar based velocity profiles and differential pressure
AssigneeCidra Corporate Services Inc.
InventorsAlex Van der Spek, Adrian Revington
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides a new method and apparatus for receiving signals containing information about a plurality of velocity profiles of a flow in a pipe and about a pressure gradient of the flow over a length of the pipe; and determining information about an injection of a chemical into the flow in the pipe based at least partly on the information contained in the signals.
Claims21
A system for controlling an injection of a chemical into the flow of a slurry in a pipe in a mining operation, comprising:
- a data gathering module having a velocity profile meter configured to respond to a flow in a pipe and provide signals containing information about a zeta profile of a shear rate related to one or more velocity profiles of the flow of a slurry having mature fine tailing (MFT) in the pipe, and also having a differential pressure module configured to respond to the flow in the pipe and provide associated signaling containing information about a Tau profile of a shear stress related to a pressure gradient of the flow over a length of the pipe;
- and
- a signal processor comprising one or more modules configured to receive the signals containing information about the zeta profile of the shear rate and the associated signaling containing information about the Tau profile of the shear stress, determine corresponding signaling containing information about an injection of flocculation chemicals into the flow of the slurry having MFT in the pipe that depends on a ratio between the Tau profile of the shear stress and the zeta profile of the shear rate of the flow in the pipe, based at least partly on the signals and associated signaling received, and provide the corresponding signaling as control signaling to control the injection of the flocculation chemicals into the flow of the slurry having MFT in the pipe in the mining operation.
A method for controlling an injection of a chemical into the flow of a slurry in a pipe in a mining operation, comprising:
- receiving with a signal processor signals containing information about a zeta profile of the shear rate related to one or more velocity profiles of a flow of a slurry having mature fine tailings (MFT) in a pipe and about a Tau profile of the shear stress related to a pressure gradient of the flow over a length of the pipe;
- determining with the signal processor corresponding signaling containing information about an injection of flocculation chemicals into the flow in the pipe that depends on a ratio between the Tau profile of the shear stress and the zeta profile of the shear rate of the flow in the pipe, based at least partly on the signals received;
- and
- providing the corresponding signaling as control signaling to control the injection of the flocculation chemicals into the flow of the slurry having MFT in the pipe.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.