# US 10,371,551 B2 · System and method for calculating flow velocity > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,371,551 B2 - Document ID: US10371551B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/533,665 - Filed: 2015-12-10 - Published: 2017-11-30 - Granted: 2019-08-06 - Earliest claimed: 2014-12-10 - Assignees: General Electric Company - Applicants: General Electric Company - Inventors: Yan Mei; Ran Nui; Weihua Shang; Gang Cheng; Jing Ye; Longtao Yuan - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10371551B2 ## CPC - G01F 1/663: by measuring Doppler frequency shift - G01F 1/667: Arrangements of transducers for ultrasonic flowmeters; Circuits for operating ultrasonic flowmeters - G01N 29/024: by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves - G01N 2291/02836: Flow rate, liquid level - G01F: MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) ## Abstract A system and method for calculation of flow rate comprising at least two ultrasonic sensors, ultrasonic transmit receive device, and signal processing device. At least two ultrasonic sensors are installed on the pipe where the fluid is flowing through, and at least two ultrasonic sensors contain different ultrasonic beam paths, further, the ultrasonic beam paths of at least two ultrasonic sensors contain the overlap area. The ultrasonic transmit and receive device is used to actuate at least two ultrasonic sensors, and is used to transmit one or multiple ultrasonic signals to pipes via one or multiple of at least two ultrasonic sensors, further, to receive ultrasonic signal via at least two ultrasonic sensors. The signal processing device is used to process the ultrasonic signal received, further, to calculate the flow rate of the fluid precisely. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for calculating a velocity of a fluid flow passing through a conduit, the system comprising: at least two ultrasonic transducers configured to be disposed on the conduit, each of the at least two ultrasonic transducers having a respective beam paths, wherein the at least two ultrasonic transducers are spaced and oriented such that the respective beam paths intersect to provide an overlapped area disposed within the conduit; an ultrasonic transceiver configured to energize at least one of the at least two ultrasonic transducers to transmit at least one ultrasonic signal to the conduit through at least one ultrasonic transducers and receive reflected ultrasonic signals from a sampling point within the overlapped area through the at least two ultrasonic transducers, wherein the sampling point is spaced from the conduit; and a signal processor for processing the received reflected ultrasonic signals to calculate the velocity of the fluid flow passing through the conduit at the sampling point. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two ultrasonic transducers comprise three or more ultrasonic transducers and the signal processor processes the received ultrasonic signals of each of the three or more ultrasonic transducers to calculate a three-dimensional flow velocity of the fluid. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein beam paths of the at least three ultrasonic transducers are located in different planes. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein each of the at least two ultrasonic transducers is a Doppler ultrasonic transducer. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two ultrasonic transducers are identical. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two ultrasonic transducers comprise at least one group of ultrasonic transducers. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one group of ultrasonic transducers comprises a plurality of groups of ultrasonic transducers wherein the plurality of groups of ultrasonic transducers are disposed on different positions of the conduit for calculating velocities of the fluid flow in different regions within the conduit at different sampling points. ### Claim 8 A method for calculating a velocity of a fluid flow passing through a conduit, the method comprising: orienting at least two ultrasonic transducers in spaced relation and coupled to the conduit such that respective beam paths of the at least two ultrasonic transducers overlap to provide an overlapped area, the overlap area disposed within the conduit; transmitting at least one ultrasonic signals through at least one ultrasonic transducer to the conduit; receiving reflected ultrasonic signals from a sampling point within the overlapped area through the at least two ultrasonic transducers, wherein the sampling point is spaced from the conduit; and processing the received reflected ultrasonic signals to calculate the velocity of the fluid flow passing through the conduit at the sampling point. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, further comprising: each of the at least two ultrasonic transducers working in a Doppler mode. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the at least two ultrasonic transducers comprising three or more ultrasonic transducers, the method further comprising: transmitting one or more ultrasonic signals through one or more of the at least three ultrasonic transducers; receiving reflected ultrasonic signals through the at least three ultrasonic transducers; and processing the received reflected ultrasonic signals to calculate a three-dimensional flow velocity of the fluid. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises: locating beam paths of the at least three ultrasonic transducers in different planes. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the processing the received ultrasonic signals to calculate a three-dimensional flow velocity of the fluid further comprises: calculating at least three velocities of the fluid flow in different directions within the overlapped area based on the received reflected ultrasonic signals; and calculating the three-dimensional flow velocity of the fluid based on the calculated at least three flow velocities of the fluid flow in the different directions. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the calculating at least three velocities of the fluid flow in different directions within the overlapped area based on the received reflected ultrasonic signals comprises calculating at least three flow velocities in different directions for any sample point within the overlapped area based on the received ultrasonic signals, and the calculating the three-dimensional flow velocity of the fluid flow based on the calculated at least three flow velocities of the fluid flow in the different directions comprises calculating a three-dimensional flow velocity for the any sample point of the fluid flow based on the calculated at least three flow velocities in the different directions for the any sample point and relative positions between the at least three ultrasonic transducers and the any sample point. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein each of the at least three flow velocities of the fluid flow in different directions is calculated based on a Doppler signal processing of the received reflected ultrasonic signals. ### Claim 15 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the at least two ultrasonic transducers comprise at least one group of ultrasonic transducers. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one group of ultrasonic transducers comprises a plurality of groups of ultrasonic transducers, working iteratively. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one group of ultrasonic transducers comprises a plurality of groups of ultrasonic transducers and the beam paths among the plurality of groups of ultrasonic transducers have no overlapped area while working at the same time. ### Claim 18 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the conduit is a riser of a drilling system with a drill rod extending through the riser, and the sampling point is disposed in the fluid flow passing between riser and the drill rod. ### Claim 19 A measurement system for calculating a three-dimensional velocity of a fluid flow passing through a riser of a drilling system having a drill rod extending through the riser; the measurement system comprising: at least three ultrasonic transducers configured to be disposed on the riser, each of the at least three ultrasonic transducers having a respective beam paths, wherein the at least three ultrasonic transducers are spaced and oriented such that the respective beam paths intersect to provide an overlapped area disposed within the riser between the riser and the drill rod; an ultrasonic transceiver configured to energize at least one of the at least three ultrasonic transducers to transmit at least one ultrasonic signal to the riser through at least three ultrasonic transducers and receive reflected ultrasonic signals from a sampling point within the overlapped area through the at least three ultrasonic transducers, wherein the sampling point is spaced from the riser and drill rod; and a signal processor for processing the received reflected ultrasonic signals to calculate the three-dimensional velocity of the fluid flow passing through the riser at the sampling point. ### Claim 20 A method for calculating a three-dimensional velocity of a fluid flow passing through a riser of a drilling system having a drill rod extending through the riser; the method comprising: orienting at least three ultrasonic transducers in spaced relation and coupled to the conduit such that respective beam paths of the at least three ultrasonic transducers overlap to provide an overlapped area, the overlap area disposed within the riser between the riser and the drill rod; transmitting at least one ultrasonic signal through at least one of the at least three ultrasonic transducers to the riser; receiving reflected ultrasonic signals from a sampling point within the overlapped area through the at least three ultrasonic transducers, wherein the sampling point is spaced from the riser and drill rod; and processing the received reflected ultrasonic signals to calculate the three-dimensional velocity of the fluid flow passing through the riser at the sampling point.