US 11,454,642 B2 · Method and system of acoustic wave measurement of axial velocity distribution and flow rate

Abstract

A method is provided to measure a distribution of axial velocities and a flowrate in a pipe or a vessel. The method comprises selecting a single cross-section at a stable-flow segment in a pipe or a vessel, installing a plurality of acoustic wave sensors along a peripheral wall of the pipe or the vessel to form a plurality of effective sound wave paths; measuring sound wave travelling time on each sound wave path; substituting the measured sound wave travelling time data into the model formulas based on a sound path refraction principle for reconstruction calculation to obtain a distribution of axial velocity in the measured cross-section of the pipe or the vessel, u(x,y); and integrating the distribution of the axial velocity u(x,y) along the cross-section to obtain a flow rate. A system is also provided to measure an axial velocity distribution and a flow rate in a pipe.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A method of acoustic wave measurement of an axial velocity distribution in a pipe or a vessel, comprising:

selecting a single cross-section located at a stable-flow segment in the pipe or the vessel;
installing a plurality of acoustic wave sensors along a peripheral wall of the pipe or the vessel at the cross-section, wherein a plurality of effective sound wave paths are formed between the acoustic wave sensors;
measuring a sound wave travelling time along each sound wave path by the plurality of acoustic wave sensors;
and
substituting the sound wave traveling time of each sound wave path into a reconstruction equation to obtain the axial velocity distribution u(x,y) on the cross-section of the pipe or the vessel, wherein the axial velocity distribution u(x,y) is an axial velocity at a point (x, y) in a coordinate system, the reconstruction equation is a function that correlates the axial velocity distribution u(x, y) with each distance between two acoustic wave sensors at two ends of a sound wave path, and a sound traveling time along the sound wave path.

2 more elements

A system to measure an axial velocity distribution and a flow rate in a pipe or in a vessel, comprising

a plurality of acoustic wave sensors disposed on a peripheral wall around a single cross-section of the pipe or the vessel;
a digital to analog conversion card;
an analog to digital conversion card;
a measuring computer including:
one or more processors,
a memory, and
a plurality of instructions stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors;
wherein the digital to analog conversion card is connected to the measuring computer and the plurality of acoustic wave sensors, and configured to transfer digital signals coded by the one or more processors to analog acoustic signals, and the analog acoustic signals are emitted by the plurality of acoustic wave sensors;
wherein the analog to digital conversion card is connected to the plurality of acoustic wave sensors and the measuring computer and configured to transfer the analog acoustic signals collected by the plurality of acoustic wave sensors into the digital signals, and input the digital signals into the measuring computer;
and wherein the one or more processors are configured to control the plurality of acoustic wave sensors to emit sound waves and instruct the acoustic wave sensors to measure a sound wave travelling time on each sound wave path between one acoustic wave sensor to all the other acoustic wave sensors, and determine the axial velocity distribution by substituting the measured sound wave traveling times into a reconstruction formula below to reconstruct the axial velocity distribution u(x,y) along the cross-section in the pipe or the vessel to obtain the axial velocity distribution via reconstruction,
∫
l
i
u
⁡
(
x
,
y
)
⁢
1
+
(
y
′
)
2
⁢
d
⁢
x
=
L
i
⁢
c
2
-
(
L
i
Δ
⁢
t
i
)
2
,
i
=
1
,
2
,
…
,
N
where, Ii is an ith sound wave path, Li is a distance between two acoustic wave sensors at two ends of an ith sound wave path, Δti is an average of two sound wave traveling times along the ith sound wave path, N is a number of effective sound wave paths, c is a static sound speed at a medium in the pipe or the vessel at measuring physical conditions.

56 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and system of acoustic wave measurement of axial velocity distribution and flow rate

Life of this patent

Method and system of acoustic wave measurement of axial velocity distribution and flow rate

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19