Inspecting an ultrasound flow meter
AssigneeSick Engineering GmbH
InventorsEkkehard Riedel, Martin Oberländer, Arnd Schlicke
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An inspection device for an ultrasound flow meter is provided that has an inspection chamber having a fluid at a flow velocity of zero and having a first installation station for a first ultrasonic transducer and having a second installation station for a second ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasound flow meter so that the ultrasonic transducers are aligned toward one another in the installed state and span an ultrasound measurement path through the inspection chamber on the connection line. The invention further relates to a method of inspecting and/or calibrating an ultrasound flow meter.
Claims20
A portable inspection device for an ultrasound flow meter, the inspection device comprising:
- an inspection chamber having a fluid at a flow velocity of zero;
- a first installation station for a first ultrasonic transducer;
- and
- a second installation station for a second ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasound flow meter so that the first and second ultrasonic transducers are aligned toward one another on a connection line in the installed state and span an ultrasound measurement path through the inspection chamber on the connection line,
- wherein the inspection chamber has a geometry in which the distance between the first and second installation stations, and consequently a length, L, of the ultrasound measurement path, is large enough so that a direct ultrasound signal from the first ultrasonic transducer to the second ultrasonic transducer is separated in time from later echoes, such that
- L
- ≥
- s
- *
- τ
- *
- n
- τ
- *
- c
- 0
- 2
- where c0, is a speed of sound, s is a selectable safety factor greater than zero, nτ is a number of periods of the direct ultrasound signal, and τ is a period length of the direct ultrasound signal, and/or
- wherein a distance of the first and second installation stations from respective adjacent side walls of the inspection chamber, and consequently a distance, a, of the ultrasound measurement path from the side walls, is large enough so that the direct ultrasound signal on the ultrasound measurement path is separated in time from secondary ultrasound signals that do not propagate on the ultrasound measurement path, such that
- a
- ≥
- (
- C
- 0
- *
- τ
- *
- n
- τ
- *
- s
- +
- L
- )
- 2
- 4
- .
A method of inspecting and/or calibrating an ultrasound flow meter, comprising:
- installing a first ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasound flow meter on a first installation station in an inspection chamber;
- installing a second ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasound flow meter on a second installation station in the inspection chamber, the inspection chamber having a fluid at a flow velocity of zero such that the first and second ultrasonic transducers are directed toward one another on a connection line and span an ultrasound measurement path through the inspection chamber on the connection line;
- and
- measuring at least one of the flow velocity and the speed of sound in the inspection chamber with the ultrasound flow meter,
- wherein due to the geometry of the inspection chamber and the arrangement of the first and second installation stations, a length, L of the ultrasound measurement path is large enough so that a direct ultrasound signal from the first ultrasonic transducer to the second ultrasonic transducer is separated in time from later echoes, such that,
- L
- ≥
- s
- *
- τ
- *
- n
- τ
- *
-
- c
- 0
- 2
- ,
- where c0, is a speed of sound, s is a selectable safety factor greater than zero, nτ is a number of periods of the direct ultrasound signal, and τ is a period length of the direct ultrasound signal, and/or
- wherein a distance, a, of the ultrasound measurement path from side walls is large enough so that the direct ultrasound signal on the ultrasound measurement path is separated in time from secondary ultrasound signals that do not propagate on the ultrasound measurement path, such that
- a
- ≥
- (
- C
- 0
- *
- τ
- *
- n
- τ
- *
- s
- +
- L
- )
- 2
- 4
- .
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.