US 11,781,897 B2Granted

Contactless sensor system and method for measuring free surface and pressure flow in a conduit

OwnerShi-En Shiau, Brian Chia-Huan Shiauinventors

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Abstract

The invention is embodied by a system that employs an inline metering station for (a) measuring both pressure flow and free surface flow in underground conduits without having to physically contact the fluid in the conduit, (b) operating under laminar flow and turbulent flow conditions, (c) providing continuous flow measurement, (d) offering remote data transmission to central control room or mobile device for real-time accessibility (e) detecting line sedimentary deposits (f), making computational adjustments, and (g) alerting maintenance for cleaning. In addition, embodiments of this invention are not disrupted by sewer pipe cleaning and are not limited by sewer flow velocity, depth, or Froude number. The preferred system comprises a pair of risers (or “tubes”) mounted on top of a buried underground conduit. On top of each riser is a sensor for measuring the distance between the sensor and the surface of the fluid that is flowing below the sensor (the “sensor-fluid distance”). Using as-built conditions, the sensor-fluid distance can be used to find real-time flow depth and velocity through the underground conduit.

Claims17

Dependent claims

An inline metering station for measuring free surface flow or pressure flow in an underground conduit, the inline metering station comprising:

a first riser located underground, the first riser comprising a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end of the first riser connected to the underground conduit, the first riser oriented perpendicular to a first apex of the underground conduit,
a second riser located underground, the second riser comprising a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end of the second riser connected to the underground conduit, the second riser oriented perpendicular to a second apex of the underground conduit, the first and second risers each comprising a length of at least three feet,
a first optical measuring device connected to the proximal end of the first riser, the first optical measuring device configured to measure a first distance through the first riser to a first fluid level,
a second optical measuring device connected to the proximal end of the second riser, the second optical measuring device configured to measure a second distance through the second riser to a second level, and
the first and second risers separated by a third distance, the third distance is at least 100 feet or 10 times the inverse of the slope of the underground conduit, whichever is longer,
wherein the first, second and third distances is used with a set of as-built conditions to calculate the free surface flow or pressure flow of fluid flowing in the underground conduit.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/419,496Filed 17 Feb 2021 · us provisional application
Priority: 2 Nov 2020
Published: US 2023/0126909 A127 Apr 2023
Granted: 10 Oct 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

G01F 23/2928
For discrete levels: using light reflected on the material surface
G01F 23/2962
Acoustic waves: measuring transit time of reflected waves
G01F 1/002
Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow: wherein…
G01F 1/52
By using mechanical effects: by measuring the height of the fluid level due to the lifting power of the fluid flow