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US 12,571,666 B2Granted
System and method for early warning of solids pluggage in gas-solid multi-phase flow through transport pipe
AssigneeGE Infrastructure Technology LLC
InventorAllan Gunn Ferry
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for early warning of solids pluggage in a gas-solid multi-phase flow through transport pipe. At least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor measures reflections of signals from solid particles that are carried in a gas transport stream by the transport pipe from a solid particles feed source to a solid particles processing location. A controller detects conditions in the gas transport stream carrying the solid particles in the transport pipe that are representative of an early warning of pluggage of solid particles in the pipe as a function of information provided by the at least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- a solid particles feed source;
- a solid particles processing location;
- a transport pipe to transport a supply of the solid particles from the solid particles feed source in a gas transport stream to the solid particles processing location;
- at least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor operatively coupled to the transport pipe to emit microwave signals towards the gas transport stream carrying the solid particles in the transport pipe and measure reflections of the microwave signals from the solid particles in the gas transport stream, the measured reflections including reflections from the solid particles and turbulence in the gas transport stream, wherein the measured reflections from the solid particles and the turbulence in the gas transport stream provide an indication of the flow of the solid particles in the transport pipe;
- and
- a controller operative to detect conditions in the gas transport stream carrying the solid particles in the transport pipe that are representative of pluggage of solid particles in the transport pipe as a function of information provided by the at least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor, wherein the controller is configured to correlate the information provided by the at least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor with conditions that are indicative of pluggage in the transport pipe based on solid particles that have fallen out of the gas transport stream and accumulated in the transport pipe, wherein the correlation of the information from the at least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor includes comparing the measured reflections to an expected solid particles flow value, the comparison of the measured reflections to the expected solid particles flow value providing an understanding of the measured reflections that are attributable to the reflections from the solid particles in the gas transport stream as opposed to the reflections from the turbulence in the gas transport stream.
3 more elements
A method for detecting pluggage in a transport pipe that supplies solid particles in a gas transport stream from a solid particles feed source to a solid particles processing location, the method comprising:
- emitting microwave signals toward the gas transport stream carrying the solid particles in the transport pipe with at least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor;
- measuring reflections of the microwave signals from the solid particles in the gas transport stream with the at least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor, the measured reflections including reflections from the solid particles and turbulence in the gas transport stream, wherein the measured reflections from the solid particles and the turbulence in the gas transport stream provide an indication of the flow of the solid particles in the transport pipe;
- and
- detecting conditions in the gas transport stream carrying the solid particles in the transport pipe that are representative of pluggage of solid particles in the transport pipe as a function of information provided by the at least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor, wherein the detecting comprises correlating the information provided by the at least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor with conditions that are indicative of pluggage in the transport pipe based on solid particles that have fallen out of the gas transport stream carrying the particles and accumulated in the transport pipe, wherein the correlation of the information from the at least one doppler radar-based mass flow sensor includes comparing the measured reflections to an expected solid particles flow value, the comparison of the measured reflections to the expected solid particles flow value providing an understanding of the measured reflections that are attributable to the reflections from the solid particles in the gas transport stream as opposed to the reflections from the turbulence in the gas transport stream.
1 more element
A system, comprising:
- a solid particles feed source;
- a solid particles processing location;
- a transport pipe to transport a supply of the solid particles from the solid particles feed source in a gas transport stream to the solid particles processing location;
- at least one solid particle velocity sensor operatively coupled to the transport pipe to obtain velocity measurements of the solid particles and provide one or more qualitative indications associated with the velocity measurements of the solid particles, and
- a controller operative to detect conditions in the gas transport stream carrying the solid particles in the transport pipe that are representative of pluggage of solid particles in the transport pipe as a function of information provided by the at least one solid particle velocity sensor, wherein the controller is configured to correlate the information provided by the at least one solid particle velocity sensor with conditions that are indicative of pluggage in the transport pipe based on solid particles that have fallen out of the gas transport stream and accumulated in the transport pipe, wherein the correlation of the information from the at least one solid particle velocity sensor includes evaluating the velocity measurements of the solid particles and the one or more qualitative indications for trends in instances that the velocity measurements are below a predetermined minimum velocity threshold and trends in instances that the one or more qualitative indications are suggestive of conditions corresponding to pluggage of solid particles in the transport pipe.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.