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US 12,710,303 B2Granted
Interface position determining apparatus and method
AssigneeMitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
InventorsKazuya Kurome, Nariaki Negishi, Takeshi Kodaira
Life of this patent
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Abstract
All interface position determining apparatus includes a transmitter that transmits an acoustic wave from a plurality of positions in an accumulating direction in which impurities contained in a liquid accumulate, from an outside of a wall surrounding the liquid; a receiver that receives the acoustic wave transmitted from the transmitter at a plurality of positions; and a determining unit that determines a position of an interface between a liquid layer and a sludge layer in the accumulating direction based on a condition of the acoustic wave received by the receiver.
Claims9
An interface position determining apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of transmitters that transmit an ultrasonic wave from a plurality of positions in an accumulating direction in which impurities as soil and gravels contained in a liquid accumulate, from an outside of a wall surrounding the liquid and through said wall;
- a plurality of receivers that receive the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the plurality of transmitters at a plurality of positions, from an outside of the wall surrounding the liquid and through said wall;
- and
- a determining unit that determines a position of an interface between a liquid layer and a sludge layer, in which the impurities are accumulated, in the accumulating direction based on an interval between a primary reflected wave which is a part of the ultrasonic wave, and is a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave on the outer surface of the wall portions where the plurality of transmitters and the plurality of receivers are arranged without passing through the wall portions and a secondary reflected wave which is a remaining ultrasonic wave, and is a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave, that has transmitted through the wall portions where the plurality of transmitters and the plurality of receivers, travels straight through the liquid, has not transmitted through the wall portion on the opposite side of the wall portion where it has transmitted, is reflected at the inner surface of the wall portions, and is received by the receiver;
- the plurality of the transmitters and the plurality of receivers are arranged at given intervals in the accumulating direction of the impurities;
- wherein the determining unit detects a transition layer where the liquid is mixed with impurities, and that is present between the liquid layer and the sludge layer, based on the interval between the primary reflected wave and the secondary reflected wave received by the plurality of receivers, and divides the transition layer into an upper layer C1 existing on the upper side in the accumulating direction and a lower layer C2 existing on the lower side in the accumulating direction relative to the upper layer, to define an interface where the upper layer C1 and the lower layer C2 meet as the position of the interface between the liquid layer and the sludge layer at a position of one of the plurality of receivers in the accumulating deposition direction of the impurities where the transition layer is detected, and
- the sludge layer, through which the ultrasonic wave does not propagate, is accumulated on a bottom of the wall surrounding the liquid and the liquid layer exists above an upper side of the sludge layer in the accumulating deposition direction.
4 more elements
An interface position determining method comprising:
- transmitting an ultrasonic wave from a plurality of positions in an accumulating direction in which impurities contained in a liquid accumulate, from outside a wall surrounding the liquid and through said wall;
- receiving the transmitted ultrasonic wave at a plurality of positions, from an outside of the wall surrounding the liquid and through said wall;
- and
- determining a position of an interface between a liquid layer and a sludge layer in the accumulating direction based on an interval between a primary reflected wave which is a part of ultrasonic wave, and is a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave on the outer surface of the wall portions without passing through the wall portions and a secondary reflected wave which is a remaining ultrasonic wave, and is a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave, that has transmitted through the wall portions where the transmitter and the receiver are arranged, travels straight through the liquid, has not transmitted through the wall portion on the opposite side of the wall portion where it has transmitted, and is reflected at the inner surface of the wall portions, on the inner surface of the wall portions the received ultrasonic wave,
- wherein determining the position of the interface includes detecting a transition layer where the liquid is mixed with impurities, and that is present between the liquid layer and the sludge layer, based on the interval between the primary reflected wave and the secondary reflected wave received by the a receiver, and dividing the transition layer into an upper layer C1 existing on the upper side in the accumulating direction and a lower layer C2 existing on the lower side in the accumulating direction relative to the upper layer, to define an interface where the upper layer C1 and the lower layer C2 meet as the position of the interface between the liquid layer and the sludge layer at a position of the receiver in the accumulating deposition direction of the impurities where the transition layer is detected, and the sludge layer is a layer of the impurities, as soil and gravels, accumulated, and
- the sludge layer, through which the ultrasonic wave does not propagate, is accumulated on a bottom of the wall surrounding the liquid and the liquid layer exists above an upper side of the sludge layer in the accumulating deposition direction.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.