# US 2008/0184784 A1 · Ultrasonic system for detecting and quantifying of air bubbles/particles in a flowing liquid

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- Number: US 2008/0184784 A1
- Document ID: US20080184784A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 11/703,025
- Filed: 2007-02-06
- Published: 2008-08-07
- Earliest claimed: 2007-02-06
- Assignees: Cosense, Inc.
- Inventors: Naim Dam
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20080184784A1

## CPC

- G01N 29/032: by measuring attenuation of acoustic waves
- G01N 29/048: {Marking the faulty objects}
- G01N 29/222: {Constructional or flow details for analysing fluids (optoacoustic fluid cells G01N29/2425)}
- G01N 29/4454: {Signal recognition, e.g. specific values or portions, signal events, signatures}
- G01N 2015/1024: {Counting particles by non-optical means}
- G01N 2015/1029: {Particle size}
- G01N 2291/02416: Solids in liquids
- G01N 2291/02433: Gases in liquids, e.g. bubbles, foams
- G01N 2291/048: Transmission, i.e. analysed material between transmitter and receiver
- G01N 2291/102: one emitter, one receiver
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)

## Abstract

A system using ultrasonic energy for detecting and quantifying air bubbles and/or particles in a liquid flowing in a tube by a non-invasive and non-destructive technique has an ultrasonic sensor having piezoelectric transmitter and receiver elements placed opposing on the outside of the tube wall and energy in the ultrasonic frequency range is transmitted from the transmitter element to the receiver element. The received ultrasonic energy is amplified and detected and preferably split into a steady state (DC) component and a varying or transient (AC) component respectively indicative of the absence and the presence of an air bubble or a particle in the liquid. The two components of the signal are applied to an A/D converter whose output is supplied to a microprocessor which uses the digital data that corresponds to the presence of the varying transient component to indicate the presence of an air bubble and/or a particle and to measure its characteristics. The presence of the steady-state component indicates that the system is operating properly to providing a continuous self check against any system malfunction.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for detecting the presence of an air bubble and/or particle in a liquid flowing in a tube, comprising:
an ultrasonic sensor of a transmitter element and a receiver element mountain on the outside of the tube opposing each other;
a generator of ultrasonic energy supplied to the said transmitter element and transmitted through a liquid flowing in the tube to be received by the receiving element and be converted into an electrical signal that is of a steady-state component when there is no air bubble and/or particle in the liquid and is a transient state component when an air bubble and/or particle is present;
an amplifier for amplifying the electrical signal from said sensor receiving element;
an analog to digital converter to convert the signal from the output of said amplifier into digital data; and
a microprocessor responsive to the digital data to detect the presence of an air bubble and/or particle in the liquid by a change in the amplitude of the signal at the output of said amplifier.

### Claim 2

The system as claimed in claim one further comprising a detector circuit that receives the signal from the output of said amplifier, the output of said detector circuit being applied to said analog to digital converter.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The system as claimed in claim 2 wherein said detector circuit is a full wave detector.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The system as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a conditioning circuit splits the signal at the output of said detector circuit into separate steady-state and transient component signals.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The system as claimed in claim 3 further comprising a conditioning circuit splits the signal at the output of said full wave detector circuit into separate steady-state and transient component signals that are applied to said analog to digital converter.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said microprocessor operates to detect the failure of the system in response to the absence of the steady state component.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said microprocessor operates to detect the failure of the system in response to the absence of the steady state component signal.

### Claim 8 (depends on 5)

The system as claimed in claim 5 wherein said microprocessor operates to detect the failure of the system in response to the absence of the steady state component signal.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said microprocessor operates to determines the characteristics of an air bubble or particle based on the characteristics of the transient component.

### Claim 10 (depends on 3)

The system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said microprocessor operates to determines the characteristics of an air bubble or particle based on the characteristics of transient component signal.

### Claim 11 (depends on 5)

The system as claimed in claim 5 wherein said microprocessor operates to determines the characteristics of an air bubble or particle based on the characteristics of the transient component signal.