Techniques for determining valve state and material presence/absence utilizing non-contact acoustics

A system for determining a presence of a material within a vessel comprising:

• a vessel capable of holding or transporting a quantity of material;
• at least one valve positioned within the vessel, the at least one valve controlling at least a portion of a flow of the quantity of material;
• at least one acoustic sensor positioned on an exterior of the vessel at a position on an underside of the vessel;
• and
• at least one computing device in communication with the at least one acoustic sensor, wherein a processor of the at least one computing device determines a density of any material positioned within the vessel in a location above the at least one acoustic sensor, and wherein the processor determines a presence of material within the vessel based on, at least in part, the determined density of the quantity of material.

A method of determining a valve state comprising:

• providing a vessel holding or transporting a quantity of material, the vessel having at least one valve positioned at least partially therein;
• controlling at least a portion of a flow of the quantity of material with the at least one valve;
• positioning at least one acoustic sensor on an exterior of the vessel;
• using at least one computing device in communication with the at least one acoustic sensor, the at least one computing device having a processor, determining a flow rate of the quantity of material based on at least one acoustic signal transmitted from the at least one acoustic sensor;
• and
• determining a state of the at least one valve based, at least in part, on the determined flow rate of the quantity of material.