Compact gas flow meter using electronic microsensors
AssigneeHoneywell Inc.
InventorUlrich Bonne
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compact dual microanemometer-based flow meter for a gaseous fluid includes a dynamic microanemometer flow sensor located in a measuring nozzle of reduced diameter directly exposed to the main fluid flow stream and a static microanemometer sensor located so as to be in communication with the main flow stream but not in direct contact with the main flow stream. Particulate matter is excluded by a particulate trapping system located upstream of the flow sensors and has a plurality of sequentially encountered particulate traps including dead-end trap and settling traps and a honeycomb laminarizing device is positioned in the stream between the particulate trapping system and the microanemometers.
Claims15
A compact hot film microanemometer-based flow meter for a gaseous fluid of interest comprising:
- inlet and outlet access for connecting the flow meter to a distribution system for the gaseous fluid;
- generally hollow meter body means connected between the inlet and outlet accesses and describing an internal fluid flow path;
- a reduced diameter nozzle-shaped measuring section describing a segment of the fluid flow path channel in the meter body having at least one microbridge sensor located therein and being in communication with the fluid;
- a particular trapping system including trap means having the form of a fluid conduit having a closed end and a plurality of outlet openings in said conduit spaced apart from said closed end, said openings in fluid communication with a plurality of sequentially disposed settling chambers, all disposed in the fluid flow path between the inlet means and the measuring section containing the microbridge sensor;
- and
- at least a first laminarizing means disposed in the stream between the particulate trapping system and the measuring section.
A compact hot film microanemometer-based flow meter for a gaseous fluid of interest comprising:
- inlet and outlet access for connecting the flow meter to a distribution system for the gaseous fluid;
- generally hollow meter body means connected between the inlet and outlet accesses and describing an internal fluid flow path;
- a reduced diameter nozzle-shaped measuring section describing a segment of the fluid flow path channel in the meter body;
- a dynamic hot film icrobridge sensor disposed in the nozzle-shaped measuring section and directly exposed to the main fluid flow stream;
- a condition measuring static hot film microbridge sensor positioned in communication with the main flow stream but not in direct contact with the main flow stream and at a position relative to the dynamic sensor such that the temperature of the fluid of interest encountered by both sensors is substantially the same;
- a particulate trapping system including a plurality of sequentially encountered particulate trap means disposed in the fluid flow path between the inelt means and the measuring section containing the first and second microbridge sensor means;
- and
- at least a first laminarizing means disposed in the stream between the particulate trapping system and the measuring section, said particular trap means has a dead-end trap in the form of a fluid conduit having a closed end and a plurality of radially disposed outlet openings spaced from the closed end which communicate with a plurality of sequentially disposed settling traps.
In a compact hot film microbridge-based flow meter for a gaseous fluid of interest comprising inlet and outlet accesses for connecting the flow meter to a distribution system for the gaseous fluid of interest, a generally hollow meter body means connected between the inlet and outlet accesses and describing an internal fluid flow path having a nozzle-shaped necked down measuring channel therein, a first hot film microbridge flow sensor associated with the flow meter and disposed in the measuring channel so as to be directly exposed to the mainf luid flow stream and a second hot film microbridge sensor associated with the flow meter disposed so as to be in communication with the main flow stream but not in direct contact with the mani flow stream, the improvement comprising:
- a particulate trapping system having a fluid conduit as a first element thereof for communicating said fluid to a dead end, having openings in said conduit spaced apart from said dead end, said openings being in fluid communication with a plurality of sequentially encountered particulate trap settling chambers, all disposed in the fluid path between the inlet means and the measuring channel;
- and
- at least a first laminarizing means disposed in the stram between the particular trapping system and the measuring channel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.