System and method for testing the integrity of porous elements
AssigneePall Corporation
InventorsScott D. Hopkins, Daniel W. Spencer, Charles P. Lipari, George A. Altemose
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for detecting defects in porous elements including systems and methods for quantifying acoustic signal data. A transducer receives acoustic signals generated within a test chamber by a porous element. A signal processing device may be included for analyzing the acoustic signals received, for quantifying the acoustic signals, and for correlating the acoustic signals with physical attributes of the porous element.
Claims200
A porous element testing system for testing a porous element wetted with a wetting solution, the porous element testing system comprising:
- a housing having a first side and a second side, wherein the first side is divided from the second side by the wetted porous element and wherein the first side and the second side are both filled with a gas;
- a differential pressure generator generating a differential pressure across the wetted porous element;
- a transducer disposed in the vicinity of the porous element and receiving acoustic signals generated within the housing;
- a signal processing device, coupled to the transducer, analyzing the acoustic signals received from the transducer for determining whether the porous element is defective.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective comprising:
- wetting a porous element with a wetting solution;
- generating a differential pressure between a gas on a first side of the wetted porous element and a gas on a second side of the wetted porous element;
- monitoring sound levels emanating from the vicinity of the porous element;
- and
- determining, as a result of the sound levels, whether the porous element is defective.
The method of 56 including quantifying the first set of sound levels into a first quantitative value and quantifying the second set of sound levels into a second quantitative value.
A system for testing a wetted porous element, the testing system comprising:
- a housing having first and second sides, wherein the first side is dividable from the second side by the wetted porous element;
- differential pressure generator creating a differential pressure between the first and second sides of the housing;
- a sound transducer receiving acoustic signals generated within the housing;
- and
- a gas flow meter arranged to monitor gas flow between the first and second sides of the housing.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective, comprising:
- wetting a porous element with a wetting solution;
- creating a differential pressure across the wetted porous element;
- monitoring acoustic signals generated in the vicinity of the wetted porous element;
- and
- measuring gas flow through the wetted porous element.
A porous element testing system for testing a wetted porous element, the porous element testing system comprising:
- a differential pressure generator arranged to generate a differential pressure across the wetted porous element;
- a transducer disposed in the vicinity of the wetted porous element to receive acoustic signals;
- a signal processing device coupled to the transducer to analyze the acoustic signals received from the transducer wherein the differential pressure generator generates a differential pressure by applying a gas having a first pressure to a first surface of the wetted porous element and a gas having a second pressure different than the first to a second surface of the wetted porous element.
A porous element testing system for testing a wetted porous element, the porous element testing system comprising:
- a differential pressure generator arranged to generate a differential pressure across the wetted porous element;
- a transducer disposed in the vicinity of the wetted porous element to receive acoustic signals;
- a signal processing device coupled to the transducer to analyze the acoustic signals received from the transducer;
- and
- means for inducing a sonic signal detectable by the transducer.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective comprising:
- wetting porous element with a wetting solution;
- exposing first and second sides of the porous element to a differential pressure;
- monitoring sounds adjacent to the porous element;
- and
- electronically analyzing the sounds;
- and
- measuring gas flow through the wetted porous element.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective comprising:
- wetting a porous element with a wetting solution;
- exposing first and second sides of the porous element to a differential pressure;
- monitoring sound adjacent to the porous element using a transducer;
- determining, as a result of the sound, whether the porous element is defective;
- and
- inducing a sonic signal detectable by the transducer.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective comprising:
- wetting a porous element with a wetting solution;
- exposing first and second sides of the porous element to a differential pressure;
- monitoring sounds adjacent to the porous element;
- and
- electronically analyzing the sounds by setting a discrimination threshold and registering variations in the sound levels that exceed the discrimination threshold.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective comprising:
- wetting a porous element with a wetting solution;
- exposing first and second sides of the porous element to a differential pressure;
- monitoring sounds adjacent to the porous element;
- and
- electronically analyzing the sounds utilizing statistical measures.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective comprising:
- wetting a porous element with a wetting solution;
- exposing first and second sides of the porous element to a differential pressure;
- monitoring sounds adjacent to the porous element;
- and
- electronically analyzing the sounds using a measure of minimum sound pressure levels.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective comprising:
- wetting a porous element with a wetting solution;
- exposing first and second sides of the porous element to a differential pressure;
- monitoring sounds adjacent to the porous element;
- and
- electronically analyzing the sounds by measuring a signal density.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective comprising:
- wetting a porous element with a wetting solution;
- exposing first and second sides of the porous element to a differential pressure;
- monitoring sounds adjacent to the porous element;
- and
- electronically analyzing the sounds by measuring variations in frequencies of the sounds.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective comprising:
- wetting a porous element with a wetting solution;
- exposing first and second sides of the porous element to a differential pressure;
- monitoring sounds adjacent to the porous element;
- and
- electronically analyzing the sounds by measuring variability of the sounds.
Apparatus for testing a wetted porous element comprising:
- a transducer positionable in the vicinity of the wetted porous element to receive acoustic signals and
- a signal processing device coupled to the transducer to count pulses in the acoustic signal and determine whether the porous element is defective in accordance with the pulses counted.
A method for testing a wetted porous element comprising:
- counting acoustic pulses emanating from the wetted porous element and determining whether the porous element is defective in accordance with the acoustic pulses counted.
A porous element testing system for testing a wetted porous element comprising:
- a differential pressure generator arranged to generate a substantially constant differential pressure across a wetted porous element, the substantially constant differential pressure having a value less than a predetermined anticipated bubble point pressure of the wetted porous element;
- a transducer disposed in the vicinity of the wetted porous element to receive acoustic signals;
- and
- a signal processing device coupled to the transducer and receiving signals indicative of the sounds.
A porous element testing system for testing a wetted porous element comprising:
- a differential pressure generator arranged to generate a differential pressure across a wetted porous element;
- a transducer disposed in the vicinity of the wetted porous element to receive acoustic signals;
- a signal processing device, coupled to the transducer, for quantifying a characteristic of the acoustic signals into a quantitative value, the quantitative value being indicative of whether the wetted porous element is likely to be defective.
A system for testing a porous element comprising:
- a housing having a first side and a second side, wherein the first side is divided from the second side by the porous element;
- a differential pressure generator for generating a differential pressure across the porous element;
- a transducer disposed in the vicinity of the porous element for receiving acoustic signals generated within the housing;
- a signal processing device, coupled to the transducer, receiving non-acoustic system response data and acoustic data, quantifying the acoustic data, and determining physical characteristics of the porous element responsive to the acoustic data and to the non-acoustic system response data.
A method for testing a porous element comprising:
- quantifying acoustic data related to the porous element;
- quantifying non-acoustic system response data related to the porous element;
- determining physical characteristics of the porous element using the acoustic data and the non-acoustic data.
A method for determining whether a porous element is defective comprising:
- wetting a porous element with a wetting solution;
- exposing first and second sides of the porous element to a differential pressure;
- monitoring sounds adjacent to the porous element;
- quantifying a characteristic of the sounds into a at least one quantitative value;
- comparing the at least one quantitative value with a at least one predetermined value to determine whether the porous element has a particular physical characteristic.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.