Pipeline optical flow meter
AssigneeNova Gas Transmission Ltd.
InventorsDarwin Edward Kiel, Ian David Williamson, Jason L. Szabo
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Abstract
The present invention provides an optical device for the measurement of flow rates of fluid through a pipe. The device broadly comprises a narrow frequency light source, an optical delivery system, a collector for light scattered from particles in the fluid, and a photo detector. In a preferred embodiment, the optical delivery system and the collector are contained within the pipe.
Claims43
An optical device that generates a signal which describes fluid flow on the basis of the motion of particles suspended in a fluid flowing through a pressurized pipe, said optical device comprising:
- (a) a narrow frequency light source;
- (b) an optical delivery system coupled to said light source, said optical delivery system including multiple optical components mounted completely within the pressurized environment of the pipe and producing at least two light beams within the interior of the pipe;
- (c) a collector that mounts completely within the pressurized environment of the pipe and which receives light scattered by said particles from said at least two beams;
- (d) a photo detector coupled to said collector, said photo detector converting said scattered light received by said collector into an electrical signal;
- and
- (e) a pressure fitting that permits optical access into the pressurized environment of the pipe.
A device that generates a signal which describes fluid flow on the basis of the motion of particles suspended in a fluid flowing through a pressuized pipe, said device comprising:
- (a) a light source;
- (b) an optical delivery system counted to said light source, said optical delivery system producing at least two substantially parallel light beams within the interior of the pipe;
- (c) a collector lens which receives light scattered by said particles from said at least two beams;
- (d) a photo detector which couples to said collector lens, said photo detector converting said scattered light received by said collector lens into an electrical signal, and
- (e) an optical fiber coupling said photo detector to said collector lens, and wherein said collector lens is mounted completely within, and directly exposed to, the pressurized environment of said pipe, and said photo detector is located outside of said pressurized environment, and said optical fiber extends through a pressure fitting.
The device according to clalm 14, wherein multiple measurement locations are distributed within the pipe cross section by using one or more sets of optical collectors and optical delivery systems.
A device for measuring the direction and flow of fluid through a pipe based on the motion of particles suspended in the fluid comprising:
- (a) a narrow frequency light source;
- (b) an optical delivery system optically coupled to said light source that produces at least two light beams within the interior of the pipe;
- (c) a collector which focuses light scattered by said particles from said at least two beams;
- (d) a photo detector which converts said scattered light focused by said collector into an electrical signal;
- and
- (e) an optical fiber which communicates between said collector and said photo detector,
- wherein said optical delivery system and said collector are mounted in a structure that includes a passageway through which the fluid flows, to permit direct optical access to the interior of the pipe.
The device as in claimi 37, wherein said optical delivery system and said collector are positioned outside the flow path of the fluid in the pipeline.
An optical device that generates a signal which describes fluid flow on the basis of the motion of particles suspended in a fluid flowing through a pressurized pipe, said optical device comprising:
- (a) a narrow fequency light source;
- (b) an optical delivery system coupled to said light source, said optical delivery system being mounted completely within the pressurized environment of the pipe and producing at least two light beams within the interior of the pipe;
- (c) a collector that mounts completely within the pressurized environment of the pipe and which receives light scattered by said particles from said at least two beams;
- and
- (d) a photo detector coupled to said collector, said photo detector converting said scattered liaht received by said collector into an electrical signal;
- and
- wherein said collector comprises a lens with a first surface and a last surface, with said first surface on the side of the lens nearest the scattered light, and the last surface on the side of the lens nearest the photo detector, and wherein said first surface has a spherically concave shape so that the light scattered by the particles located at the point in space where the measurement is to be taken strikes the first surface substantially perpendicularly.
An optical device that generates a signal which describes fluid flow on the basis of the motion of particles suspended in a fluid flowing through a pressurized pipe, said optical device comprising:
- (a) a light source;
- (b) an optical delivery system coupled to said light source, said optical delivery system producing at least two substantially parallel light beams within the interior of the pipe;
- (c) a collector lens which receives light scattered by said particles from said at least two beams;
- and
- (d) a photo detector which couples to said collector lens, said photo detector converting said scattercd light received by said collector lens into an electrical signal, and
- wherein said collector lens is completely mounted within, and directly exposed to, the pressurized environnent of said pipe;
- and
- wherein said collector lens has a first surface and a last surface, with said first surface on the side of the collector lens nearest the scattered light, and the last surface on the side of the collector lens nearest the photo detector, and wherein said fast surface has a spherically concave shape so that the light scattered by the particles located at the point in space where the measurement is to be taken strikes the first surface substantially perpendicularly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.