Method and apparatus for measuring the amount of entrained gases in a liquid sample

An apparatus for measuring the amount of entrained gases in a liquid sample, the apparatus comprising:

• a conduit defining a volume and comprising an inlet at a lower end thereof and an outlet at an upper end thereof;
• a weight measuring device coupled to the conduit for measuring a weight of liquid sample flowing through the conduit from the inlet thereof to the outlet thereof to obtain a first measurement;
• and
• a control unit coupled to the weight measuring device for determining a difference between the first measurement and a predetermined weight value representing a weight of the same liquid sample flowing through the conduit but containing no entrained gases to obtain a calculated weight of entrained gases in the liquid sample flowing through the conduit, wherein the conduit has a slanted bottom portion.

A system comprising:

• an apparatus;
• a flow of liquid in a main processing circuit of a processing system;
• and
• a diverting device for diverting at least a portion of the flow of liquid in the main processing circuit as a liquid sample through the apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
• a conduit defining a volume and comprising an inlet at a lower end thereof and an outlet at an upper end thereof;
• a weight measuring device coupled to the conduit for measuring a weight of liquid sample flowing through the conduit from the inlet thereof to the outlet thereof to obtain a first measurement;
• and
• a control unit coupled to the weight measuring device for determining a difference between the first measurement and a predetermined weight value representing a weight of the same liquid sample flowing through the conduit but containing no entrained gases to obtain a calculated weight of entrained gases in the liquid sample flowing through the conduit;
• and further comprising a merging device for merging liquid sample from the apparatus with the liquid in the main processing circuit downstream of the apparatus.

An apparatus for measuring the amount of entrained gases in a liquid sample comprising:

• means for flowing the liquid sample in a conduit;
• means for determining the weight of liquid sample in the conduit during a flow of the liquid sample through the conduit to obtain a first measurement;
• and
• means for determining the difference between the first measurement and a predetermined weight value representing a weight of the same liquid sample flowing through the conduit but containing no entrained gases to obtain a calculated weight of entrained gases in the liquid sample flowing through the conduit;
• and further comprising means for altering the liquid as a function of the calculated weight of entrained gases in the liquid sample.