US 7,165,464 B2 · Apparatus and method for providing a flow measurement compensated for entrained gas

Abstract

A apparatus 10,110 is provided that measures the speed of sound and/or vortical disturbances propagating in a fluid or mixture having entrained gas/air to determine the gas volume fraction of the flow 12 propagating through a pipes and compensating or correcting the volumetric flow measurement for entrained air. The GVF meter includes and array of sensor disposed axially along the length of the pipe. The GVF measures the speed of sound propagating through the pipe and fluid to determine the gas volume fraction of the mixture using array processing. The GVF meter can be used with an electromagnetic meter and a consistency meter to compensate for volumetric flow rate and consistency measurement respective, to correct for errors due to entrained gas/air.

Claims57

Dependent claims

An apparatus for measuring a parameter of a process flow flowing within a pipe, the apparatus comprising:

a first meter including a sensor that provides a measurement signal indicative of a parameter of the flow propagating through the pipe;
a second meter including a sensor that provides a sound measurement signal indicative of the speed of sound propagating through the process flow;
and
a processor that determines a compensated measurement signal indicative of the measurement signal compensated for entrained gas in the process flow, in response to the measurement signal and the sound measurement signal.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

10/766,440Filed 27 Jan 2004 · continuation in part

Priority

15 Nov 2002

Published

US 2004/0144182 A123 Dec 2004

Granted

23 Jan 2007

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

G01F 1/7082
Measuring the time taken to traverse a fixed distance: using acoustic detecting arrangements
G01F 1/712
Measuring the time taken to traverse a fixed distance: using auto-correlation or cross-correlation detection means
G01F 1/74
Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow: devices…
G01N 33/343
Paper: paper pulp

Family

Application60/426,723Us provisional application · filed 15 Nov 2002

Application60/441,395Us provisional application · filed 21 Jan 2003

Application60/441,652Us provisional application · filed 22 Jan 2003

Application60/442,968Us provisional application · filed 27 Jan 2003

Application60/503,349Us provisional application · filed 16 Sep 2003

Application60/518,171Us provisional application · filed 7 Nov 2003

Application10/715,197Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 23 Nov 2003

US 2004/0255695 A1Pre-grant publication · published 23 Dec 2004

US 2004/0144182 A1Published application

US 7,165,464 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Apparatus and method for providing a flow measurement compensated for entrained gas

Life of this patent

Apparatus and method for providing a flow measurement compensated for entrained gas

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims57