Method to detect and characterize contaminants in pipes and ducts with interactive tracers
First Claim
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1. A method for characterizing a contaminant in a fluid flow system, comprising the steps of:
- (a) injecting a conservative tracer, and an interactive tracer into the flow system at a first location;
(b) advecting the tracers along the flow system;
(c) extracting the tracers at a second location in the flow system;
(d) measuring the concentration of the extracted tracers over a period of time; and
(e) characterizing the contaminant from the concentrations of the tracers.
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Abstract
A method and an apparatus for detecting, locating, and quantifying contamination in a fluid flow system like a pipe or duct. This characterization technique uses a conservative and one or more interactive tracers that are injected into the fluid flow system and then monitored at another location in the system. Detection, location, and quantification are accomplished by analysis of the characteristic features of measured curves of tracer concentration.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for characterizing a contaminant in a fluid flow system, comprising the steps of:
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(a) injecting a conservative tracer, and an interactive tracer into the flow system at a first location;
(b) advecting the tracers along the flow system;
(c) extracting the tracers at a second location in the flow system;
(d) measuring the concentration of the extracted tracers over a period of time; and
(e) characterizing the contaminant from the concentrations of the tracers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16)
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10. A method for detecting the presence of a contaminant in a fluid flow system, comprising the steps of:
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(a) injecting a conservative tracer and an interactive tracer into the flow system at a first location;
(b) advecting the tracers along the flow system with a fluid that does not interact with the tracers;
(c) extracting the tracers at a second location in the flow system;
(d) measuring the concentration of the extracted tracers over a period of time; and
(e) detecting the presence of the contaminant from a comparison of the measured concentrations. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for determining the location of a contaminant in a fluid flow system, comprising the steps of:
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(a) injecting a conservative tracer and a partitioning tracer into the flow system at a first location;
(b) advecting the tracers along the flow system at a first velocity to create an advection flow field;
(c) extracting the tracers at a second location in the flow system;
(d) introducing a perturbation to the advection flow field at a perturbation time by changing and then re-establishing the advection flow at a second velocity, which may be different than the first velocity, creating a unique change in the concentration of the partition tracer;
(e) extracting the partitioning tracer as a function of time relative to the perturbation time;
(f) measuring the concentration of the partitioning tracer as a function of the time; and
(g) determining the location of contamination from the time of arrival of the partitioning tracer relative to the perturbation time and the advection flow velocity.
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17. An apparatus for characterizing a contaminant in a fluid flow system, comprising:
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(a) a tracer injection system for injecting known amounts of conservative and interactive tracers into the flow system;
(b) an advection driving system for moving the tracers along the flow system;
(c) a tracer extraction system for removing the tracers from the fluid flow system;
(d) a measurement system for determining the concentration of the tracers extracted from the fluid flow system; and
(e) a processor for analyzing the concentration measurements. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification