Performing temperature standardization of the volume of a liquid product at one or more points of physical measurement
First Claim
1. A system for standardizing a volume of a liquid product delivered from a distributor to a consumer, the system comprising:
- a plurality of volume measurement devices, wherein at least one volume measurement device is located at each of (i) a fuel source located with a distributor, (ii) a storage tank at a retail facility, and (ii) a dispenser that delivers the liquid product to the consumer, and wherein each said volume measurement device measures a gross volume of the liquid product at, respectively, said distributor fuel source, said retail facility storage tank, and said dispenser and generates volume data indicative of said gross volume;
a plurality of temperature measurement devices, wherein at least one temperature measurement device is located at each of (i) said distributor fuel source, (ii) said retail facility storage tank and (iii) said dispenser, wherein each said temperature measurement device measures a temperature of the liquid product at, respectively, said distributor fuel source, said retail facility storage tank, and said dispenser and generates temperature data indicative of said temperature; and
a plurality of time-stamp systems, wherein at least one time-stamp system is located at each of (i) said retail facility storage tank, and (ii) said dispenser, and wherein each said time-stamp system receives said volume data and said temperature data and allocates a time-stamp to each of said volume data and said temperature data generated at, respectively, said retail facility storage tank and said dispenser.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are methods, systems, and computer program products for performing temperature standardization of the volume of a liquid product from a distributor to a consumer. Using a volume measurement device and a temperature measurement device located at a rack, a storage tank, and a dispenser, a gross volume and temperature of the liquid product at, respectively, the rack, the storage tank, and the dispenser can be measured. Volume data indicative of the gross volume and temperature data indicative of the temperature can be generated. A time-stamp system at each of the rack, the storage tank, and the dispenser allocates a time-stamp to each of the volume data and the temperature data so that a reconciliation process can use each of the time-stamps, the temperature data, and the volume data to reconcile gross to net volumes at a single point in time.
34 Citations
40 Claims
-
1. A system for standardizing a volume of a liquid product delivered from a distributor to a consumer, the system comprising:
-
a plurality of volume measurement devices, wherein at least one volume measurement device is located at each of (i) a fuel source located with a distributor, (ii) a storage tank at a retail facility, and (ii) a dispenser that delivers the liquid product to the consumer, and wherein each said volume measurement device measures a gross volume of the liquid product at, respectively, said distributor fuel source, said retail facility storage tank, and said dispenser and generates volume data indicative of said gross volume;
a plurality of temperature measurement devices, wherein at least one temperature measurement device is located at each of (i) said distributor fuel source, (ii) said retail facility storage tank and (iii) said dispenser, wherein each said temperature measurement device measures a temperature of the liquid product at, respectively, said distributor fuel source, said retail facility storage tank, and said dispenser and generates temperature data indicative of said temperature; and
a plurality of time-stamp systems, wherein at least one time-stamp system is located at each of (i) said retail facility storage tank, and (ii) said dispenser, and wherein each said time-stamp system receives said volume data and said temperature data and allocates a time-stamp to each of said volume data and said temperature data generated at, respectively, said retail facility storage tank and said dispenser. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method of standardizing a volume of a liquid product across a fuel management system, the method comprising:
-
measuring a gross volume and a temperature of the liquid product at each of a fuel source located with a distributor, a storage tank at a retail facility and a dispenser at said retail facility, wherein said temperature measurements and said gross volume measurements in said tank and at said dispenser are each given a time-stamp; and
using said measurements of gross volume, temperature, and each of said time-stamps, reconciling gross to net volumes of the liquid product at a single point in time. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A computer program product for implementing a method of standardizing a volume of a liquid product across a fuel management system, the computer program product comprising one or more computer readable media having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, can cause the distributed computing system to perform the following:
-
measuring a rack gross volume and a rack temperature of the liquid product at a rack located with a distributor, measuring a tank gross volume and a tank temperature of the liquid product at a storage tank at a retail facility measuring a dispenser gross volume and a dispenser temperature of the liquid product at a dispenser at said retail facility, assigning a time-stamp to each measured gross volume and each measured temperature; and
using each measured gross volume, measured temperature, said time-stamp, reconciling gross to net volumes of the liquid product at a single point in time. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. A system for standardizing a volume of a liquid product, the system comprising:
-
a volume measurement device for measuring a gross volume of liquid product and for generating volume data indicative of said gross volume, a temperature measurement device for measuring a temperature of liquid product and for generating temperature data indicative of said temperature, and a time-stamp system configured to receive said volume data and said temperature data generated by the volume measurement device and the temperature measurement device and to allocate a time-stamp to the volume data and the temperature data. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
-
34. A system for standardizing a volume of a liquid product, wherein the liquid product is delivered from a fuel source by a carrier to a retail facility storage tank and is delivered from the retail facility storage tank through a dispenser to a consumer, the system comprising:
-
a volume measurement device that measures a gross volume of liquid product upon delivery of the liquid product to a carrier and generates volume data indicative of said gross volume;
a temperature measurement device that measures a temperature of liquid product upon delivery of the liquid product to a carrier and generates temperature data indicative of said temperature;
a volume measurement device that measures a gross volume of liquid product at a retail facility storage tank and generates storage tank volume data indicative of said gross volume;
a temperature measurement device that measures a temperature of liquid product at the retail facility storage tank and generates storage tank temperature data indicative of said temperature;
a time-stamp system configured to receive said storage tank volume data and said storage tank temperature data and to allocate a time-stamp to the storage tank volume data and the storage tank temperature data;
a dispenser volume measurement device that measures a gross volume of liquid product at a dispenser and generates dispenser volume data indicative of said gross volume;
a dispenser temperature measurement device that measures a temperature of liquid product at the dispenser and generates dispenser temperature data indicative of said temperature; and
a time-stamp system configured to receive said dispenser volume data and said dispenser temperature data and to allocate a time-stamp to the dispenser volume data and the dispenser temperature data. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
-
Specification