ULTRASONIC GAS LEAK DETECTOR WITH AN ELECTRICAL POWER LOSS AND CARBON FOOTPRINT OUTPUT

• US 20090303058A1
• Filed: 06/04/2008
• Published: 12/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: UE Systems Inc.
• Original Assignee: UE Systems Inc.
• Inventors: Goodman, Mark A., Mohr, Gary, Bishop, William
• Granted Patent: US 7,817,050 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/605
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 3/24 using infrasonic, sonic, or ultrasonic vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/14 using acoustic emission techniques echo of particles G01N29/046; measuring mechanical vibrations or acoustic waves in solids in general G01H1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/4427 with stored values, e.g. threshold values
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/46 by spectral analysis, e.g. Fourier analysis or wavelet analysis spectral signal processing per se G06F17/14

Abstract

A system determines the carbon footprint of a compressed gas leak. The system comprises an ultrasonic detector to detect a compressed gas leak, a storage device storing information on the type of gas, the compressor efficiency, and the carbon emissions necessary to generate electricity to drive the compressor. A processing unit includes software that determines an amount of electrical energy needed to recharge the lost compressed gas based on the compressor efficiency and calculates the carbon emissions created by the amount of electrical energy. A method monitoring for gas leaks comprises detecting ultrasonic emissions, generating an electrical signal representative of the compressed gas leak, and calculating an amount of electrical energy needed to recharge the lost compressed gas. The method further includes calculating the carbon footprint based on the carbon emissions necessary for the electrical power generation system that drives the compressor.

Claims

1. A system for determining the carbon footprint of a compressed gas leak from a compressed gas supply created by an electrical compressor connected to an electrical power generation network, the system comprising:

an ultrasonic detector configured to detect the existence and volume of a compressed gas leak and to generate an electrical signal representative thereof;

a storage device storing information on the type of compressed gas, the efficiency of the compressor creating the compressed gas and the carbon emissions necessary for the electrical generation system that drives the compressor to generate a unit of electricity;

a processing unit connected to receive the electrical signal and having access to said storage device, said processing unit including a software module configured to determine an amount of electrical energy per unit of time needed to recharge a loss in compressed gas that results from the determined compressed gas leak based on the efficiency of the compressor; and

a display connected to the processing unit and displaying the amount of electrical energy associated with the compressed gas leak.

2. The system of claim 1, further including a software module configured to calculate the carbon emissions created by the amount of electrical energy needed to recharge the loss in compressed gas.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the display is further configured to display the amount of carbon emissions.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the ultrasonic detector comprises:

a heterodyne circuit configured to shift an ultrasonic signal to an audio signal,

a display configured to display a time series representation of the heterodyned ultrasonic signal,

a headphone jack;

a failure condition detector in communication with the heterodyne circuit and configured to determine if the audio signal falls outside a predetermined profile;

a digital audio network converter configured to convert an audio signal outside the predetermined range to a digital data stream and to transmit the digital data stream as an electrical signal representative of the existence and volume of a compressed gas leak.

5. A system for determining the carbon footprint of a compressed gas leak, the system comprising:

an ultrasonic detector including a heterodyne circuit configured to shift an ultrasonic signal to an audio signal, a display configured to display a time series representation of the heterodyned ultrasonic signal, and a headphone jack;

a failure condition detector in communication with the ultrasonic detector and configured to determine if the audio signal falls outside a predetermined profile;

a digital audio network converter configured to convert an audio signal outside the predetermined range to a digital data stream and to transmit the digital data stream across a communication network; and

a processing unit connected to the communication network and configured to receive the digital data stream, the processing unit including an analysis software module configured to determine if the digital data stream represents a compressed gas leak, and to determine the rate-of-flow of the determined compressed gas leak so as to calculate an amount of electrical energy per unit of time needed to recharge a loss in compressed gas that results from the determined compressed gas leak, and the processing unit further including a software module configured to calculate the carbon footprint created by the amount of electrical energy needed to recharge the loss in compressed gas.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the ultrasonic detector is remotely located from the processing unit and in proximity of a reservoir of compressed gas.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the ultrasonic detector, the failure condition detector, and the digital audio network converter are located in a single housing.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the calculated amount of electrical energy is dependent on factors including at least one of a particular type of gas to be compressed, and an efficiency of a gas compressor connected to the reservoir.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein the calculated carbon footprint is dependent on a type of electrical power generation.

10. The system of claim 5, further comprising a plurality of ultrasonic detectors located in proximity to a plurality of respective reservoirs of compressed gas, wherein each of the plurality of ultrasonic detectors is connected to a respective failure condition detector.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processing unit receives respective digital data streams representative of an ultrasonic signal from each of the plurality of ultrasonic detectors, the system further comprising a display connected to the processing unit, wherein the display is configured to display at least one of a cumulative amount of electrical energy needed to recharge the plurality of respective reservoirs and a cumulative carbon footprint corresponding to the cumulative amount of electrical energy.

12. The system of claim 5, wherein the processing unit is further configured to generate a report correlating at least one of the determined compressed gas leak to electrical usage, a cost of the electrical usage per unit of time, and a quantity of carbon emissions required to recharge the loss in compressed gas.

13. The system of claim 5, wherein the digital audio network converter is configured to generate the digital audio stream one of continuously, periodically, and in response to detection of a potential compressed gas leak.

14. The system of claim 5, wherein the ultrasonic leak detector further includes an embedded network server for access and remote monitoring.

15. The system of claim 5, wherein the determination by the processing unit of a compressed gas leak is based on a frequency spectrum of the received digital data stream.

16. A method for remotely monitoring for potential gas leaks from a compressed gas reservoir created by an electrical compressor connected to an electrical power generation network and determining the carbon foot print as a result of such gas leaks, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting ultrasonic emissions from the compressed gas reservoir due to a gas leak;

generating an electrical signal representative of the existence and volume per unit time of the gas leak; and

calculating an amount of electrical energy per unit of time needed to recharge a loss in compressed gas resulting from the gas leak, said calculation being based on the efficiency of the compressor.

17. The method of claim 16, further including the step of calculating the carbon footprint created by the gas leak based on the carbon emissions necessary for the electrical power generation system that drives the compressor to generate a unit of electricity.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the steps of detecting ultrasonic emissions and generating an electrical signal comprise the steps of:

generating an ultrasonic electrical signal based on the ultrasonic emissions from the compressed gas leak;

heterodyning the ultrasonic signal into an audio signal;

providing the audio signal to a failure condition detector that determines if the audio signal falls outside a predetermined profile;

digitizing, by a digital audio network converter, an audio signal outside the predetermined range to a digital data stream;

determining with a processor, if the digital data stream represents a compressed gas leak;

calculating the rate-of-flow of the determined compressed gas leak; and

generating an electrical signal representative of the existence and volume per unit time of the gas leak.

19. A method for remotely monitoring a compressed gas reservoir for potential gas leaks, the method comprising the steps of:

providing an ultrasonic leak detector in proximity of the compressed gas reservoir, wherein the ultrasonic leak detector includes a heterodyne circuit that shifts an ultrasonic signal to an audio signal;

detecting ultrasonic emissions from the compressed gas reservoir;

heterodyning the ultrasonic signal to an audio signal;

providing the audio signal to a failure condition detector that determines if the audio signal falls outside a predetermined profile;

digitizing, by a digital audio network converter, an audio signal outside the predetermined range to a digital data stream;

transmitting the digital data stream across a communication network to a processing unit;

determining, by the processor, if the digital data stream represents a compressed gas leak;

analyzing the rate-of-flow of the determined compressed gas leak;

calculating an amount of electrical energy per unit of time needed to recharge a loss in compressed gas that results from the analyzed rate-of-flow; and

calculating the carbon footprint created by the amount of electrical energy needed to recharge the loss in compressed gas

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the processing unit is located remotely from the ultrasonic detector.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the providing step includes providing a plurality of ultrasonic detectors in proximity to a plurality of respective compressed gas reservoirs.

22. The method of claim 19, further including the step of sending a control signal to a compressor coupled to the compressed gas reservoir.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the calculation of the amount of electrical energy is based on a set of curves that show the relationship between the rate-of-flow and an amplitude of the ultrasonic emissions.

24. The method of claim 19, further including the step of displaying on a monitor connected to the processing unit the rate-of-flow of the determined gas leak.

25. The method of claim 19, further including the step of providing an estimate of cost avoidance achieved by repairing compressed gas leaks.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the cost avoidance is measured in one of monetary and carbon footprint units.