REMOTE MONITORING OF MATERIAL STORAGE CONTAINERS

• US 20130002443A1
• Filed: 08/23/2012
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intelligent Technologies International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intelligent Technologies International, Inc.
• Inventors: Breed, David S., DuVall, Wilbur E., Johnson, Wendell C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,994,546 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/686.1
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2590/0083 Computer or electronic system, e.g. GPS systems
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 90/48 Arrangements of indicating or measuring devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0846 having multiple detectors for performing different types of detection, e.g. using radiometry and reflectometry channels

Abstract

Arrangement and method for monitoring a material storage container which includes a housing defining an interior receivable of removable material. An interior sensor system is arranged on the housing to obtain information about any material in the interior of the housing different than the location of the container. A location determining system is arranged on the housing to monitor the location of the container, and a communication system is coupled to the interior sensor system and the location determining system and transmits information about the material in the housing and the location of the container to one or more remote facilities. The communication system may be arranged on the housing itself, which is especially applicable when the housing is movable, for example, such as the housing of a Frac tank. The location and condition of the material in the container can thus be known at all times.

Claims

1. A material storage container including an arrangement for monitoring the container, comprising:

a housing defining an interior receivable of a removable flowable material;

an interior sensor system arranged on or in said housing, said interior sensor system being configured to obtain information about a level or quantity of material in the interior of said housing;

a location or identification determining system at least partially arranged on said housing, said location or identification determining system being configured to at least partially determine a location of the container or provide an indicia enabling location of the container to be determined; and

a communication system coupled to said interior sensor system and said location determining system, said communication system being configured to transmit the obtained information about the material in the interior of said housing and the determined location or indicia of the container to a remote facility.

2. The container of claim 1, wherein said interior sensor system comprises at least one transmitter/receiver arranged to direct waves at an upper surface of the material when present in the interior of said housing, further comprising a processor arranged to analyze waves received by said at least one transmitter/receiver and derive information about a quantity of the material in the interior of said housing based on the analysis of the waves received by said at least one transmitter/receiver.

3. The container of claim 1, wherein said interior sensor system comprises at least one ultrasonic wave transmitter/receiver that direct ultrasonic waves at an upper surface of the material when present in the interior of said housing and receives ultrasonic waves reflected from the upper surface of the material, further comprising a processor coupled to said at least one transmitter/receiver and that is configured to analyze waves received by said at least one transmitter/receiver and derive information about a quantity of the material in the interior of said housing based on the analysis of the waves received by said at least one transmitter/receiver, said processor being further configured to obtain information about gas in the interior of said housing and compensate for gas density gradients in the interior of said housing when deriving the information about the quantity of the material in the interior of said housing.

4. The container of claim 1, wherein said interior sensor system comprises at least one sensor arranged on a roof or lid of said container and configured to direct waves downward from said roof or lid.

5. The container of claim 1, wherein said interior sensor system comprises at least one sensor that obtains information about a quantity of the material in the interior of said housing and a processor coupled to said at least one sensor and that periodically directs said at least one sensor to obtain information.

6. The container of claim 1, further comprising a wakeup sensor system that detects occurrence of an internal or external requiring a change in the frequency of monitoring of the interior of said housing by said interior sensor system,

said interior sensor system being coupled to said wakeup sensor system and configured to change a rate at which it obtains information about the material in the interior of said housing in response to the detected occurrence of an internal or external event by said wakeup sensor system,

whereby the rate at which said interior sensor system obtains information about the material in the interior of said housing before the detected occurrence of the internal or external event by said wakeup sensor system is different than the rate at which said interior sensor system obtains information about the material in the interior of said housing after the detected occurrence of the internal or external event by said wakeup sensor system.

7. The container of claim 1, further comprising a wakeup sensor system that detects absence of an event requiring a change in the frequency of monitoring of the interior of said housing by said interior sensor system for a set time period,

said interior sensor system being coupled to said wakeup sensor system and configured to change a rate at which it obtains information about the material in the interior of said housing in response to the detected absence of an event for the set time period by said wakeup sensor system,

whereby the rate at which said interior sensor system obtains information about the material in the interior of said housing before the detected absence of an event for the set time period by said wakeup sensor system is different than the rate at which said interior sensor system obtains information about the material in the interior of said housing after the detected absence of an event for the set time period by said wakeup sensor system.

8. The container of claim 1, wherein said interior sensor system further comprises at least one chemical sensor for monitoring the chemical nature of the material in the interior of said housing such that the information about the material includes information about the chemical nature of the material.

9. The container of claim 1, wherein said interior sensor system comprises at least one optical sensor arranged to obtain images of the interior of said housing and extract from said images information about the material in said housing.

10. The container of claim 1, further comprising a motion or vibration detection system arranged to detect motion or vibration of the container, said interior sensor system being coupled to said motion or vibration detection system and being configured to obtain information about the material of the interior of said housing only after the container is determined to have moved from a stationary position or vibrated.

11. The container of claim 1, wherein said communication system utilizes cellphone or Internet communications.

12. The container of claim 1, wherein said interior sensor system is provided with a predetermined set of conditions that require service and is configured to analyze whether the obtained information satisfies one of the predetermined set of conditions, and when the obtained information satisfies one of the predetermined set of conditions, said communication system is configured to transmit the obtained information and the determined location of the container to the remote facility.

13. A system for monitoring containers, comprising:

a plurality of containers according to claim 1; and

a remote site separate and apart from said plurality of containers, said remote site including a communication system that communicates with said communication system on all of said plurality of containers,

said remote site including a data processing and storage unit that, upon demand, prepares reports about one or more selected ones of said plurality of containers and enables access to the prepared reports.

14. A method for monitoring at least one material storage container, comprising:

obtaining information about a level or quantity of material in an interior of a housing defining each of the at least one container receivable of a removable flowable material using an interior sensor system arranged on or in the housing;

determining a location of each of the at least one container or providing an indicia enabling location of that container to be determined using a location or identification determining system at least partially arranged on the housing; and

transmitting the obtained information about the material in the interior of the housing and the determined location or indicia of the container to a remote facility using a communication system coupled to the interior sensor system and the location determining system.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining gas density at multiple, spaced-apart locations in the container;

compensating, using a processor, for gas density gradients in the interior of the housing based on the obtained information when obtaining the information about the quantity of the material in the interior of the housing.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

detecting a change in the housing related to a change in the level or quantity of material in the interior of the housing;

obtaining additional information about the level or quantity of material in the interior of the housing the interior sensor system after the detected change in the housing; and

transmitting the obtained additional information and the determined location or indicia of the container to the remote facility using the communication system.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one container comprises a plurality of containers at different locations.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising forming a database of information provided by the plurality of containers.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising enabling access to the database from terminals to enable reports about identified containers to be provided to the terminals.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising detecting motion or vibration of the container and limiting the information obtaining step to a period of time after motion or vibration has been detected.