SEWER OVERFLOW DISCHARGE MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20150019146A1
• Filed: 07/15/2014
• Published: 01/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xylem Vue, Inc. (Xylem, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EmNet, LLC (Xylem, Inc.)
• Inventors: Montestruque, Luis
• Granted Patent: US 10,161,124 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/45
• CPC Class Codes: E03F 2201/20 Measuring flow in sewer systems
• CPC Class Codes: E03F 5/12 Emergency outlets
• CPC Class Codes: E03F 7/04 Valves for preventing return flow in gullies, drains or the like E03F5/042
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/002 wherein the flow is in an open channel
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 15/005 Valves valves in general F16K
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 15/063 using electrical means

Abstract

A method and a system for monitoring the performance of combined sewer overflow structures is described. The inventive system includes sensors for monitoring the level of sewage in the structure and the operation of valves. A data processing unit collects data and calculates the flow of an overflow event and/or the performance of gate valves. The system may be battery operated and may adaptively change the sensor sampling time to prolong battery lifetime.

Claims

1. A system to monitor the operation of one or more gate valves operating in parallel between an upstream sewer location and a downstream sewer location, the system comprising:

sensors for generating measurements of an upstream liquid level at an upstream sewer location, a downstream liquid level at a downstream sewer location, and an indication of the degree of opening of each of the one or more gate valves; and

a data processing device to sample the measurements and programmed to estimate the volume of sewer discharge from the sampled measurements.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensors include a first level sensor to measure the upstream liquid level, a second level sensor to measure the downstream liquid level, and a tilt sensor disposed on each gate of the one or more gates.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the system includes a telemetry system, where the telemetry system reports the estimated volume of sewer discharge and a time of the sewer discharge.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the system adjusts the rate at which the measurements are sampled by the data processing device.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the system is powered by batteries.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a flow meter upstream of the one or more gates, where the flow meter is used to calibrate for flow momentum.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a flow meter downstream of the one or more gates, where the flow meter is used to calibrate the discharge coefficient of each of the one or more gates.

8. The system of claim 1, where the data processing device is further programmed to determine if one or more of the gate valves is not operating properly.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the system includes a telemetry system, where the telemetry system reports if the gate is not operating properly.

10. The system of claim 8, where the a data processing device is programmed to determine if one or more of the gate valves is not operating properly by comparing the sampled indication of the degree of opening of at least one of the one or more gate valves with a theoretical flap valve angle calculated from the sampled upstream liquid level and the sampled downstream liquid level.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the sensors include a first level sensor to measure the upstream liquid level, a second level sensor to measure the downstream liquid level, and a tilt sensor disposed on each gate of the one or more gates.

13. The system of claim 8 wherein the system includes a telemetry system, where the telemetry system reports if the gate is not operating properly.

14. The system of claim 8, where the a data processing device is programmed to determine if one or more of the gate valves is not operating properly by comparing the sampled indication of the degree of opening of at least one of the one or more gate valves with a theoretical flap valve angle calculated from the sampled upstream liquid level and the sampled downstream liquid level.

23. The method of claim 8 wherein the determining includes calibrating a discharge coefficient based on flow measured when flap gates are unaffected by the receiving body

11. A system to monitor the operation of one or more gate valves operating in parallel between an upstream sewer location and a downstream sewer location, the system comprising:

sensors for generating measurements of an upstream liquid level at an upstream sewer location, a downstream liquid level at a downstream sewer location, and an indication of the degree of opening of each of the one or more gate valves; and

a data processing device adapted to sample the measurements and programmed to determine if one or more of the gate valves is not operating properly.

15. A method for reporting CSO events using a sewer overflow discharge monitoring system, the method comprising:

measuring liquid levels and the degree of opening of one or more gate valves in a CSO structure;

determining the performance of the CSO structure; and

storing the determined performance a data processing unit.

16. The method of claim 15, where the performance includes the flow through the one or more gate valves, the method further comprising:

estimating the flow through the one or more gate valves.

17. The method of claim 15, where the performance includes a determination of gate valve operation, the method further comprising:

calculating a theoretical flap gate angle from the measured liquid levels.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the data processing unit includes a telemetry system for data transmission in real time.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the data processing device measures sensor data at a faster rate when the flap gate tilt measurement indicates a possible CSO occurrence.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein the data processing unit provides power to the sensors only when acquiring data.

21. The method of claim 15 wherein the sewer overflow discharge monitoring system operates on batteries.

22. The method of claim 15 wherein an additional term for upstream hydraulic head, based on upstream flow velocity, is introduced to compensate for flow momentum.