Watercut monitor device and method
First Claim
1. An apparatus for providing an analog output signal which is linearly proportional to the percentage of water in an emulsion, said apparatus comprising:
- analog input means for generating an analog input signal non-linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion;
digital means, responsive to said analog input means, for digitizing said analog input signal and for translating the digitized analog input signal into a digital signal linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion, said digital means including;
first conversion means, connected to said analog input means, for periodically converting said analog input signal into a respective digital count; and
second conversion means, connected to said first conversion means, for converting each said respective digital count into a respective digital value defining said digital signal; and
analog output means, responsive to said digital means, for converting said digital signal into an analog output signal so that said analog output signal is also linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A watercut monitor device has an oscillator circuit which generates an analog input signal in response to the capacitance of a capacitance probe through which an oil and water emulsion flows. The frequency of the analog input signal is non-linearly related to the watercut of the emulsion. The analog input signal is effectively gated through a digital gating circuit, and a count related to the frequency of the gated signal is digitally made. The digital count addresses a digital memory having digital values, which are linearly related to the watercut of the emulsion, stored therein. Upon being addressed, the digital memory outputs the digital value stored in the addressed location. The digital value is optically coupled to a digital-to-analog converter which converts the digital value into an analog output signal linearly related to the watercut of the emulsion.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing an analog output signal which is linearly proportional to the percentage of water in an emulsion, said apparatus comprising:
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analog input means for generating an analog input signal non-linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion; digital means, responsive to said analog input means, for digitizing said analog input signal and for translating the digitized analog input signal into a digital signal linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion, said digital means including; first conversion means, connected to said analog input means, for periodically converting said analog input signal into a respective digital count; and second conversion means, connected to said first conversion means, for converting each said respective digital count into a respective digital value defining said digital signal; and analog output means, responsive to said digital means, for converting said digital signal into an analog output signal so that said analog output signal is also linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An apparatus for providing an analog output signal which is linearly proportional to the percentage of water in an emulsion, said apparatus comprising:
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analog input means for generating an analog input signal non-linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion; digital means, responsive to said analog input means, for digitizing said analog input signal and for translating the digitized analog input signal into a digital signal linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion; analog output means, responsive to said digital means, for converting said digital signal into an analog output signal so that said analog output signal is also linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion; and wherein said digital means includes a programmable read only memory comprising; memory storage locations at which are stored digital values linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion; address inputs connected to receive the digitized analog input signal so that the received digitized analog input signal selects a respective memory storage location to retrieve the digital value stored thereat; and data outputs to which a retrieved digital value is provided for communication therefrom to said analog output means.
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7. An apparatus for providing an analog output signal which is linearly proportional to the percentage of water in an emulsion, said apparatus comprising:
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analog input means for generating an analog input signal non-linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion, said analog input signal having a frequency non-linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion; digital means, responsive to said analog input means, for digitizing said analog input signal and for translating the digitized analog input signal into a digital signal linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion, said digital means including; counter means for defining a digital count corresponding to the number of cycles of the frequency of said analog input signal received by said counter means; and digital memory means for storing digital values at addressable locations so that in response to said digital memory means receiving a digital count from said counter means, the respective digital value stored at the location addressed by the received digital count is output from said digital memory means for defining said digital signal which is linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion; and analog output means, responsive to said digital means, for converting said digital signal into an analog output signal so that said analog output signal is also linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the emulsion. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A self-contained watercut monitor apparatus for providing an analog output signal which is linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the mixture, said apparatus comprising:
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analog input means, responsive solely to a capacitance which is variable with variations in the percentage of water in the mixture, for generating an analog input signal non-linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the mixture; digital means, responsive solely to said analog input means and including a digital memory, for digitizing said analog input signal and for translating the digitized analog input signal through said digital memory into a digital signal linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the mixture; and analog output means, responsive to said digital means, for converting said digital signal into an analog output signal so that said analog output signal is also linearly proportional to the percentage of water in the mixture. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A watercut monitor device, comprising:
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capacitance means for providing an electrical capacitance which varies in response to the water content of an oil and water emulsion; oscillator means, connected to said capacitance means, for generating an oscillating signal having a frequency determined in response to said electrical capacitance; timing means for providing a timing signal having a first state and a second state; gate means, connected to said oscillator means and said timing means, for communicating the number of cycles of frequency of said oscillating signal in response to the first state of said timing signal and for not communicating the number of cycles of frequency of said oscillating signal in response to the second state of said timing signal; count means, connected to said gate means for generating a digital count of the cycles of frequency of said oscillating signal communicated through said gate means; digital memory means for storing digital values, each of said digital values designates water content of an oil and water emulsion and each of said digital values corresponds to a digital count of said count means, said digital memory means including; address input means for receiving said digital count from said count means so that the received digital count defines a memory location address; a plurality of digital storage locations, each of said locations being accessible in response to a respective memory location address and each of said locations containing one of said digital values; and data output means for communicating the digital value stored at the digital storage location addressed by the memory location address defined by the received digital count; digital-to-analog converter means for converting a digital value from said digital memory means into an analog output signal having a characteristic linearly proportional to the designated water content of an oil and water emulsion; and means for communicating a digital value from said data output means to said digital-to-analog converter means. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of providing a linearized analog signal proportional to the watercut of an emulsion, comprising the
(a) generating a cyclic electrical signal having its cyclic period non-linearly responsive to the watercut; -
(b) counting the number of cyclic periods of the electrical signal occurring during a predetermined time; (c) communicating the count obtained in said step (b) to address lines of an integrated circuit digital memory including memory locations at which digital values are stored, each digital value defining a linearization of a count of the number of cyclic periods of the electrical signal; (d) outputting from the digital memory, in response to said step (c), the digital value stored at the memory location addressed by the communicated count; and (e) converting the digital value output in said step (d) into an analog signal having a detectable characteristic representing the linearization defined by the output digital value. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification