Vibration and flow actuated valve shutoff system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An automatically actuated regulation system for gas and other fluids flowing in a pipeline comprising:
- a microprocessor configured to control said regulation system;
a flow control unit coupled to said microprocessor, said flow control unit configured to regulate the flow through said pipeline when activated;
a vibration sensor coupled to said microprocessor, said sensor configured to determine seismic activity of the earth in the vicinity of said system, and generate a vibration indication signal corresponding to the amplitude of said seismic activity;
a gas flow meter coupled to said microprocessor, said meter configured to provide a flow signal corresponding to the measure of gas flow through said pipeline;
a trigger unit, said trigger unit coupled to said flow control unit and configured to activate said flow control unit; and
said trigger unit activating said flow control unit whensaid vibration indication signal is larger than a first predetermined threshold value, andsaid measure of flow signal is larger than a second threshold value.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An automatically actuated regulation system for a natural gas pipeline having flow control unit, a vibration sensor, a gas flow meter, a trigger unit, and a microprocessor. The microprocessor actuates the flow control unit when two conditions are met. First, there must be a vibration which surpasses a predetermined threshold. Second, flow in the natural gas pipeline must have increased over the flow rate before the vibration.
51 Citations
38 Claims
-
1. An automatically actuated regulation system for gas and other fluids flowing in a pipeline comprising:
-
a microprocessor configured to control said regulation system; a flow control unit coupled to said microprocessor, said flow control unit configured to regulate the flow through said pipeline when activated; a vibration sensor coupled to said microprocessor, said sensor configured to determine seismic activity of the earth in the vicinity of said system, and generate a vibration indication signal corresponding to the amplitude of said seismic activity; a gas flow meter coupled to said microprocessor, said meter configured to provide a flow signal corresponding to the measure of gas flow through said pipeline; a trigger unit, said trigger unit coupled to said flow control unit and configured to activate said flow control unit; and said trigger unit activating said flow control unit when said vibration indication signal is larger than a first predetermined threshold value, and said measure of flow signal is larger than a second threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. An automatically actuated regulation system for gas and other fluids flowing in a pipeline comprising:
-
a microprocessor configured to control said regulation system; a flow control unit coupled to said microprocessor, said flow control unit configured to regulate the flow through said pipeline when activated; a vibration sensor coupled to said microprocessor, said sensor configured to determine seismic activity of the earth in the vicinity of said system, and generate a vibration indication signal in response to said seismic activity; a gas flow meter coupled to said microprocessor, said meter configured to provide a flow signal corresponding to the measure of gas flow through said pipeline; a trigger unit, said trigger unit coupled to said flow control unit and configured to activate said flow control unit; and said trigger unit activating said flow control unit when said vibration indication signal is generated, and said measure of gas flow signal is larger than a threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. An automatically actuated regulation system for a gas pipeline comprising:
-
a vibration sensor that generates a vibration signal in response to seismic activity in the vicinity of said regulation system; a gas flow meter coupled to said gas pipeline that is configured to generate a gas flow signal corresponding to the flow of gas traveling through said gas pipeline; a trigger unit coupled to said vibration sensor and said gas flow meter and configured to generate a trigger signal, when said vibration signal is larger than a vibration threshold value, and when said gas flow signal is larger than a gas flow threshold signal; and a flow control unit coupled to said trigger unit, said flow control unit configured to regulate the flow through said pipeline when activated in response to said trigger signal. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
-
-
37. A method for automatically regulating the gas flow through a gas pipeline by, which comprises:
-
measuring gas flow in a pipeline; measuring vibration in the vicinity of said pipeline, and providing a vibration indication signal; measuring gas flow after it is determined that value of said vibration indication signal exceeds a first predetermined threshold; comparing gas flow, before value of said vibration indication signal exceeds said first predetermined threshold, to gas flow, after value of said vibration indication signal exceeds said first predetermine threshold; and stopping the flow of gas when the gas flow, after value of said vibration indication signal exceeds said first predetermined threshold, exceeds a second threshold. - View Dependent Claims (38)
-
Specification