Ultrasonic 2-phase flow apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An apparatus suitable for measurement of the properties of a two-phase flow of liquid and gas, comprising:
- means for measuring a parameter with respect to said gas; and
means programmable for estimating based on said parameter a fraction of said liquid in said gas and a flow rate for either of said liquid and said gas.
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Abstract
An apparatus and related method for measuring the properties and individual flow rates of a two-phase flow comprising a gas and a liquid is disclosed. This apparatus and related method also can determine whether the liquid is travelling in primarily a mist or stratified flow. More precisely, one embodiment of the disclosed invention uses measured parameters such as gain, standard deviation in upstream and downstream travel times for an ultrasonic signal, measured speed of sound, noise, signal quality, batch failure rate, and velocity profile to infer the amount of liquid in the gas flow, and in what form the liquid is travelling. For a horizontal two-phase flow, an internal measurement can be used as a dry gas reference, although the invention is also applicable to a vertical flow. For increased confidence, these determinations may be corroborated by the disclosed liquid level measurement device.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus suitable for measurement of the properties of a two-phase flow of liquid and gas, comprising:
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means for measuring a parameter with respect to said gas; and
means programmable for estimating based on said parameter a fraction of said liquid in said gas and a flow rate for either of said liquid and said gas.
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2. A meter to determine the percentage of a liquid present in a volume of gas, the meter comprising:
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a first transmitter suitable to transmit ultrasonic energy through said volume of gas;
a detector positioned to receive said ultrasonic energy and further configured to detect said ultrasonic energy; and
a processor associated with said detector, said processor programmed to analyze at least one parameter of said ultrasonic energy to determine one or more variations, said one or more variations corresponding to said percentage of liquid present in said volume of gas. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
a second transmitter to transmit ultrasonic energy through said volume of gas; and
a second receiver to receive said ultrasonic energy from said second transmitter;
wherein said processor analyzes said at least one parameter corresponding to said ultrasonic energy from said first transmitter and corresponding to said ultrasonic energy from said second transmitter to establish a gradient across said volume of gas, said at least one parameter including said gradient.
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20. The meter of claim 2, wherein said at least one parameter includes a velocity profile of said volume of gas.
Specification