Output control for turbine vapor flow meter
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A vapor recovery-equipped fuel dispenser that dispenses fuel from a storage tank to a vehicle and recovers vapor from the vehicle during refueling, comprising:
- a fuel conduit that carries the fuel from the storage tank;
a vapor return line that carries the vapor from the vehicle back to the storage tank;
a hose and nozzle combination fluidly coupled to said fuel conduit and said vapor return line wherein said hose and nozzle receives the fuel and delivers the fuel to the vehicle, and wherein said hose and nozzle receives the vapor recovered from the vehicle to return to said vapor return line;
a fuel flow control valve located inline to said fuel conduit, wherein a control system controls the opening and closing of said fuel flow control valve to control fuel flow through said fuel conduit;
a fuel meter located inline to said fuel conduit that measures the amount of fuel received from the storage tank, and communicates a fuel flow signal to said control system; and
a turbine vapor flow meter located inline to said vapor return line that measures the amount of recovered vapor, and communicates a vapor flow signal to said control system;
said control system adapted to ignore said vapor flow signal when said fuel is no longer being dispensed to the vehicle.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A turbine flow meter used as a vapor flow meter in a vapor recovery-equipped fuel dispenser. The turbine flow meter measures the vapor recovered by the fuel dispenser during a fueling operation that is returned back to the underground storage tank. The turbine flow meter measurements may be ignored when fuel is no longer flowing through the fuel dispenser since the turbine rotors in the turbine flow meter may continue to rotate even after vapor is no longer being recovered.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A vapor recovery-equipped fuel dispenser that dispenses fuel from a storage tank to a vehicle and recovers vapor from the vehicle during refueling, comprising:
-
a fuel conduit that carries the fuel from the storage tank;
a vapor return line that carries the vapor from the vehicle back to the storage tank;
a hose and nozzle combination fluidly coupled to said fuel conduit and said vapor return line wherein said hose and nozzle receives the fuel and delivers the fuel to the vehicle, and wherein said hose and nozzle receives the vapor recovered from the vehicle to return to said vapor return line;
a fuel flow control valve located inline to said fuel conduit, wherein a control system controls the opening and closing of said fuel flow control valve to control fuel flow through said fuel conduit;
a fuel meter located inline to said fuel conduit that measures the amount of fuel received from the storage tank, and communicates a fuel flow signal to said control system; and
a turbine vapor flow meter located inline to said vapor return line that measures the amount of recovered vapor, and communicates a vapor flow signal to said control system;
said control system adapted to ignore said vapor flow signal when said fuel is no longer being dispensed to the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method for measuring the amount of vapor recovered by a vapor recovery-equipped fuel dispenser during refueling of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
-
receiving a fuel flow signal from a fuel meter that measures the amount of fuel dispensed to the vehicle;
receiving a vapor flow signal from a turbine vapor flow meter that measures the amount of vapor recovered during refueling of the vehicle; and
ignoring said vapor flow signal when fuel is no longer being dispensed to the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
controlling the fuel flow using a fuel flow control valve; and
generating a fuel flow control valve signal that controls the opening and closing of said fuel flow control valve;
wherein said step of ignoring comprises ignoring said vapor flow signal when said fuel flow control valve signal indicates closing said fuel flow control valve.
-
-
20. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:
-
controlling the amount of vapor recovered using a vapor pump; and
generating a vapor pump signal that controls said vapor pump;
wherein said step of ignoring comprises ignoring said vapor flow signal based on said vapor pump signal indicating that said vapor pump is deactivated.
-
-
21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of:
-
adjusting the speed of said vapor pump using a vapor pump signal;
wherein said step of ignoring comprises ignoring said vapor flow signal based on the speed of said vapor pump passing below a threshold value.
-
-
22. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of:
-
indicating when fuel is no longer flowing through said fuel flow meter using a flow switch;
wherein said step of ignoring comprises ignoring said vapor flow signal when said flow switch indicates when fuel is no longer flowing through said turbine fuel flow meter.
-
-
23. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of:
-
controlling the amount of vapor recovered using a vapor valve;
wherein said step of ignoring comprises ignoring said vapor flow signal when said vapor valve is closed.
-
-
24. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:
-
determining the volume of fuel delivered to the vehicle using said fuel flow signal; and
determining the volume of vapor recovered from the vehicle during refueling using said vapor flow signal.
-
-
25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of calculating a vapor to fuel ratio by dividing said volume of vapor recovered by said volume of fuel delivered.
-
26. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of communicating said vapor to fuel ratio to a control system in the group consisting of a site controller, a tank monitor, and a remote system.
Specification