Bubble detector and method of evaluation or calibration thereof
First Claim
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1. A bubble detector comprising:
- an ultrasonic transducer pair comprising a transmitting transducer and a receiving transducer, the ultrasonic transducer pair being positionable to sense bubbles in a vertically downward fluid flow, wherein the fluid flow is downstream of a circumferential flow region;
a transducer driver operatively coupled to the transmitting transducer to cause the transmitting transducer to deliver a pulsed ultrasonic signal across the fluid flow to the receiving transducer;
a signal conditioner operatively coupled to the receiving transducer to receive the pulsed ultrasonic signal from the receiving transducer, the signal conditioner conditioning the pulsed ultrasonic signal to produce a conditioned signal; and
a signal processor operatively coupled to the signal conditioner to receive the conditioned signal, the signal processor determining information correlative to bubbles in the fluid flow in response to the conditioned signal.
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Abstract
A bubble detector utilizes an ultrasonic transducer to sample bubbles as they pass the transducer. The envelope of the return signal is analyzed to determine the volume of each sampled bubble. If the total volume of bubbles sampled within a certain period of time exceeds a desired maximum volume, the bubble detector may initiate a system shut down. A bubble detector can be evaluated or calibrated by introducing bubbles into a conduit, detecting the bubbles introduced into the conduit using visual inspection or a bubble detector of known resolution and comparing the results with the examination of a bubble detector under evaluation.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A bubble detector comprising:
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an ultrasonic transducer pair comprising a transmitting transducer and a receiving transducer, the ultrasonic transducer pair being positionable to sense bubbles in a vertically downward fluid flow, wherein the fluid flow is downstream of a circumferential flow region;
a transducer driver operatively coupled to the transmitting transducer to cause the transmitting transducer to deliver a pulsed ultrasonic signal across the fluid flow to the receiving transducer;
a signal conditioner operatively coupled to the receiving transducer to receive the pulsed ultrasonic signal from the receiving transducer, the signal conditioner conditioning the pulsed ultrasonic signal to produce a conditioned signal; and
a signal processor operatively coupled to the signal conditioner to receive the conditioned signal, the signal processor determining information correlative to bubbles in the fluid flow in response to the conditioned signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of detecting bubbles, comprising the acts of:
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(a) transmitting a pulsed ultrasonic signal across a vertically downward fluid flow, wherein the fluid flow is downstream of a circumferential flow region;
(b) receiving the pulsed ultrasonic signal transmitted across the fluid flow;
(c) conditioning the received pulsed ultrasonic signal to produce a conditioned signal; and
(d) processing the conditioned signal to determine information correlative to bubbles in the fluid flow. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification