Mass flow meter having an oscillation sensor and method for eliminating noise signals from the measurement signal

• US 7,783,434 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2007
• Issued: 08/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABB AG (ABB Limited)
• Original Assignee: ABB AG (ABB Limited)
• Inventors: Keese, Dieter, Blume, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Cosimano; Edward R
• Application Number:
  US11/790,427
• Publication Number:
  US 20070255534A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,217 Days
• Field of Search: 735/70, 735/84, 735/92, 736/49, 738/61, 738/611.8, 738/611.9, 738/613.51, 738/613.54, 738/613.55, 738/613.56, 702/1, 702/33, 702/45, 702/50, 702/55, 702/56, 702/127, 702/189, 702/190, 702/191, 702/193, 702/194, 702/195, 703/100, 703/200, 703/300
• US Class Current: 702/54
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/8422 exciters
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/8436 signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/8472 having curved measuring conduits, i.e. whereby the measuring conduits' curved center line lies within a plane G01F1/8481 takes precedence

Abstract

Mass flow meter having at least one measurement tube, through which mass flows, as an oscillation body which can be set in mechanical oscillation by means of an excitation unit, the oscillation behavior of which varying as a function of the mass flow can be recorded via at least one oscillation sensor in order to determine the mass flow, wherein in order to eliminate noise signals from the measurement voltage (se_n) recorded via the oscillation sensor computational technology means are provided for forming a complex conjugate spectrum (|sa_1j|) from the spectrum of the excitation voltage (se_D) as well as a vector product between this (|sa_1j|) and the measurement voltage (se_n) for the purpose of filtering, in order, by further computational technology means for inverse Fourier transformation, to obtain the signal relationship associated with the vector product between the excitation voltage (se_D) and the measurement voltage (se_n) so that the processed measurement voltage (sa₁) resulting therefrom then predominantly comprises a useful signal component.

Claims

1. A mass flow meter, comprising:

at least one measurement tube configured to allow a mass to flow therethrough and configured as an oscillation body having an oscillation behavior that is variable as a function of the mass flow, the oscillation body being configured to be set in mechanical oscillation by means of an excitation unit that is driven by an excitation voltage;

at least one oscillation sensor configured to record a measurement voltage based on the oscillation behavior of the oscillation body to determine the mass flow;

first computational technology means for

forming a complex conjugate spectrum from a spectrum of the excitation voltage, and

forming a vector product between the complex conjugate spectrum and the measurement voltage, the vector product reflecting a signal relationship between the excitation voltage and the measurement voltage; and

second computational technology means for producing a processed measurement voltage based on an inverse Fourier transformation associated with the vector product so that the processed measurement voltage contains a useful signal component corresponding to a noise-filtered version of the measurement voltage.

2. The mass flow meter as claimed in claim 1, comprising third computational technology means for determining the rate of the mass flow through the measurement tube based on a phase relation between the excitation voltage and the processed measurement voltage.

3. The mass flow meter as claimed in claim 1, comprising third technology means for determining a density of the mass based on a frequency ratio between the excitation voltage and the processed measurement voltage.

4. The mass flow meter as claimed in claim 3, wherein the third computational technology means are configured to determine a rate of the mass flow through the measurement tube based on the processed measurement voltage.

5. The mass flow meter as claimed in claim 1, comprising third computational technology means for determining a rate of the mass flow through the measurement tube based on the processed measurement voltage.

6. The mass flow meter as claimed in claim 5, wherein the excitation voltage is sinusoidal.

7. The mass flow meter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the excitation voltage driving the excitation unit is sinusoidal.

8. The mass flow meter as claimed in claim 7, wherein the excitation voltage driving the excitation unit has a frequency in the range from 50 Hz to 200 Hz.

9. The mass flow meter as claimed in claim 8, wherein the excitation voltage driving the excitation unit has a frequency of about 100 Hz.

10. A method for eliminating noise signals from the measurement voltage of an oscillation sensor of a flow meter, the method comprising the computation steps of:

forming a complex conjugate spectrum from the spectrum of an excitation voltage, the excitation voltage driving oscillatory excitation of a measurement tube of the flow meter,

forming a vector product between the complex conjugate spectrum and the measurement voltage for the measurement voltage, and

carrying out an inverse Fourier transformation associated with the vector product to evaluate a signal relationship between the excitation voltage and the measurement voltage, the inverse Fourier transformation producing a processed measurement voltage that contains a useful signal component corresponding to a noise-filtered version of the measurement voltage.

11. An electronic computation unit configured to process a measurement signal obtained via an oscillation sensor of a flow meter, comprising a computation unit configured to:

form a complex conjugate spectrum from the spectrum of an excitation voltage, the excitation voltage driving oscillatory excitation of a measurement tube of the flow meter,

form a vector product between the complex conjugate spectrum and the measurement voltage for filtering the measurement voltage, and

carry out an inverse Fourier transformation associated with the vector product to evaluate a signal relationship between the excitation voltage and the measurement voltage, the inverse Fourier transformation producing a processed measurement voltage that contains a useful signal component corresponding to a noise-filtered version of the measurement voltage.

12. The electronic computation unit as claimed in claim 11, wherein the computation unit comprises at least one microcontroller having at least one assigned memory unit.

13. A computer readable storage medium having a computer program recorded thereon that causes an electronic computation unit to process a measurement signal obtained via an oscillation sensor of a flow meter, the program causing the electronic computation unit to perform operations comprising:

forming a complex conjugate spectrum from the spectrum of an excitation voltage, the excitation voltage driving oscillatory excitation of a measurement tube of the flow meter,

forming a vector product between the complex conjugate spectrum and the measurement voltage for filtering the measurement voltage, and

carrying out an inverse Fourier transformation associated with the vector product to evaluate a signal relationship between the excitation voltage and the measurement voltage, the inverse Fourier transformation producing a processed measurement voltage that contains a useful signal component corresponding to a noise-filtered version of the measurement voltage.

14. A mass flow meter comprising:

at least one measurement tube configured to allow a mass to flow therethrough and configured as an oscillation body having an oscillation behavior that is variable as a function of the mass flow;

an excitation unit configured to set the oscillation body in mechanical oscillation based on an excitation voltage;

at least one oscillation sensor configured to record a measurement voltage based on the oscillation behavior of the mass flow; and

a computational technology unit configured to process the measurement voltage to

form a complex conjugate spectrum from a spectrum of an excitation voltage, and

form a vector product between the complex conjugate spectrum and the measurement voltage for filtering, to obtain a signal relationship, associated with the vector product, between the excitation voltage and the measurement voltage so that a processed measurement voltage can be determined that contains a useful signal component corresponding to a noise-filtered version of the measurement voltage.