Ultrasonic gas leak detector with an electrical power loss and carbon footprint output
First Claim
1. A system for determining the carbon footprint of a compressed gas leak from a compressed gas supply created by an electrical compressor connected to an electrical power generation network, the system comprising:
- an ultrasonic detector configured to detect the existence and volume of a compressed gas leak and to generate an electrical signal representative thereof;
a storage device storing information on the type of compressed gas, the efficiency of the compressor creating the compressed gas and the carbon emissions necessary for the electrical power generation network that drives the compressor to generate a unit of electricity;
a processing unit connected to receive the electrical signal and having access to said storage device, said processing unit including a software module configured to determine an amount of electrical energy per unit of time needed to recharge a loss in compressed gas that results from the determined compressed gas leak based on the efficiency of the compressor; and
a display connected to the processing unit and displaying the amount of electrical energy associated with the compressed gas leak.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system determines the carbon footprint of a compressed gas leak. The system comprises an ultrasonic detector to detect a compressed gas leak, a storage device storing information on the type of gas, the compressor efficiency, and the carbon emissions necessary to generate electricity to drive the compressor. A processing unit includes software that determines an amount of electrical energy needed to recharge the lost compressed gas based on the compressor efficiency and calculates the carbon emissions created by the amount of electrical energy. A method monitoring for gas leaks comprises detecting ultrasonic emissions, generating an electrical signal representative of the compressed gas leak, and calculating an amount of electrical energy needed to recharge the lost compressed gas. The method further includes calculating the carbon footprint based on the carbon emissions necessary for the electrical power generation system that drives the compressor.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for determining the carbon footprint of a compressed gas leak from a compressed gas supply created by an electrical compressor connected to an electrical power generation network, the system comprising:
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an ultrasonic detector configured to detect the existence and volume of a compressed gas leak and to generate an electrical signal representative thereof; a storage device storing information on the type of compressed gas, the efficiency of the compressor creating the compressed gas and the carbon emissions necessary for the electrical power generation network that drives the compressor to generate a unit of electricity; a processing unit connected to receive the electrical signal and having access to said storage device, said processing unit including a software module configured to determine an amount of electrical energy per unit of time needed to recharge a loss in compressed gas that results from the determined compressed gas leak based on the efficiency of the compressor; and a display connected to the processing unit and displaying the amount of electrical energy associated with the compressed gas leak. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for determining the carbon footprint of a compressed gas leak, the system comprising:
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an ultrasonic detector including a heterodyne circuit configured to shift an ultrasonic signal to an audio signal, a display configured to display a time series representation of the shifted ultrasonic signal, and a headphone jack; a failure condition detector in communication with the ultrasonic detector and configured to determine if the audio signal falls outside a predetermined profile; a digital audio network converter configured to convert an audio signal outside the predetermined range to a digital data stream and to transmit the digital data stream across a communication network; and a processing unit connected to the communication network and configured to receive the digital data stream, the processing unit including an analysis software module configured to determine if the digital data stream represents a compressed gas leak, and to determine the rate-of-flow of the determined compressed gas leak so as to calculate an amount of electrical energy per unit of time needed to recharge a loss in compressed gas that results from the determined compressed gas leak, and the processing unit further including a software module configured to calculate the carbon footprint created by the amount of electrical energy needed to recharge the loss in compressed gas. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for remotely monitoring for potential gas leaks from a compressed gas reservoir created by an electrical compressor connected to an electrical power generation network and determining the carbon foot print as a result of such gas leaks, the method comprising the steps of:
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detecting ultrasonic emissions from the compressed gas reservoir due to a gas leak; generating an electrical signal representative of the existence and volume per unit time of the gas leak; and calculating an amount of electrical energy per unit of time needed to recharge a loss in compressed gas resulting from the gas leak, said calculation being based on the efficiency of the compressor. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A method for remotely monitoring a compressed gas reservoir for potential gas leaks, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing an ultrasonic leak detector in proximity of the compressed gas reservoir, wherein the ultrasonic leak detector includes a heterodyne circuit that shifts an ultrasonic signal to an audio signal; detecting ultrasonic emissions from the compressed gas reservoir; heterodyning the ultrasonic signal to an audio signal; providing the audio signal to a failure condition detector that determines if the audio signal falls outside a predetermined profile; digitizing, by a digital audio network converter, an audio signal outside the predetermined range to a digital data stream; transmitting the digital data stream across a communication network to a processing unit; determining, by the processor, if the digital data stream represents a compressed gas leak; analyzing the rate-of-flow of the determined compressed gas leak; calculating an amount of electrical energy per unit of time needed to recharge a loss in compressed gas that results from the analyzed rate-of-flow; and calculating the carbon footprint created by the amount of electrical energy needed to recharge the loss in compressed gas. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification