×

Real-time control of complex fluid systems using generic fluid transfer model

  • US 5,315,530 A
  • Filed: 08/14/1992
  • Issued: 05/24/1994
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/10/1990
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
Patent Images

1. A method for controlling a complex fluid system in real-time by modeling and reconfiguring a fluid transfer system of said complex fluid system, comprising the steps of:

  • a. providing a first database including a first plurality of electronic documents, each of said first plurality of electronic documents containing a set of thermophysical properties of fluids and materials to be used in a required fluid transfer system;

    b. providing a second database including a second plurality of electronic documents, each of said second plurality of electronic documents containing a set of icons representing components of said fluid transfer system in a pictorial system representation;

    c. providing a third database including a third plurality of electronic documents, each of said third plurality of electronic documents containing a set of component definition panels which completely specify the necessary component characteristics of said required fluid transfer system components;

    d. generating and displaying a plurality of first command options on a computer controlled display system (CCDS) associated with said first database, each of said first command options representing operations utilized to create and manipulate said set of thermophysical properties;

    e. generating and displaying a plurality of second command options on a CCDS associated with said second database, each of said second command options representing operations utilized to create said pictorial representation and associated connectivity of a desired fluid system;

    f. generating and displaying a plurality of third command options on a CCDS associated with said third database, each of said third command options associated with the specification of said necessary component characteristics for the component definition panels;

    g. generating and solving a plurality of simultaneous mathematical equations representing said connectivity and functional operation of the fluid system created in step e, above, utilizing said connectivity and functional operation of the fluid system created in step e, above, utilizing said fluid and material properties of steps a and d, above, and the component characteristics of step f, above, said step of generating and solving said plurality of simultaneous mathematical equations including the steps of;

    i) generating and storing information from said pictorial system representation in a linkage table which represents the connectivity between system components and provides numerical representations for identifying components in said fluid transfer system;

    ii) utilizing the information of step i, above, in a fluid system replicator means, for creating coefficients and associated set of simultaneous mathematical equations representing said fluid transfer system being analyzed, at each time step in said system specification; and

    ,iii) solving said simultaneous mathematical equations utilizing matrix inversion techniques in an iterative process, with provisions for possible flow reversals between either iterations or time steps altering the form of said equations, said step of generating and solving said plurality of simultaneous mathematical equations thereby obviating any requirement for user intervention or coding; and

    ,h. controlling said complex fluid system in real-time by providing the results from step g, above, to said complex fluid system.

View all claims
  • 0 Assignments
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×