Interface position determining apparatus and method
All interface position determining apparatus includes a transmitter that transmits an acoustic wave from a plurality of positions in an accumulating direction in which impurities contained in a liquid accumulate, from an outside of a wall surrounding the liquid; a receiver that receives the acoustic wave transmitted from the transmitter at a plurality of positions; and a determining unit that determines a position of an interface between a liquid layer and a sludge layer in the accumulating direction based on a condition of the acoustic wave received by the receiver.
1 . An interface position determining apparatus comprising:
a plurality of transmitters that transmit an ultrasonic wave from a plurality of positions in an accumulating direction in which impurities as soil and gravels contained in a liquid accumulate, from an outside of a wall surrounding the liquid and through said wall;
a plurality of receivers that receive the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the plurality of transmitters at a plurality of positions, from an outside of the wall surrounding the liquid and through said wall; and
a determining unit that determines a position of an interface between a liquid layer and a sludge layer, in which the impurities are accumulated, in the accumulating direction based on an interval between a primary reflected wave which is a part of the ultrasonic wave, and is a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave on the outer surface of the wall portions where the plurality of transmitters and the plurality of receivers are arranged without passing through the wall portions and a secondary reflected wave which is a remaining ultrasonic wave, and is a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave, that has transmitted through the wall portions where the plurality of transmitters and the plurality of receivers, travels straight through the liquid, has not transmitted through the wall portion on the opposite side of the wall portion where it has transmitted, is reflected at the inner surface of the wall portions, and is received by the receiver;
the plurality of the transmitters and the plurality of receivers are arranged at given intervals in the accumulating direction of the impurities;
wherein the determining unit detects a transition layer where the liquid is mixed with impurities, and that is present between the liquid layer and the sludge layer, based on the interval between the primary reflected wave and the secondary reflected wave received by the plurality of receivers, and divides the transition layer into an upper layer C 1 existing on the upper side in the accumulating direction and a lower layer C 2 existing on the lower side in the accumulating direction relative to the upper layer, to define an interface where the upper layer C 1 and the lower layer C 2 meet as the position of the interface between the liquid layer and the sludge layer at a position of one of the plurality of receivers in the accumulating deposition direction of the impurities where the transition layer is detected, and
the sludge layer, through which the ultrasonic wave does not propagate, is accumulated on a bottom of the wall surrounding the liquid and the liquid layer exists above an upper side of the sludge layer in the accumulating deposition direction.
2 . The interface position determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the determining unit compares the interval between the primary reflected wave and the secondary reflected wave received by the receiver with an interval between a reference primary reflected wave, which is a reflected wave of a reference acoustic wave on the outer surface of the wall portions without passing through the wall portions and a reference secondary reflected wave, which is a reflected wave of the reference acoustic wave that has passed through the wall portions, on the inner surface, to determine the position of the interface between the liquid layer and the sludge layer.
3 . The interface position determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transmitters and the plurality of receivers are arranged at given intervals in a vertical direction, and the wall portions are wall portions of a container in which the liquid is stored.
4 . The interface position determining apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the liquid is crude oil, and the container is a heat exchanger for refining the crude oil.
5 . The interface position determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transmitters and the plurality of receivers are arranged movably along a vertical direction, and the wall portions are wall portions of a container in which the liquid is stored.
6 . The interface position determining apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the liquid is crude oil, and the container is a heat exchanger for refining the crude oil.
7 . The interface position determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transmitters and the plurality of receivers are arranged in a circumferential direction, at given intervals, and the wall portions are wall portions of a pipe through which the liquid flows.
8 . The interface position determining apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a display unit that displays that the position of the interface determined by the determining unit has reached an upper bound position preset in the accumulating direction in which impurities accumulate.
9 . An interface position determining method comprising:
transmitting an ultrasonic wave from a plurality of positions in an accumulating direction in which impurities contained in a liquid accumulate, from outside a wall surrounding the liquid and through said wall;
receiving the transmitted ultrasonic wave at a plurality of positions, from an outside of the wall surrounding the liquid and through said wall; and
determining a position of an interface between a liquid layer and a sludge layer in the accumulating direction based on an interval between a primary reflected wave which is a part of ultrasonic wave, and is a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave on the outer surface of the wall portions without passing through the wall portions and a secondary reflected wave which is a remaining ultrasonic wave, and is a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave, that has transmitted through the wall portions where the transmitter and the receiver are arranged, travels straight through the liquid, has not transmitted through the wall portion on the opposite side of the wall portion where it has transmitted, and is reflected at the inner surface of the wall portions, on the inner surface of the wall portions the received ultrasonic wave,
wherein determining the position of the interface includes detecting a transition layer where the liquid is mixed with impurities, and that is present between the liquid layer and the sludge layer, based on the interval between the primary reflected wave and the secondary reflected wave received by the a receiver, and dividing the transition layer into an upper layer C 1 existing on the upper side in the accumulating direction and a lower layer C 2 existing on the lower side in the accumulating direction relative to the upper layer, to define an interface where the upper layer C 1 and the lower layer C 2 meet as the position of the interface between the liquid layer and the sludge layer at a position of the receiver in the accumulating deposition direction of the impurities where the transition layer is detected, and the sludge layer is a layer of the impurities, as soil and gravels, accumulated, and
the sludge layer, through which the ultrasonic wave does not propagate, is accumulated on a bottom of the wall surrounding the liquid and the liquid layer exists above an upper side of the sludge layer in the accumulating deposition direction.