Method and system for monitoring fluid flow

1. A method for providing information relating to fluid flow rate through a conduit to a remote third party, comprising the steps of:

positioning one or more sound transducers in proximity to and external to said conduit, each said sound transducer generating a signal representative of acoustic waves generated by the fluid flow through said conduit;

collecting said signals from said one or more sound transducers on a substantially continuous basis;

processing said signals to determine the flow rate through the conduit; and

communicating information relating to the flow rate to said remote third party.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , in which signals generated by said one or more sound transducers are received and collected by a local monitoring device and then transmitted from the local monitoring device to a remote central processing facility for processing said signals to determine the flow rate through the conduit.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , in which said one or more sound transducers are near, but not in physical contact with, said conduit.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , in which communicating information relating to the flow rate to said remote third party is accomplished through export of such information to an Internet web site accessible by said third party.

5. A method for monitoring fluid flow through a conduit and communicating a flow rate to a third party, comprising the steps of:

positioning one or more sound transducers in proximity to and external to said conduit, each said sound transducer generating a signal representative of a measured amplitude of acoustic waves generated by the fluid flow through said conduit;

receiving such acoustic signals and processing the signals into digitized data representative of the measured amplitude on a substantially continuous basis;

performing a computational analysis on the digitized data to determine the flow rate through said conduit based on the measured amplitude; and

communicating the flow rate to said third party.

6. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the receiving and processing of the signals into digitized data representative of the measured amplitude is carried out by a monitoring device in general proximity to the sound transducers.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 , and further comprising the step of transmitting the digitized data from the monitoring device to a central processing facility for performing the computational analysis on the digitized data to determine the flow rate through said conduit.

8. The method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the monitoring device includes one or more amplification and filtration circuits for amplifying the signal from each sound transducer and for removing extraneous noise prior to the processing of the signals into digitized data representative of the measured amplitude.

9. The method as recited in claim 6 , in which the monitoring device is powered by a battery that is continuously recharged by a solar panel array.

10. The method as recited in claim 7 , in which transmitting the digitized data is accomplished by a radio frequency transceiver associated with the monitoring device.

11. The method as recited in claim 5 , in which communicating the flow rate to said third party is accomplished through export of the flow rate to an Internet web site accessible by said third party.

12. A method for monitoring fluid flow through a conduit and communicating a flow rate to a third party, comprising the steps of:

detecting an amplitude of acoustic waves generated by fluid flow through said conduit;

generating a signal representative of the detected amplitude;

transmitting the signal representative of the detected amplitude to a monitoring device on a substantially continuous basis;

processing the signal into digitized data representative of the measured amplitude;

performing a computational analysis on the digitized data to determine the flow rate through said conduit based on the measured amplitude; and

communicating the flow rate to said third party.

13. The method as recited in claim 12 , in which communicating the flow rate to said third party is accomplished through export of the flow rate to an Internet web site accessible by said third party.

14. A method for estimating operational dynamics of a facility, comprising the steps of:

positioning at least one monitoring device in proximity to and external to each of a number of selected conduits of the facility, each such monitoring device including at least one sound transducer for generating a signal representative of acoustic waves generated by the flow of an energy commodity through each selected conduit;

each monitoring device receiving such signals on a substantially continuous basis and processing the signals into digitized data representative of the acoustic waves;

processing the digitized data to determine a flow rate of the energy commodity through each selected conduit;

estimating the operational dynamics of the facility based on the determined flow rates; and

communicating information related to the operational dynamics of the facility to a third party.

15. The method as recited in claim 14 , in which each monitoring device transmits digitized data representative of the acoustic waves to a remote central processing facility for processing the digitized data to determine the flow rate of the energy commodity through each selected conduit and estimating the operational dynamics of the facility based on the determined flow rates.

16. The method as recited in claim 14 , in which communicating information related to the operational dynamics of the facility to a third party is accomplished through export of such information to an Internet web site accessible by said third party.

17. A method for estimating fluid flow through a conduit, comprising the steps of:

positioning one or more sound transducers in proximity to and external to said conduit, each said sound transducer generating a signal representative of a measured amplitude of acoustic waves generated by the fluid flow through said conduit;

monitoring actual fluid flow through the conduit;

comparing the measured amplitudes to the actual fluid flow to develop a mathematical relationship between the measured amplitude and the actual fluid flow; and

using the developed mathematical relationship for future estimates of fluid flow through the conduit or another conduit having similar physical characteristics.

18. A method for providing information relating to fluid flow rate through a conduit to a remote third party in substantially real-time, comprising the steps of:

positioning one or more sound transducers in proximity to and external to said conduit, each said sound transducer generating a signal representative of acoustic waves generated by the fluid flow through said conduit;

collecting said signals from said one or more sound transducers on a substantially continuous basis;

processing said signals to determine the flow rate through the conduit; and

communicating information relating to the flow rate to said remote third party on a substantially real-time basis.

19. The method as recited in claim 18 , in which signals generated by said one or more sound transducers are received and collected by a local monitoring device and then transmitted from the local monitoring device to a remote central processing facility for processing said signals to determine the flow rate through the conduit.

20. The method as recited in claim 18 , in which said one or more sound transducers are near, but not in physical contact with, said conduit.

21. The method as recited in claim 18 , in which communicating information relating to the flow rate to said remote third party on a substantially real-time basis is accomplished through export of such information to an Internet web site accessible by said third party.