Granted Patent B2

US 7,603,916 · App. 11/972,228 · Granted Oct 20, 2009

Abstract

Claims (47)

1. An apparatus for measuring wetness of a gas flow within a conduit, the apparatus comprising:

a first pressure sensor operable to sense the pressure of the gas flow within the conduit at a first position;

a second pressure sensor operable to sense the pressure of the gas flow within the conduit at a second position, which second position is located downstream of the first position an amount sufficient that the gas flow experiences a pressure drop;

a sonar based flowmeter configured to determine a volumetric flow rate of the gas flow; and

a processing device in communication with the first and second pressure sensors and the sonar based flowmeter, wherein the processing device is adapted to determine a difference in the pressure sensed by the first and second pressure sensors, and to determine the wetness of the gas flow using the difference in pressure and the volumetric flow rate.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sonar based flowmeter includes an array of at least three strain-based sensors.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said sonar based flowmeter includes an ultrasonic sonar flowmeter.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sonar based flowmeter is disposed between the first and second pressure sensors.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sonar based flowmeter is disposed either upstream or downstream of the first and second pressure sensors.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is adapted to determine the wetness of the gas flow using empirical data.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the empirical data is collected from gas flow traveling within the conduit.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is adapted to utilize an optimization routine that optimizes flow rates determined by the processor.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first and second pressure sensors are sensitive to the wetness of the gas flow and the sonar based flowmeter is relatively insensitive to the wetness of the gas flow, relative to one another.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the conduit is a pipe.

11. A method of measuring the wetness of a gas flow within a conduit, the method comprising:

providing a first pressure sensor operable to produce a signal relating to the pressure of the gas flow within the conduit at a first position, a second pressure sensor operable to produce a signal relating to the pressure of the gas flow within the conduit at a second position, which second position is located downstream of the first position, and a flowmeter configured to determine a volumetric flow rate of the gas flow;

determining a differential pressure value representing a difference in pressure within the gas flow between the first and second positions using the signals from the first and second sensors;

determining a volumetric flow rate of the gas flow responsive to a differential pressure in the gas flow, using the flowmeter; and

processing the differential pressure value and the volumetric flow rate to determine the wetness of the gas flow.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of determining a volumetric flow rate includes using signals from an array of sensors disposed at different axial locations along a length of the conduit, wherein the signals are responsive to unsteady pressures caused by coherent structures convecting with the gas flow.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of determining a volumetric flow rate includes determining the volumetric flow rate using at least one sonar based flow meter.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one sonar based flow meter is an ultrasonic sonar flow meter.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the processing step includes processing the differential pressure value and the volumetric flow rate to determine the Lockhardt Martinelli (LM) number which is given by,

LM

≡

m

.

liq

⁢

Q

liq

m

.

gas

⁢

Q

gas

,

where, m liq is the liquid mass flow, Q liq is the liquid volumetric flow, m gas the gas mass flow and Q gas is the gas volumetric flow.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the processor determines the wetness of the gas flow using empirical data.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the empirical data is collected from gas flow traveling within the conduit.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the processor includes one or more routines for optimizing liquid and gas flow rates within the gas flow.

19. A method of measuring the wetness of a gas flow within a conduit, the method comprising:

providing a first sensor operable to produce a signal relating to the gas flow within the conduit at a first position, a second pressure sensor operable to produce a signal relating to the gas flow within the conduit at a second position, which second position is located downstream of the first position, which first and second sensors are sensitive to the wetness of the gas flow, and a flowmeter configured to determine a volumetric flow rate of the gas flow, which flowmeter is insensitive to the wetness of the gas flow relative to the first and second sensors;

determining a differential value representing a difference in a characteristic of the gas between the first and second positions using the signals from the first and second sensors;

determining a volumetric flow rate of the gas flow responsive to a differential pressure in the gas flow, using the flowmeter; and

processing the differential value and the volumetric flow rate to determine the wetness of the gas flow.

Assignments (6)