Method and apparatus for determining kinematic viscosity through the transmission and reception of ultrasonic energy

1. An apparatus for determining a fluid's kinematic viscosity comprising:

a transmitter and a transmitting transducer capable of converting a single pulse from the transmitter into ultrasonic energy;

a receiving transducer and an electronic amplifier which converts some of the ultrasonic energy that has passed through a fluid of unknown viscosity into an electrical signal, the ultrasonic energy created by the transmitting transducer follows an acoustic path which is made to pass through the fluid of unknown viscosity along a path of known length; and

a computer which determines a characteristic frequency of a received electrical signal and measures a fluid's velocity of sound and which determines kinematic viscosity of the fluid on a continuous basis based on the characteristic frequency and the sound velocity, where the kinematic viscosity is formed from a fluid's bulk viscosity and shear viscosity.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the fluid's bulk viscosity has a fixed relationship with the fluid's shear viscosity.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the computer combines the characteristic frequency and sound velocity with similar data measured for a fluid of different viscosity and sound velocity to form a frequency parameter, the data having been measured as part of a calibration process of the apparatus.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the computer determines a Logarithm to an arbitrary base of a viscosity-path length product for the fluid of unknown viscosity from the frequency parameter and from the data taken during calibration of the apparatus, the frequency parameter and the data used by the computer to establish a slope and offset of the Logarithm to the arbitrary base of a viscosity-path length product versus frequency parameter relationship.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the computer subtracts a logarithm of the path length from a logarithm of the viscosity path length product to yield a result, and the computer takes an antilog of the result, thereby determining the kinetic viscosity of the fluid.

6. A method for determining a fluid's kinematic viscosity comprising the steps of:

triggering a transmitter which generates an electrical transmit pulse;

commencing counting of timing pulses from a digital clock simultaneous with a transmit pulse transmission;

applying the transmit pulse via electrical cables to an ultrasonic transmitting transducer;

causing the transmitting transducer with the transmit pulse to produce an ultrasonic pressure pulse having a limited number of sinusoidal cycles, the ultrasonic transmitting transducer is mounted such that ultrasonic energy the transmitting transducer produces travels through a fluid whose viscosity is to be measured along a path of known length;

transferring at an end of the path some of this energy to a receiving transducer;

converting with the receiving transducer some of the ultrasonic energy into an electrical receive pulse;

amplifying by a receiver the receive pulse whose frequency response is such that the energy content of all frequencies that are present in the receive pulse is preserved;

digitizing in a digitizer the receive pulse, an analog to digital converter employing a sample frequency higher, by order of magnitude or more, than the natural frequency of the transmitting transducer and the receiving transducer;

reconstructing the receive pulse in digital format;

detecting a time of the receive pulse's arrival by signal detection logic;

measuring with a computer a transit time through the viscous fluid of a pressure pulse and a transit time through non fluid media of an energy transmission path, including electrical delay of the cable between the transmitter and the transmitting transducer, mechanical delay associated with an interface between the transmitting transducer and the fluid, mechanical and cable delays associated with the receiving transducer and electronic delays of the receiver;

calculating a fluid's sound velocity as a quotient of the path length L through which the ultrasonic energy has traveled and the transit time of the ultrasonic energy in the fluid;

calculating a frequency parameter FP from the sound velocity and frequency measurements of a received ultrasonic energy pulse;

determining a Logarithm of a viscosity path length product Log (ν L) with the computer from the Frequency Parameter with a log linear characteristic; and

calculating with the computer a kinematic viscosity ν by subtracting the logarithm of the path length from the Log (ν L) to obtain a reminder, then taking an antilog of the reminder.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the fluid is flowing.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the fluid's bulk viscosity has a fixed relationship with the fluid's shear viscosity.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the fluid is flowing.

10. An apparatus for determining a fluid's kinematic viscosity comprising:

a transmitter and a transmitting transducer capable of converting a single pulse from the transmitter into ultrasonic energy;

a receiving transducer and an electronic amplifier which converts some of the ultrasonic energy that has passed through a fluid of unknown viscosity into an electrical signal, the ultrasonic energy created by the transmitting transducer follows an acoustic path which is made to pass through the fluid of unknown viscosity along a path of known length;

a computer which determines a characteristic frequency of a received electrical signal and measures a fluid's velocity of sound and which determines kinematic viscosity of the fluid on a continuous basis based on the characteristic frequency and the sound velocity, where the kinematic viscosity is formed from a fluid's bulk viscosity and shear viscosity, the bulk viscosity has a fixed relationship with the shear viscosity, the computer combines the characteristic frequency and the sound velocity with similar data measured for a fluid of different viscosity and sound velocity to form a frequency parameter, the data having been measured as part of a calibration process of the apparatus, the computer determines a Logarithm to an arbitrary base of a viscosity-path length product for the fluid of unknown viscosity from the frequency parameter and from the data taken during the calibration of the apparatus, the frequency parameter and the data used by the computer to establish a slope and offset of the Logarithm to the arbitrary base of a viscosity-path length product versus frequency parameter relationship.