Mass flow sensor having an airfoil

1. A Mass Flow Sensor (MFS), comprising:

an MFS housing, wherein the MFS housing includes an electronic circuit and a processing device configured to operate responsive to a control algorithm,

wherein the electronic circuit includes a plurality of resistive elements which include a first resistive element R1, a second resistive element R2, a third resistive element R3, a fourth resistive element R4, a fifth resistive element R5, a sixth resistive element R6 and a seventh resistive element R7, wherein the plurality of resistive elements are configured to achieve coefficient relationships expressed by:

x

h

=

V

⁢

⁢

ref

×

R

⁢

⁢

6

R

⁢

⁢

7

y

h

=

R

⁢

⁢

5

R

⁢

⁢

5

+

R

⁢

⁢

4

×

(

1

+

R

⁢

⁢

6

R

⁢

⁢

7

)

z

1

⁢

⁢

h

=

R

⁢

⁢

1

⁢



R

⁢

⁢

3

R

⁢

⁢

2

+

(

R

⁢

⁢

1



⁢

R

⁢

⁢

3

)

z

2

⁢

⁢

h

=

R

⁢

⁢

2

⁢



R

⁢

⁢

3

R

⁢

⁢

1

+

(

R

⁢

⁢

2



⁢

R

⁢

⁢

3

)

;

a mounting structure, having a mounting structure top and a mounting structure bottom, wherein the MFS housing is associated with the mounting structure top;

a first sensor leg, wherein the first sensor leg extends away from the mounting structure bottom and includes a heating element, wherein power across the heating element is controlled by the control algorithm;

a second sensor leg, wherein the second sensor leg extends away from the mounting structure and includes a second sensor leg first temperature measurement device; and

an airfoil structure, wherein the airfoil structure defines an airfoil cavity and is associated with the mounting structure bottom to contain the first sensor leg and the second sensor leg.

2. The MFS of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor leg defines a first sensor leg cavity and includes a first sensor leg sensor end and a first sensor leg length X.

3. The MFS of claim 2 , wherein the heating element is located within the first sensor leg cavity to be located proximate the first sensor leg sensor end.

4. The MFS of claim 1 , wherein the second sensor leg defines a second sensor leg cavity and includes a second sensor leg sensor end and a second sensor leg length Y.

5. The MFS of claim 4 , wherein the second sensor leg first temperature measurement device is located within the second sensor leg cavity to be located proximate the second sensor leg sensor end.

6. The MFS of claim 1 ,

wherein the first sensor leg includes a first sensor leg first temperature measurement device, and

wherein the first sensor leg first temperature measurement device and second sensor leg first temperature measurement device is a are Resistive Temperature Detector[s] (RTD).

7. The MFS of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the electronic circuit and the processing device are configured to operate at least one of the heating element, the first sensor leg first temperature measurement device and the second sensor leg first temperature measurement device.

8. The MFS of claim 1 , wherein the MFS is configured to be securely located in a conduit cavity such that the first sensor leg and second sensor leg are substantially centered within the conduit cavity.

9. The MFS of claim 1 , further comprising a temp digital-to-analog converter (TDAC), a flow digital-to-analog converter (FDAC), and scaling circuitry for scaling outputs of the TDAC and the FDAC.

10. A Mass Flow Sensor (MFS), comprising:

an MFS housing;

a mounting structure, having a mounting structure top and a mounting structure bottom, wherein the MFS housing is associated with the mounting structure top and wherein the MFS housing includes an electronic circuit and a processing device configured to operate responsive to a control algorithm,

wherein the electronic circuit includes a plurality of resistive elements which include a first resistive element R1, a second resistive element R2, a third resistive element R3, a fourth resistive element R4, a fifth resistive element R5, a sixth resistive element R6 and a seventh resistive element R7, wherein the plurality of resistive elements are configured to achieve coefficient relationships expressed by:

x

h

=

V

⁢

⁢

ref

×

R

⁢

⁢

6

R

⁢

⁢

7

y

h

=

R

⁢

⁢

5

R

⁢

⁢

5

+

R

⁢

⁢

4

×

(

1

+

R

⁢

⁢

6

R

⁢

⁢

7

)

z

1

⁢

⁢

h

=

R

⁢

⁢

1

⁢



R

⁢

⁢

3

R

⁢

⁢

2

+

(

R

⁢

⁢

1



⁢

R

⁢

⁢

3

)

z

2

⁢

⁢

h

=

R

⁢

⁢

2

⁢



R

⁢

⁢

3

R

⁢

⁢

1

+

(

R

⁢

⁢

2



⁢

R

⁢

⁢

3

)

;

a first sensor leg, wherein the first sensor leg extends away from the mounting structure bottom and includes a heating element; and

a second sensor leg, wherein the second sensor leg extends away from the mounting structure bottom and includes a second sensor leg first temperature measurement device.

11. The MFS of claim 10 ,

wherein the first sensor leg includes a first sensor leg first temperature measurement device.

12. The MFS of claim 11 , wherein the first sensor leg defines a first sensor leg cavity and includes a first sensor leg sensor end and a first sensor leg length X.

13. The MFS of claim 12 , wherein the first sensor leg first temperature measurement device and the heating element are located within the first sensor leg cavity to be located proximate the first sensor leg sensor end.

14. The MFS of claim 11 , wherein the second sensor leg defines a second sensor leg cavity and includes a second sensor leg sensor end and a second sensor leg length Y.

15. The MFS of claim 14 , wherein the second sensor leg first temperature measurement device is located within the second sensor leg cavity to be located proximate the second sensor leg sensor end.

16. The MFS of claim 15 , wherein the first sensor leg and the second sensor leg are located relative to each other to be separated by a predetermined distance Z.

17. The MFS of claim 11 , wherein the first sensor leg first temperature measurement device and the second sensor leg first temperature measurement device are Resistive Temperature Detectors (RTD).

18. The MFS of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the electronic circuit and the processing device are configured to operate at least one of the heating element, the first sensor leg first temperature measurement device and the second sensor leg first temperature measurement device.

19. The MFS of claim 11 , wherein the MFS is configured to be securely located in a conduit cavity such that the first sensor leg and second sensor leg are substantially centered within the conduit cavity.

20. A Mass Flow Sensor (MFS), comprising:

an MFS housing;

a mounting structure, having a mounting structure top and a mounting structure bottom, wherein the MFS housing is associated with the mounting structure top and wherein the MFS housing includes an electronic circuit and a processing device configured to operate responsive to a control algorithm,

wherein the electronic circuit includes a plurality of resistive elements which include a first resistive element R1, a second resistive element R2, a third resistive element R3, a fourth resistive element R4, a fifth resistive element R5, a sixth resistive element R6 and a seventh resistive element R7, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of resistive elements are configured to achieve coefficient relationships expressed by:

x

h

=

Vref

×

R

⁢

6

R

⁢

7

⁢

y

h

=

R

⁢

5

R

⁢

5

×

R

⁢

4

×

(

1

+

R

⁢

6

R

⁢

7

)

⁢

z

1

⁢

h

=

R

⁢

1

⁢



R

⁢

3

R

⁢

2

+

(

R

⁢

1

⁢



R

⁢

3

)

⁢

z

2

⁢

h

=

R

⁢

2

⁢



R

⁢

3

R

⁢

1

+

(

R

⁢

2

⁢



R

⁢

3

)

;

a first sensor leg, wherein the first sensor leg extends away from the mounting structure bottom and includes a heating element; and

a second sensor leg, wherein the second sensor leg extends away from the mounting structure bottom and includes a second sensor leg first temperature measurement device.