Doppler type ultrasonic flowmeter, flow rate measuring method using doppler type ultrasonic flowmeter and flow rate measuring program used in this doppler type ultrasonic flowmeter
View Patent ↗A doppler ultrasonic flowmeter including: an ultrasonic transmission member for casting ultrasonic pulses onto the fluid within a fluid tube, which is to be measured, along a measurement line from an ultrasonic transducer, a flow-speed distribution measurement unit for receiving ultrasonic echoes reflected from the measurement region due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured so as to measure the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured in the measurement region; a flow measurement unit for measuring the flow of the fluid to be measured; and a transducer position adjusting mechanism for adjusting the relative position of a pair of ultrasonic transducers serving as the ultrasonic transmission member, a first transducer and a second transducer, which are disposed away one from another along the axial direction of a fluid tube.
1. A doppler ultrasonic flowmeter comprising:
an ultrasonic transmission member for casting ultrasonic pulses with a predetermined frequency onto the fluid within a fluid tube, which is to be measured, along a measurement line from an ultrasonic transducer;
a flow-speed distribution measurement unit for receiving ultrasonic echoes reflected from the measurement region due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured so as to measure the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured in the measurement region;
a flow measurement unit for measuring the flow of the fluid to be measured in the measurement region based upon the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured; and
a transducer position adjusting mechanism for adjusting the relative position of a pair of ultrasonic transducers serving as the ultrasonic transmission member, i.e., a first transducer and a second transducer, which are disposed away one from another along the axial direction of a fluid tube,
wherein said transducer position adjusting mechanism has a configuration for adjusting the position of the pair of transducers while maintaining the positional relation thereof such that the ultrasonic pulse beam cast from the first transducer and the ultrasonic pulse beam cast from the second transducer are orthogonal one to another in the measurement region within the fluid tube.
2. A doppler ultrasonic flowmeter according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first reflected-wave receiver and a second reflected-wave receiver for receiving ultrasonic echoes, i.e., the reflected waves from the measurement region of the fluid tube due to ultrasonic pulses cast from the first transducer and the second transducer;
a velocity-vector calculating member for calculating the velocity vectors in the direction of the ultrasonic measurement lines of the first reflected-wave receiver and the second reflected-wave receiver based upon the magnitude of ultrasonic echoes received by the first reflected-wave receiver and the second reflected-wave receiver, respectively; and
a flow-speed vector calculating member for calculating the flow-speed vector of the fluid to be measured, by calculating the vector sum of the velocity vectors calculated by the velocity vector calculating member,
wherein said flow-speed distribution measurement unit calculates flow-speed distribution based upon the flow-speed vectors, and
wherein said flow measurement unit computes the flow of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution.
3. An ultrasonic flow measurement method comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to
ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
wherein said flow-speed distribution measurement processing step comprises:
a flow-speed distribution calculating step for calculating the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured, and the center position data of the fluid tube, by performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution of the reflectors;
a flow-speed distribution data output step for outputting the flow-speed distribution data and center position data thus obtained in the flow-speed distribution calculating step so as to be displayed on display; and
an area determination step which allows the user to set a division area where the speed of the reflector groups is calculated in the flow-speed distribution calculating step; the area of the fluid tube being divided at the center position into two division areas.
4. An ultrasonic flow measurement method comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
wherein said flow-speed distribution measurement processing step comprises:
a flow-speed distribution calculating step for calculating the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured, and the center position data of the fluid tube, by performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution of the reflectors;
an automatic area selecting step for automatically selecting a division area where the flow-speed distribution is calculated using the reflector groups; the area of the fluid tube being divided at the center position into two division areas; and
a flow-speed distribution data output step for outputting the flow-speed distribution data and the center position data obtained in the flow-speed distribution calculating step and the automatic area selecting step, so as to be displayed on display.
5. An ultrasonic flow measurement method comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
an optimum-value setting step for calculating the optimum values of the basic frequency f 0 , the pulse repetition frequency f PRF , and the incident angle α; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
wherein said reflector-group-speed calculating step comprises:
an initial value acquisition step for receiving the initial values of the basic frequency f 0 , the pulse repetition frequency f PRF , the incident angle α, at the start of measurement; and
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of the number of reflectors contained in the fluid to be measured, and
wherein said optimum-value setting step includes an emission frequency reset step for resetting the emission frequency to an emission frequency f 1 so as to satisfy the following expressions: F 0 ≧4V 0 ·sin α; and f PRF ≦Cw/2Di.
6. An ultrasonic flow measurement method comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
an optimum-value setting step for calculating the optimum values of the basic frequency f 0 , the pulse repetition frequency f PRF , and the incident angle α; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
wherein said reflector-group-speed calculating step comprises:
an initial value acquisition step for receiving the initial values of the basic frequency f 0 , the pulse repetition frequency f PRF , the incident angle α, at the start of measurement; and
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of the number of reflectors contained in the fluid to be measured,
wherein said optimum-value setting step includes an incident angle reset step for resetting the incident angle to α1 so as to satisfy the following expressions: F 0 ≧4V 0 ·sin α; and f PRF ≦Cw/2Di.
7. An ultrasonic flow measurement method comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
a channel distance computing step for computing the minimum channel distance based upon the frequency of the ultrasonic pulses and the speed thereof;
a measurement range display steps for displaying a GUI which allows the user to determine whether or not the channel distance is set to a value obtained by multiplying the minimum channel distance by an integer, thereby allowing the user to set the measurement region to a value obtained by multiplying the minimum measurement region by an integer;
a channel distance changing step for changing the channel distance to a value obtained by multiplying the minimum channel distance by an integer, according to instructions of the user; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured.
8. An ultrasonic flow measurement method comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
a channel distance computing step for computing the minimum channel distance based upon the frequency of the ultrasonic pulses and the speed thereof;
a measurement range calculating step for calculating the measurement range based upon the minimum channel distance thus computed;
a channel distance changing step having a function for determining whether or not the channel distance is to be set to a value obtained by multiplying the minimum channel distance by an integer, thereby allowing the system to automatically change the channel distance; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured.
9. An ultrasonic flow measurement method comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
a flow-speed distribution output step for outputting the relation between the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured and the distance in the direction of the measurement line ML, in the form of an image on a screen;
a flow-speed zero-line display step for superimposing a fluid-speed zero line on the flow-speed distribution output in the form of an image on a screen in the flow-speed distribution output step;
a flow-speed measurement range switching determination step which allows the user to determine whether or not the flow-speed measurement range is switched;
a flow-speed measurement range switching step for switching the flow-speed measurement range to twice that of the normal measurement range, for measuring the positive flow speed according to the instructions of the user; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured.
10. An ultrasonic flow measurement method comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
a flow-speed range switching determination step which allows the user to determine whether or not the flow-speed measurement range is switched;
a flow-speed distribution output step for outputting the relation between the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, and the distance in the direction of the measurement line ML, in the form of an image on a screen;
a flow-speed zero-line display step for superimposing a flow-speed zero line on the flow-speed distribution output in the form of an image on a screen in the flow-speed distribution output step;
a flow-speed measurement range switching step for switching the flow-speed measurement range to twice that of the normal measurement mode according to the instructions of the user for measuring the positive flow speed; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured.
11. A computer readable medium having instructions encoded therein that when executed by a processor in an ultrasonic flowmeter perform steps comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
wherein said flow-speed distribution measurement processing step comprises:
a flow-speed distribution calculating step for calculating the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured, and the center position data of the fluid tube, by performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution of the reflectors;
a flow-speed distribution data output step for outputting the flow-speed distribution data and center position data thus obtained in the flow-speed distribution calculating step so as to be displayed on display; and
an area determination step which allows the user to set a division area where the speed of the reflector groups is calculated in the flow-speed distribution calculating step; the area of the fluid tube being divided at the center position into two division areas, and
said reflector-group-speed calculating step, said flow-speed distribution measurement processing step, and said flow measurement processing step being executed by the processor.
12. A computer readable medium having instructions encoded therein that when executed by a processor in an ultrasonic flowmeter perform steps comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
wherein said flow-speed distribution measurement processing step comprises:
a flow-speed distribution calculating step for calculating the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured, and the center position data of the fluid tube, by performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution of the reflectors;
an automatic area selecting step for automatically selecting a division area where the flow-speed distribution is calculated using the reflector groups; the area of the fluid tube being divided at the center position into two division areas; and
a flow-speed distribution data output step for outputting the flow-speed distribution data and the center position data obtained in the flow-speed distribution calculating step and the automatic area selecting step, so as to be displayed on display, and
said reflector-group-speed calculating step, said flow-speed distribution measurement processing step, and said flow measurement processing step being executed by the processor.
13. A computer readable medium having instructions encoded therein that when executed by a processor in an ultrasonic flowmeter perform steps comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
an optimum-value setting step for calculating the optimum values of the basic frequency f 0 , the pulse repetition frequency f PRF , and the incident angle α; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
wherein said reflector-group-speed calculating step comprises:
an initial value acquisition step for receiving the initial values of the basic frequency f 0 , the pulse repetition frequency f PRF , the incident angle α, at the start of measurement; and
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of the number of reflectors contained in the fluid to be measured, and
wherein said optimum-value setting step includes an emission frequency reset step for resetting the emission frequency to an emission frequency f 1 so as to satisfy the following expressions: F 0 ≧4V 0 ·sin α; and f PRF ≦Cw/2Di, and
said reflector-group-speed calculating step, said flow-speed distribution measurement processing step, said optimum-value setting step, and said flow measurement processing step being executed by the processor.
14. A computer readable medium having instructions encoded therein that when executed by a processor in an ultrasonic flowmeter perform steps comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
an optimum-value setting step for calculating the optimum values of the basic frequency f 0 , the pulse repetition frequency f PRF , and the incident angle α; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
wherein said reflector-group-speed calculating step comprises:
an initial value acquisition step for receiving the initial values of the basic frequency f 0 , the pulse repetition frequency f PRF , the incident angle α, at the start of measurement; and
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of the number of reflectors contained in the fluid to be measured, and
wherein said optimum-value setting step includes an incident angle reset step for resetting the incident angle to α1 so as to satisfy the following expressions: F 0 ≧4V 0 ·sin α; and f PRF Cw/2Di, and
said reflector-group-speed calculating step, said flow-speed distribution measurement processing step, said optimum-value setting step, and said flow measurement processing step being executed by the processor.
15. A computer readable medium having instructions encoded therein that when executed by a processor in an ultrasonic flowmeter perform steps comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
a channel distance computing step for computing the minimum channel distance based upon the frequency of the ultrasonic pulses and the speed thereof;
a measurement range display step for displaying a GUI which allows the user to determine whether or not the channel distance is set to a value obtained by multiplying the minimum channel distance by an integer, thereby allowing the user to set the measurement region to a value obtained by multiplying the minimum measurement region by an integer;
a channel distance changing step for changing the channel distance to a value obtained by multiplying the minimum channel distance by an integer, according to instructions of the user; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
said respective steps being executed by the processor.
16. A computer readable medium having instructions encoded therein that when executed by a processor in an ultrasonic flowmeter perform steps comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
a channel distance computing step for computing the minimum channel distance based upon the frequency of the ultrasonic pulses and the speed thereof;
a measurement range calculating step for calculating the measurement range based upon the minimum channel distance thus computed;
a channel distance changing step having a function for determining whether or not the channel distance is to be set to a value obtained by multiplying the minimum channel distance by an integer, thereby allowing the system to automatically change the channel distance; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
said respective steps being executed by the processor.
17. A computer readable medium having instructions encoded therein that when executed by a processor in an ultrasonic flowmeter perform steps comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
a flow-speed distribution output step for outputting the relation between the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured and the distance in the direction of the measurement line ML, in the form of an image on a screen;
a flow-speed zero-line display step for superimposing a fluid-speed zero line on the flow-speed distribution output in the form of an image on a screen in the flow-speed distribution output step;
a flow-speed measurement range switching determination step which allows the user to determine whether or not the flow-speed measurement range is switched;
a flow-speed measurement range switching step for switching the flow-speed measurement range to twice that of the normal measurement range, for measuring the positive flow speed according to the instructions of the user; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
said respective steps being executed by the processor.
18. A computer readable medium having instructions encoded therein that when executed by a processor in an ultrasonic flowmeter perform steps comprising:
a reflector-group-speed calculating step for receiving ultrasonic echoes due to ultrasonic pulses cast onto the fluid to be measured, so as to calculate the speed of each of a number of reflector groups contained in the fluid to be measured;
a flow-speed distribution measurement processing step for measuring the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, based upon the flow-speed distribution data of the reflector groups obtained in the reflector-group-speed calculating step;
a flow-speed range switching determination step which allows the user to determine whether or not the flow-speed measurement range is switched;
a flow-speed distribution output step for outputting the relation between the flow-speed distribution of the fluid to be measured, and the distance in the direction of the measurement line ML, in the form of an image on a screen;
a flow-speed zero-line display step for superimposing a flow-speed zero line on the flow-speed distribution output in the form of an image on a screen in the flow-speed distribution output step;
a flow-speed measurement range switching step for switching the flow-speed measurement range to twice that of the normal measurement mode according to the instructions of the user for measuring the positive flow speed; and
a flow measurement processing step for measuring the flow by further performing computation processing for the flow-speed distribution data of the fluid to be measured,
said respective steps being executed by the processor.