Claims
- 1. An apparatus for measuring at least one parameter of a mixture having liquid droplets suspended in a vapor in a pipe, comprising:
a spatial array of at least two pressure sensors, disposed at different axial locations along the pipe, and each measuring an unsteady pressure within the pipe at a corresponding axial location, each of said sensors providing a pressure signal indicative of the unsteady pressure within the pipe at said axial location of a corresponding one of said sensors; and a signal processor, responsive to said pressure signals, which provides a signal indicative of the at least one parameter of the mixture in the pipe.
- 2. The apparatus of claim I wherein each sensor measures an acoustic pressure and provides a signal indicative of an acoustic noise within the pipe.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the signal processor, responsive to said pressure signals, provides a signal indicative of the speed of sound propagating through the mixture in the pipe.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said signal processor comprises logic, which calculates a speed at which sound propagates along said spatial array.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said signal processor comprises logic, which calculates a frequency based signal for each of said acoustic pressure signals.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said acoustic pressure signals each comprise a frequency based signal and wherein said signal processor comprises logic which calculates a ratio of two of said frequency based signals.
- 7. The apparatus of claim I comprising at least three of said sensors.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the signal processor comprises logic, which calculates a vapor/liquid composition of the mixture in the pipe.
- 9. The apparatus of claim I wherein at least one of said pressure sensors measures strain on the pipe.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the frequency based sound speed is determined utilizing a dispersion model to determine the at least one parameter of the mixture.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the array of acoustic sensors are spaced sufficiently such that the entire length of the array is at least a significant fraction of the measured wavelength of the acoustic waves being measured.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one sensor provides a first filter which measures a vortical pressure field at a first axial location along the pipe and provides a first pressure signal indicative of said vortical pressure field; and
at least a second sensor provides a second filter which measures said vortical pressure field at a second axial location along the pipe and provides a second pressure signal indicative of said vortical pressure field.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the signal processor, responsive to said first and second pressure signals, provides a velocity signal indicative of a velocity of the said vortical pressure field moving in the pipe.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said first and said second filters filter out wavelengths associated with an acoustic pressure field and passes wavelengths associated with said vortical pressure field.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said first filter comprises a first spatial filter that includes at least a first and a second unsteady pressure sensors disposed a predetermined first distance apart from each other; and
said second filter comprises a second spatial filter that includes at least a third and a fourth unsteady pressure sensors disposed a predetermined second distance apart from each other.
- 16. A method for measuring at least one parameter of a vapor/liquid mixture in a pipe, said method comprising:
measuring unsteady pressures within the pipe at at least two predetermined axial measurement locations along the pipe to provide a pressure signal indicative of the unsteady pressure within the pipe at each of the at least two predetermined axial measurement locations; and calculating the at least one parameter of the vapor/liquid mixture in the pipe using the unsteady pressure measured at the axial measurement locations.
- 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the measured unsteady pressures are acoustic pressures to provide a signal indicative of an acoustic noise within the pipe.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the calculating the at least one parameter uses an acoustic pressure to calculate a speed of sound propagating in the pipe.
- 19. The method of claim 16 wherein measuring unsteady pressures comprises:
measuring a vortical pressure field at a first location along the pipe and providing a first vortical pressure signal indicative of said vortical pressure field; and measuring said vortical pressure field at a second location along the pipe and providing a second vortical pressure signal indicative of said vortical pressure field, said first and said second locations being an axial distance apart
- 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the calculating the at least one parameter uses the first and second vortical pressure signals to calculate the velocity of the mixture in the pipe.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/359,785 (Cidra Docket No. CC-0403), filed Feb. 26, 2002; and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/349,716 (Cidra Docket No. CC-0579), filed Jan. 23, 2003, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/351,232 (Cidra Docket No. CC-0410), filed Jan. 23, 2002; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/359,785 (Cidra Docket No. CC-0403), filed Feb. 26, 2002; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/375,847 (Cidra Docket No. CC-0468), filed Apr. 24, 2002; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/425,436 (Cidra Docket No. CC-0538), filed Nov. 12, 2002; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/426,724 (Cidra Docket No. CC-0554), filed Nov. 15, 2002, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Provisional Applications (6)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60359785 |
Feb 2002 |
US |
|
60351232 |
Jan 2002 |
US |
|
60359785 |
Feb 2002 |
US |
|
60375847 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
|
60425436 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
|
60426724 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10349716 |
Jan 2003 |
US |
Child |
10376427 |
Feb 2003 |
US |