Measurement of product pellets flow rate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10494200-B2
Application number	US-201615137472-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 25, 2016
Priority date	Apr 25, 2016
Publication date	Dec 3, 2019
Grant date	Dec 3, 2019

Abstract

A process is described that includes flowing a carrier fluid through a transfer line, feeding polymer pellets into the transfer line at a feed location, measuring a first pressure value of the carrier fluid at a location in the transfer line upstream of the feed location, measuring a second pressure value of the carrier fluid and polymer pellets at a downstream location in the transfer line which is downstream of the feed location, and determining a mass flow rate of the polymer pellets flowing in the transfer line based on a differential pressure between the first pressure value and the second pressure value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process comprising:
flowing a carrier fluid through a transfer line;
feeding polymer pellets into the transfer line at a feed location;
measuring a first pressure value of the carrier fluid at a location in the transfer line upstream of the feed location;
measuring a second pressure value of the carrier fluid and polymer pellets at a downstream location in the transfer line which is downstream of the feed location; and
determining a mass flow rate of the polymer pellets flowing in the transfer line based on a differential pressure between the first pressure value and the second pressure value measuring a flow rate of the carrier fluid upstream of the feed location of the transfer line.

2. The process of claim 1 , further comprising:
flowing the polymer pellets from the transfer line to a container; and
determining a total mass or a total volume of the polymer pellets in the container based on the mass flow rate of the polymer pellets recorded during a loading time of the container.

3. The process of claim 2 , further comprising:
diverting a flow of the polymer pellets away from the container;
wherein the step of diverting and the step of determining a total mass or a total volume of the polymer pellets are performed in response to a signal that the container is at a threshold level of polymer pellets.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein a pickup velocity of the carrier fluid at the feed location is from about 10 m/s to about 40 m/s.

5. The process of claim 4 , further comprising:
accelerating, between the feed location and the downstream location in the transfer line, the polymer pellets to a conveying velocity.

6. The process of claim 5 , wherein the conveying velocity is from about 10 rn/s to about 40 m/s.

7. The process of claim 5 , wherein a distance between the feed location and the downstream location is from about 1 meters to about 15 meters.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the carrier fluid comprises nitrogen, a combination of oxygen and nitrogen, or water.

9. A system comprising:
a transfer line;
a carrier fluid source positioned at a first location of the transfer line, the carrier fluid source configured to provide a carrier fluid in the transfer line;
a polymer pellet source, the transfer line configured to receive polymer pellets from the polymer pellet source at a second location of the transfer line, the second location being downstream of the first location;
a first pressure sensor positioned at a third location of the transfer line, the first pressure sensor configured to measure a first pressure value of the carrier fluid in the transfer line at the third location, the third location being between the first location and the second location;
a second pressure sensor positioned at a fourth location of the transfer line, the second pressure sensor configured to measure a second pressure value of the carrier fluid containing the polymer pellets in the transfer line at the fourth location, the fourth location being downstream of the second location; and
a computer system coupled to the first pressure sensor and the second pressure sensor, the computer system configured to determine a mass flow rate of the polymer pellets flowing in the transfer line based on a differential pressure between the first pressure value and the second pressure value measuring a flow rate of the carrier fluid upstream of the feed location of the transfer line.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the computer system is further configured to:
record the mass flow rate of the polymer pellets to a container during a loading time;
receive a signal that the container is at a threshold level; and
determine a total mass or a total volume of the polymer pellets in the container based on the mass flow rate of the polymer pellets recorded during the loading time.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the computer system is further configured to:
divert a flow of the polymer pellets away from the container;
wherein the computer system determines a total mass or a total volume of the polymer pellets and diverts a flow in response to receiving the signal.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein a pickup velocity of the carrier fluid at the second location is from about 1.0 m/s to about 40 m/s.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the polymer pellets are accelerated to a conveying velocity between the second location and the fourth location in the transfer line.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the conveying velocity is from about 10 m/s to about 40 m/s.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein a distance between the second location and the fourth location is from about 1 meter to about 15 meters.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the carrier fluid comprises, nitrogen, a combination of nitrogen and oxygen, or water.

Assignees

• Chevron Phillips Chemical Co Lp

Inventors

• Hottovy John D
• Mody Paresh C

Classifications

• B65G2201/042

  Granular material · CPC title

• B65G53/66 Primary

  Use of indicator or control devices, e.g. for controlling gas pressure, for controlling proportions of material and gas, for indicating or preventing jamming of material {(controlling the flow of coal firing systems C21B5/003)} · CPC title

• B65G53/30

  Conveying materials in bulk through pipes or tubes by liquid pressure · CPC title

• B65G53/04

  Conveying materials in bulk pneumatically through pipes or tubes; Air slides · CPC title

• B29B9/16

  Auxiliary treatment of granules · CPC title