Fluid characterization using acoustics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10697938-B2
Application number	US-201816494663-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2018
Priority date	Mar 16, 2017
Publication date	Jun 30, 2020
Grant date	Jun 30, 2020

Abstract

A measurement system and a method for determining steam quality (i.e. vapor mass fraction) measurements of multiphase fluid flowing through pipes are described. An acoustic sensor device consists of an acoustic transmitter and an acoustic receiver that are designed to be attached to a pipe. The acoustic transmitter and the acoustic receiver are exposed to an interior space of the pipe through openings in a wall of the pipe. Acoustic waves generated by the transmitter and captured by the receiver traverse the multiphase fluid flowing into the pipe. Swept-frequency acoustic interferometry (SFAI) technique is used to measure ultrasonic acoustic properties of a fluid. Machine-learning techniques based on principal component analysis, support vector machine regression and support vector machine classification are used for determining steam quality.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An acoustic sensor device, comprising:
an acoustic transmitter comprising a transmitter piezoelectric transducer (PZT), a transmitter plate, and a transmitter standoff positioned between the transmitter PZT and the transmitter plate; and
an acoustic receiver comprising a receiver PZT, a receiver plate, and a receiver standoff positioned between the receiver PZT and the receiver plate, wherein the acoustic transmitter and the acoustic receiver are each designed to be attached to a pipe such that the transmitter plate and the receiver plate are exposed to an interior space of the pipe through openings in a wall of the pipe.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein:
the transmitter PZT and the transmitter standoff are positioned inside a transmitter tube of the acoustic transmitter,
the transmitter plate is attached to the transmitter tube enclosing an opening of the transmitter tube,
the receiver PZT and the receiver standoff are positioned inside a receiver tube of the acoustic receiver, and
the receiver plate is attached to the receiver tube enclosing an opening of the receiver tube.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein:
a transmitter spring of the acoustic transmitter is disposed inside an interior space of the transmitter tube,
the transmitter PZT is held against the transmitter standoff and the transmitter standoff is held against the transmitter plate by a decompression force exerted by the transmitter spring on the transmitter PZT,
a receiver spring of the acoustic receiver is disposed inside an interior space of the receiver tube, and
the receiver PZT is held against the receiver standoff and the receiver standoff is held against the receiver plate by a decompression force exerted by the receiver spring on the receiver PZT.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein:
the transmitter spring and the transmitter PZT are positioned inside a transmitter cage structure of the acoustic transmitter, and
the receiver spring and the receiver PZT are positioned inside a receiver cage structure of the acoustic receiver.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein:
transmitter spacers of the acoustic transmitter are positioned between the transmitter cage structure and the transmitter tube to dampen transfer of acoustic vibration from the transmitter PZT to the transmitter tube, and
receiver spacers of the acoustic receiver are positioned between the receiver cage structure and the receiver tube to dampen transfer of acoustic vibration from the receiver PZT to the receiver tube.

6. The device of claim 2 , wherein:
an interior space of the transmitter tube contains a first heat transfer fluid that facilitates acoustic coupling between the transmitter PZT, the transmitter standoff, and the transmitter plate, and
an interior space of the receiver tube contains a second heat transfer fluid that facilitates acoustic coupling between the receiver PZT, the receiver standoff, and the receiver plate.

7. The device of claim 2 , wherein:
the transmitter tube includes a transmitter heat sink external to the transmitter tube to dissipate heat away from the transmitter tube, and
the receiver tube includes a receiver heat sink external to the receiver tube to dissipate heat away from the receiver tube.

8. The device of claim 6 , further comprising a pressure compensator coupled to the acoustic transmitter and the acoustic receiver to balance a pressure on the transmitter plate and the receiver plate, wherein the pressure compensator is designed to be coupled to the pipe.

9. An acoustic sensor device, comprising:
a pipe;
an acoustic transmitter comprising a transmitter piezoelectric transducer (PZT), a transmitter plate, and a transmitter standoff positioned between the transmitter PZT and the transmitter plate; and
an acoustic receiver comprising a receiver PZT, a receiver plate, and a receiver standoff positioned between the receiver PZT and the receiver plate,
wherein:
the transmitter plate is exposed to an interior space of the pipe through a first opening in a wall of the pipe,
the receiver plate is exposed to the interior of the pipe through a second opening in the wall of the pipe, and
the first opening and the second opening are across from each other.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein:
an acoustic wave generated by the transmitter PZT is transferred to the transmitter plate through the transmitter standoff,
the receiver plate is positioned to receive an acoustic vibration from the transmitter plate across the interior space of the pipe, and
the receiver plate is designed to transfer the acoustic vibration to the receiver PZT through the receiver standoff.

11. The device of claim 9 , wherein:
the transmitter PZT and the transmitter standoff are positioned inside a transmitter tube of the acoustic transmitter,
the transmitter plate is attached to the transmitter tube enclosing an opening of the transmitter tube,
the receiver PZT and the receiver standoff are positioned inside a receiver tube of the acoustic receiver, and
the receiver plate is attached to the receiver tube enclosing an opening of the receiver tube.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein:
a transmitter spring of the acoustic transmitter is disposed inside an interior space of the transmitter tube,
the transmitter PZT is held against the transmitter standoff and the transmitter standoff is held against the transmitter plate by a decompression force exerted by the transmitter spring on the transmitter PZT,
a receiver spring of the acoustic receiver is disposed inside an interior space of the receiver tube, and
the receiver PZT is held against the receiver standoff and the receiver standoff is held against the receiver plate by a decompression force exerted by the receiver spring on the receiver PZT.

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein:
the transmitter spring and the transmitter PZT are positioned inside a transmitter cage structure of the acoustic transmitter, and
the receiver spring and the receiver PZT are positioned inside a receiver cage structure of the acoustic receiver.

14. The device of claim 11 , wherein:
an interior space of the transmitter tube contains a first heat transfer fluid that facilitates acoustic coupling between the transmitter PZT, the transmitter standoff, and the transmitter plate, and
an interior space of the receiver tube contains a second heat transfer fluid that facilitates acoustic coupling between the receiver PZT, the receiver standoff, and the receiver plate.

15. The device of claim 11 , further comprising a first branch connection and a second branch connection, wherein the first branch connection is attached to the pipe at the first opening of the pipe, wherein a first fitting is attached to the first branch connection, wherein the transmitter plate is positioned inside the first fitting, wherein the second branch connection is attached to the pipe at the second opening of the pipe, wherein a second fitting is attached to the second branch connection, and wherein the receiver plate is positioned inside the second fitting.

16. The device of claim 11 , further comprising a pressure compensator coupled to the acoustic transmitter, to the acoustic receiver, and to the pipe to balance a pressure on the transmitter plate and the receiver plate.

17. A system for characterizing a multiphase fluid flowing through a pipe, the system comprising:
a digital function generator;
a power amplifier with a first controllable gain;
a preamplifier with a second controllable gain;
a digital oscilloscope;
a computer configured to execute a s

Assignees

• Triad Nat Security Llc
• Chevron Usa Inc

Inventors

• Cattaneo Alessandro
• Sinha Dipen N
• Jankowski Todd Andrew
• Schrodt James

Classifications

• G01F1/74

  Devices for measuring flow of a fluid or flow of a fluent solid material in suspension in another fluid · CPC title

• G01N29/032

  by measuring attenuation of acoustic waves · CPC title

• G01N29/323

  compensating for pressure or tension variations · CPC title

• G01N2291/102

  one emitter, one receiver · CPC title

• G01N29/4418

  with a model, e.g. best-fit, regression analysis · CPC title