Device for regulating a mixing ratio of a gas mixture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12140309-B2
Application number	US-201817282718-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2018
Priority date	Oct 5, 2018
Publication date	Nov 12, 2024
Grant date	Nov 12, 2024

Abstract

A regulation device for regulating a mixing ratio (x) of a gas mixture comprises a first conduit ( 1 ) for carrying a flow of a first gas (e.g., air) and a second conduit ( 2 ) for carrying a flow of a second gas (e.g., a fuel gas). The first and second conduits ( 1, 2 ) open out into a common conduit ( 3 ) in a mixing region (M) to form the gas mixture. A first sensor (S 1 ) is configured to determine at least one thermal parameter of the gas mixture downstream from the mixing region. A control device ( 10 ) is configured to receive, from the first sensor, sensor signals indicative of the at least one thermal parameter of the gas mixture and to derive control signals for adjusting device (V 1 ) acting to adjust the mixing ratio, based on the at least one thermal parameter.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A regulation device for regulating a mixing ratio of a gas mixture comprising a first gas and a second gas, the device comprising:
a first conduit for carrying a flow of the first gas;
a second conduit for carrying a flow of the second gas, the first and second conduits opening out into a common conduit in a mixing region to form the gas mixture;
an adjusting device for adjusting the mixing ratio of the gas mixture;
a first sensor configured to determine at least one thermal parameter of the gas mixture downstream from the mixing region; and
a control device configured to receive, from the first sensor, sensor signals indicative of the at least one thermal parameter of the gas mixture and to derive control signals for the adjusting device based on the at least one thermal parameter,
wherein the control device is configured to carry out the following procedure:
setting the adjusting device to a reference state in which the flow of the second gas is interrupted while the flow of the first gas has a non-zero flow rate;
receiving sensor signals from the first sensor, the sensor signals being indicative of at least one thermal parameter of the first gas in the reference state;
setting the adjusting device to an operating state in which both the flow of the second gas and the flow of the first gas have non-zero flow rates;
receiving sensor signals from the first sensor, the sensor signals being indicative of at least one thermal parameter of the gas mixture in the operating state; and
deriving the control signals based on a comparison of the at least one thermal parameter of the gas mixture in the operating state and of the at least one thermal parameter of the first gas in the reference state.

2. The regulation device of claim 1 , wherein the adjusting device comprises a control valve for adjusting a flow rate of the second gas through the second conduit.

3. The regulation device of claim 1 , wherein the first gas is an oxygen carrier gas and, the second gas is a functional gas.

4. The regulation device of claim 1 ,
wherein the first sensor is configured to determine at least two thermal parameters of the gas mixture, the thermal parameters together being indicative of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of the gas mixture, and
wherein the control device is configured to take into account said at least two thermal parameters.

5. The regulation device of claim 4 , wherein the control device is configured to derive the control signals based on one of the thermal parameters determined by the first sensor, and to carry out a consistency check based on another one of the thermal parameters determined by the first sensor.

6. The regulation device of claim 4 , wherein the control device is configured to carry out the following procedure:
setting the adjusting device to a reference state in which the flow of the second gas is interrupted while the flow of the first gas has a non-zero flow rate;
receiving sensor signals from the first sensor, the sensor signals being indicative of the at least two thermal parameters in the reference state; and
based on the at least two thermal parameters in the reference state, determining a pressure parameter that is indicative of a density or pressure of the first gas in the reference state.

7. The regulation device of claim 1 , comprising a fan for transporting the gas mixture to a point of use.

8. The regulation device of claim 7 , wherein the fan is arranged downstream from the mixing region, and wherein first sensor is integrated into the fan.

9. The regulation device of claim 7 , wherein the control device is configured to carry out the following procedure:
operating the fan at a plurality of different power levels while the flow of the second gas is interrupted;
for each power level, determining a pressure parameter based on the sensor signals received from the first sensor, the pressure parameter being indicative of density or pressure of the first gas at said power level; and
based on the pressure parameters at different power levels, deriving a blockage signal indicating whether a blockage or fan malfunction has occurred.

10. The regulation device of claim 1 , further comprising a swirl element arranged in the common conduit downstream from the mixing region and upstream from the first sensor, the swirl element being configured to create turbulence in the gas mixture.

11. The regulation device of claim 1 ,
further comprising a second sensor, the second sensor being configured to determine at least one thermal parameter of the first gas,
wherein the control device is configured to receive, from the second sensor, sensor signals indicative of the at least one thermal parameter of the first gas and to derive the control signals based on the sensor signals received from both the first and second sensors.

12. The regulation device of claim 11 ,
wherein the second sensor is configured to determine at least two thermal parameters, the at least two thermal parameters determined by the second sensor together being indicative of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of the first gas, and
wherein the control device is configured to derive, based on the at least two thermal parameters determined by the second sensor, a first pressure parameter indicative of density or pressure of the first gas.

13. The regulation device of claim 11 ,
wherein the first sensor is configured to determine at least two thermal parameters, the at least two thermal parameters determined by the first sensor together being indicative of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of the mixture,
wherein the second sensor is configured to determine at least two thermal parameters, the at least two thermal parameters determined by the second sensor together being indicative of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of the first gas,
wherein the control device is configured to derive the control signals based on a comparison of one of the thermal parameters determined by the first and second sensors, and to carry out a consistency check based on a comparison of another one of the at least two thermal parameters determined by the first and second sensors.

14. The regulation device of claim 11 ,
wherein the first sensor is configured to determine a temperature of the gas mixture,
wherein the second sensor is configured to determine a temperature of the first gas, and
wherein the control device is configured to carry out a consistency check based on a comparison of the temperatures of the gas mixture and the first gas.

15. The regulation device of claim 11 , further comprising a third sensor, the third sensor being configured to determine at least one thermal parameter of the second gas,
wherein the control device is configured to receive, from the third sensor, sensor signals indicative of the at least one thermal parameter of the second gas and to derive the control signals based on the sensor signals received from the first, second and third sensors.

16. The regulation device of claim 1 , further comprising a first mass flow meter in the first conduit and/or a second mass flow meter in the second conduit,
wherein the control device is configured to determine a mass flow parameter indicative of a mass flow in the first or second conduit based on mass flow signals from the first and/or second mass flow meters.

17. The regulation device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a flow restrictor in the first or second conduit; and
a differential pressure sensor configured to determine a differential pr

Assignees

• Sensirion Ag

Inventors

• Hornung Mark
• Rüegg Andreas
• Monnin Eric
• Kiliani David
• Wehrli Samuel
• Traeutlein Daniel

Classifications

• F23N2005/185

  using detectors sensitive to rate of flow of fuel · CPC title

• F23N2005/181

  using detectors sensitive to rate of flow of air · CPC title

• F23N5/187

  using electrical or electromechanical means · CPC title

• F23N5/025

  using electrical or electromechanical means (F23N5/04 - F23N5/14 take precedence) · CPC title

• F23N2239/04

  Gaseous fuels · CPC title