Accuracy improvement in flowmeter systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9404778-B2
Application number	US-201314056563-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 17, 2013
Priority date	Jul 26, 2010
Publication date	Aug 2, 2016
Grant date	Aug 2, 2016

Abstract

Implementations of the present disclosure are directed to a flowmeter method and system. In an implementation, a signal is received from a flowmeter and a value is determined based on the signal. The value is compared to a threshold. A heartbeat value is provided when the value is greater than a threshold value. In some implementations, a flow rate of a fluid is based on the heartbeat value. In some implementations, the heartbeat value is monitored and an alarm is selectively generated based on the monitoring.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving a signal from a flowmeter, the flowmeter being responsive to a fluid flow through the conduit;
determining a value based on the signal;
comparing the value to a threshold;
providing a heartbeat value when the value is greater than the threshold; and
determining a flow rate of the fluid flow based on the heartbeat value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flowmeter comprises a vortex flowmeter.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a volume of fluid flowing through the conduit based on the flow rate.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fluid flow is a composite fluid flow comprising a first fluid and a second fluid.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first fluid is a liquid and the second fluid is a gas.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is determined as a percentage of an upper range value corresponding to an expected type of fluid flow.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the expected type of fluid flow is liquid.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving user input; and
determining the threshold based on the user input.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising totalizing a volume of the flow over a period of time to determine a total volume of fluid.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein totalizing further comprises minimizing the volume of the flow within the total volume flow when the flow rate is based on the heartbeat value.

11. A system, comprising:
a flowmeter;
one or more processors in communication with the flowmeter; and
a computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, comprising:
receiving a signal from a flowmeter, the flowmeter being responsive to a fluid flow through the conduit;
determining a value based on the signal;
comparing the value to a threshold;
providing a heartbeat value when the value is greater than the threshold; and
determining a flow rate of the fluid flow based on the heartbeat value.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the flowmeter comprises a vortex flowmeter.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise determining a volume of fluid flowing through the conduit based on the flow rate.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the fluid flow is a composite fluid flow comprising a first fluid and a second fluid.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first fluid is a liquid and the second fluid is a gas.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the threshold is determined as a percentage of an upper range value corresponding to an expected type of fluid flow.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the expected type of fluid flow is liquid.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving user input; and
determining the threshold based on the user input.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise totalizing a volume of the flow over a period of time to determine a total volume of fluid.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein totalizing further comprises minimizing the volume of the flow within the total volume flow when the flow rate is based on the heartbeat value.

21. A method, comprising:
receiving a signal from a flowmeter, the flowmeter being responsive to a fluid flow;
determining a value based on the signal;
comparing the value to a threshold;
providing a heartbeat value when the value is greater than the threshold;
monitoring the heartbeat value; and
selectively generating an alarm based on the monitoring.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein monitoring the heartbeat value comprises:
determining an amount of time the value is greater than the threshold; and
comparing the amount of time to a time threshold, wherein the alarm is generated when the amount of time is greater than the time threshold.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein monitoring the heartbeat value comprises:
determining that the value is less than the threshold; and
incrementing an amount of time when the value is less than the threshold.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein monitoring the heartbeat value further comprises:
determining that the amount of time is greater than a time threshold; and
generating the alarm in response to determining that the amount of time is greater than a time threshold.

25. The method of claim 21 , wherein the flowmeter comprises a vortex flowmeter.

26. The method of claim 21 , wherein the fluid flow is a composite fluid flow comprising a first fluid and a second fluid.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the first fluid is a liquid and the second fluid is a gas.

28. The method of claim 21 , wherein the threshold is determined as a percentage of an upper range value corresponding to an expected type of fluid flow.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the expected type of fluid flow is liquid.

30. The method of claim 21 , further comprising:
receiving user input; and
determining the threshold based on the user input.

31. A system, comprising:
a flowmeter;
one or more processors in communication with the flowmeter; and
a computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, comprising:
receiving a signal from a flowmeter, the flowmeter being responsive to a fluid flow;
determining a value based on the signal;
comparing the value to a threshold;
providing a heartbeat value when the value is greater than the threshold;
monitoring the heartbeat value; and
selectively generating an alarm based on the monitoring.

32. The system of claim 31 , wherein monitoring the heartbeat value comprises:
determining an amount of time the value is greater than the threshold; and
comparing the amount of time to a time threshold, wherein the alarm is generated when the amount of time is greater than the time threshold.

33. The system of claim 31 , wherein monitoring the heartbeat value comprises:
determining that the value is less than the threshold; and
incrementing an amount of time when the value is less than the threshold.

34. The system of claim 33 , wherein monitoring the heartbeat value further comprises:
determining that the amount of time is greater than a time threshold; and
generating the alarm in response to determining that the amount of time is greater than a time threshold.

35. The system of claim 31 , wherein the flowmeter comprises a vortex flowmeter.

36. The system of claim 31 , wherein the fluid flow is a composite fluid flow comprising a first fluid and a second fluid.

37. The system of claim 36 , wherein the first fluid is a liquid and the second fluid is a gas.

38. The system of claim 31 , wherein the threshold is determined as a percentage of an upper range value corresponding to an expected type of fluid flow.

39. The system of claim 38 , wherein the expected type of fluid flow is liquid.

Assignees

• Invensys Sys Inc

Inventors

• Reese Michael
• Allstrom Peter E

Classifications

• H04B1/525

  with means for reducing leakage of transmitter signal into the receiver · CPC title

• G01F1/32 Primary

  using swirl flowmeters · CPC title

• G01F1/3259

  for detecting fluid pressure oscillations · CPC title

• G01F15/08

  Air or gas separators in combination with liquid meters; Liquid separators in combination with gas-meters · CPC title

• G01F1/363

  with electrical or electro-mechanical indication (G01F1/37 and G01F1/38 take precedence) · CPC title