Measuring and testing – Volume or rate of flow – By measuring transit time of tracer or tag
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-07
2001-04-17
Patel, Harshad (Department: 2855)
Measuring and testing
Volume or rate of flow
By measuring transit time of tracer or tag
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216543
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a method and to a device for monitoring at least one flow of liquid in at least one pipeline and mainly (although not exclusively) for monitoring flows of liquids in networks of pipelines. This invention is more particularly although not exclusively of use for monitoring the flow of water in drinking water mains. It can also be applied to the monitoring of flows of water in sewerage systems.
Good management of water distribution networks requires sufficiently precise knowledge about the way the water flows through the various main and secondary branches of these networks. In the case of drinking water mains, it is necessary, in particular, to detect zones of stagnation or of low water flowrates which cause a deterioration in the water quality, so that these zones can be eliminated as far as possible.
To perform this kind of monitoring, a certain number of constraints need to be taken into consideration. Firstly, given that these are generally underground networks of pipelines, direct visual monitoring of the flow of water can be excluded right from the outset. Furthermore, the use of “labels” which are colored, or are of any danger whatsoever to the end user, must also be avoided. Furthermore, the fitting of meters and flowmeters at numerous points in a water distribution network is not economically viable.
Certain methods and devices for monitoring the flow of liquids are known, but they are not suited to networks of the kind considered here.
Thus, document GB 2197719A describes a system for measuring the flowrate of fluid in a pipeline, comprising injecting a radioactive “label” into the pipeline and detecting the passage of this label. This system is applied to underwater oil lines, and anticipates the injection into the oil line, at regular points in time, of small amounts of seawater irradiated by a radioactive source. For obvious reasons, such a system, which is after all complicated and expensive, is inacceptable in the case of drinking water mains.
Documents EP 0100304A and US 5311781A disclose systems for monitoring flows of liquids, which systems are based on detecting the movement of objects such as air bubbles or particles in suspension, included in the liquid and carried along by it. Such systems assume the “natural” presence of air bubbles or other detectable particles in the liquid, which makes their operation somewhat haphazard, if not impossible, in the case of a practically pure liquid such as drinking water. Furthermore, detecting small-sized objects such as air bubbles and particles in suspension presents a certain amount of difficulty and requires costly apparatuses. Finally, as air bubbles and other particles cannot be individually identified and recognized from one point in a network or pipeline to another, these known systems merely allow the speed and flowrate of a liquid to be measured locally but are unable to be used to monitor the flow and distribution of a liquid in a network that has many branches.
Finally, documents GB 1245479A and DE 2525937A describe devices for introducing spherical bodies into these pipelines. These bodies have a diameter equal to that of the pipeline, and cannot therefore be used in networks which contain pipelines of varying diameters. In the case of document GB 1245479A, the ultimate purpose of the spherical bodies is not specified, but in any case these bodies are not associated with any means of detecting their passage. In the case of document DE 2525937A, the spherical body comes into sealed contact with the wall of the pipeline, in order to separate two separate liquids flowing in turn in the same pipeline, and its purpose is therefore not to monitor the flow of liquid, even though it contains a permanent magnet that allows its location to be identified. In this respect, it should also be pointed out that a simple magnet does not allow a body to be individually identified from among a number of bodies.
The present invention aims to solve these problems by providing a method and a device which are simple, economical and harmless, suited to monitoring a flow of liquid in a pipeline or flows of liquids in networks of pipelines, such as drinking water mains.
To this end, the subject of the invention is essentially a method for monitoring one or more flow(s) of liquids in a pipeline or a network of pipelines, which consists, in a given network or pipeline, in introducing, at at least one point of the pipeline or of the network, at least one or more relatively small-sized detectable bodies which can be carried along by the flow of liquid toward the various parts of the pipeline or of the network concerned, and in detecting the passage of said detectable body or bodies at at least one or more predetermined point(s) of the pipeline or of the network considered.
Thus, the principle of the invention consists in introducing, into one or more flow(s) of liquids, one or more bodies which are carried along by this or these flows and which are automatically detected as they pass one or more predetermined points, thus making it possible to acquire knowledge about their path and speed. In particular, a zone reached by only very few of said bodies, or in which these bodies progress at a very low speed, can be identified as a stagnation zone.
The method that is the subject of the invention advantageously further comprises the operation which consists in intercepting said detectable body or bodies at at least one point of the pipeline or of the network concerned, and in extracting this or these bodies from the pipeline or from the network, particularly so as to prevent these bodies from blocking small cross section branches of the network or from reaching the end user. In addition, recovering said body or bodies allows the option of reusing it/them.
As a preference, the detectable body or bodies is/are detected electromagnetically. Said body or bodies can be detected through the walls of the pipeline or pipelines, particularly in the case of pipelines that are made of a synthetic substance. In the case of metallic pipelines, which may act as obstacles to the transmission of electromagnetic waves, said body or bodies may be detected inside the pipeline or pipelines, for example at individual points of a network, particularly at the valves.
According to a simple embodiment, detection is performed “passively”, that is to say that the passage of the detectable body or bodies at a certain number of points is detected simply by identifying these bodies which provide a “signature” as they pass a detector.
According to another, more refined embodiment, detection is performed “actively”, that is to say that the detectable body or bodies is/are designed to receive and store information as it/they pass(es) predetermined points of the pipeline or of the network and to restore this information as it/they pass(es) another point or other points, or accumulate this information and restore it only after it/they has/have been recovered at the end of its/their path through the pipeline or through the network.
Depending on the situation, the information obtained from detecting the passage of said body or bodies at one or more predetermined points of the pipeline or of the network may be processed in real time by a computer system or be stored for later processing.
Another subject of the present invention is a device for monitoring a flow or flows of liquids in a pipeline or in a network of pipelines with a view to implementing the above-defined method.
The device in question is essentially made up, on the one hand, of at least one relatively small-sized detectable body and, on the other hand, of at least one stationary detector placed at a predetermined point of the pipeline or network concerned, and capable of cooperating with the aforementioned detectable body.
In a preferred embodiment of the device, the detectable body, which has impervious walls, contains an electronic “chip” associated with a transmitting and/or receiving antenna, the stationary detector being capable of cooperating with the electronic “chip” and the
Bio Merieux
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
Patel Harshad
LandOfFree
Method and device for controlling liquid fluxes in pipes lines does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method and device for controlling liquid fluxes in pipes lines, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and device for controlling liquid fluxes in pipes lines will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2440810