Fluid handling – Processes – With control of flow by a condition or characteristic of a...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-12
2001-07-03
Hepperle, Stephen M. (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
Processes
With control of flow by a condition or characteristic of a...
C137S009000, C137S088000, C137S101190, C137S101210
Reexamination Certificate
active
06253779
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to liquid blending systems and, in particular, to a system for blending two liquid blend components using the combination of a highly accurate meter and a substantially less accurate auxiliary measuring device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A number of systems are known for blending and dispensing two-blend components to form at least one blended final product. Alternatively, the systems dispense several blended products made up of differing amounts of each of the blend components. Typically, the control devices for these systems require measuring the flow rate and/or cumulative volume of each of the blend components so that a proper amount of each may be added to the blending process to create a desired final product.
Blending systems used for commercial applications with retail customers must conform to government-mandated regulations concerning the accuracy of the measured quantity and the quality of the dispensed product. Meeting these tight measurement tolerances for applications, such as service station fuel dispensing, requires a highly accurate meter having an accuracy of much less than plus or minus one percent. Measuring devices capable of meeting these standards can be expensive and with blending components, this cost is multiplied by the number of components. Thus, it would be desirable to have an alternative blend component measurement system that minimizes the need for costly precision meters. Desirably, such a system would be fully retrofitable into existing blending systems. The present invention addresses this need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides for more economical fluid blending systems by reducing the required number of highly accurate meters. Rather than measure the flow rate and/or volume or individual blend components using costly, highly accurate measuring devices, the present invention relies on the combination of a single such measuring device and a substantially less accurate auxiliary measuring device. Thus, the flow rate of one of the blending components is measured directly, while the flow rate of the other blend component is calculated indirectly. The present invention provides these technical and economic benefits, while still meeting weights and measures requirements for accuracy.
The present invention relates to a system for blending two-blend components to form a blended final product including a first supply line for supplying a first blend component at a first flow rate and a second supply line for supplying a second blend component at a second flow rate. The first supply line and the second supply line intersect to form a blended product line. The system further includes a blended product measuring device or meter positioned in the blended product line for measuring the flow rate of the blended product, and an auxiliary measuring device positioned in the first supply line for measuring the flow rate of the first blend component. A calculation device determines the flow rate of the second blend component by measuring the difference between the flow rates measured by the blended product meter and the auxiliary measuring device.
In a preferred embodiment, the auxiliary measuring device has a degree of accuracy less than that of the blended product measuring device. Desirably, the blended product measuring device has an accuracy of about 0.25 percent and the auxiliary measuring device has an accuracy of about 1.0 percent. Alternatively, the auxiliary measuring device may have an accuracy between about 0.75 percent and about 1.0 percent. In an alternative embodiment, the blended product measuring device and the auxiliary measuring device have substantially the same level of accuracy.
The present invention further relates to a method for blending two-blend components to form a blended final product, including mixing a first blend component flow and a second blend component flow to form a desired blended product flow; measuring the flow rate of the blended product flow with a blended product meter; and measuring the flow rate of the first blend component flow using an auxiliary measuring device. The auxiliary measuring device may have substantially less accuracy as than that of the blended product meter. Alternatively, the auxiliary measuring device may have substantially the same accuracy as that of the blended product meter. The flow rate of the second blend component is determined by measuring the difference between the flow rates measured by the blended product meter and the auxiliary measuring device. The blending process is carried out by controlling the flow rates of the first and second blend components to create the desired blended final product using the measured first product flow rate and the determined second product flow rate.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for determining the inputs to a blending system for blending a first blend component and a second blend component to form a blended mixture. The method includes measuring the flow rate of the blended mixture directly at a first level of measurement accuracy and measuring the flow rate of the first blend component directly at a second level of measurement accuracy. The flow rate of the second blend component is determined by measuring the difference between the blended mixture flow rate and the first blend component flow rate. The auxiliary measuring device may have substantially the same or substantially less accuracy than that of the blended product flow meter.
These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a reading of the following description of the preferred embodiments, when considered in conjunction with the drawings. It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one embodiment of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
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