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Title: Method for noninvasive determination of acoustic properties of fluids inside pipes

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1280744

A method for determining the composition of fluids flowing through pipes from noninvasive measurements of acoustic properties of the fluid is described. The method includes exciting a first transducer located on the external surface of the pipe through which the fluid under investigation is flowing, to generate an ultrasound chirp signal, as opposed to conventional pulses. The chirp signal is received by a second transducer disposed on the external surface of the pipe opposing the location of the first transducer, from which the transit time through the fluid is determined and the sound speed of the ultrasound in the fluid is calculated. The composition of a fluid is calculated from the sound speed therein. The fluid density may also be derived from measurements of sound attenuation. Several signal processing approaches are described for extracting the transit time information from the data with the effects of the pipe wall having been subtracted.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
Assignee:
Los Alamos National Security, LLC (Los Alamos, NM)
Patent Number(s):
9,404,890
Application Number:
13/226,444
OSTI ID:
1280744
Resource Relation:
Patent File Date: 2011 Sep 06
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (7)

Noninvasive characterization of a flowing multiphase fluid using ultrasonic interferometry patent November 2003
Doppler ultrasonic flowmeter patent August 2005
Ultrasonic characterization of high concentration particles patent August 2007
Band excitation method applicable to scanning probe microscopy patent August 2010
Noninvasive characterization of a flowing multiphase fluid using ultrasonic interferometry patent-application May 2005
Non-Contact Feature Detection Using Ultrasonic Lamb Waves patent-application March 2009
20030164038 patent-application October 2009