EP0198879A1 - Ultrasonic flow meter with wide measuring range - Google Patents
Ultrasonic flow meter with wide measuring rangeInfo
- Publication number
- EP0198879A1 EP0198879A1 EP19850905237 EP85905237A EP0198879A1 EP 0198879 A1 EP0198879 A1 EP 0198879A1 EP 19850905237 EP19850905237 EP 19850905237 EP 85905237 A EP85905237 A EP 85905237A EP 0198879 A1 EP0198879 A1 EP 0198879A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- transducers
- burst
- signals
- measuring
- measuring signal
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
- G01F1/00—Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow
- G01F1/66—Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow by measuring frequency, phase shift or propagation time of electromagnetic or other waves, e.g. using ultrasonic flowmeters
- G01F1/667—Arrangements of transducers for ultrasonic flowmeters; Circuits for operating ultrasonic flowmeters
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
- G01R25/00—Arrangements for measuring phase angle between a voltage and a current or between voltages or currents
Definitions
- the invention relates to an ultrasonic flow meter adapted to perform measurements throughout a wide measuring range.
- FIG. 1 shows an example of the sensor section of such a meter.
- the sensor section consists of a measuring tube of a diameter D through which the liquid flow to be measured passes.
- Two ultrasonic transducers are mounted in the measuring tube in facing relationship at a distance _1 from each other.
- the two transducers transmit simulta ⁇ neously, and with the same phase, bursts of a sine wave measuring signal having a carrier frequency of, for example, 1.18 MHz.
- the difference between the times of arrival of the bursts at the two op ⁇ positely mounted transducers will be proportional to the velocity v of the liquid between the transducers.
- the length 1 is 0.124 m and the diameter D of the measuring tube is
- the direct measurement of time differences on this order requires the use of extremely fast electronic circuitry and components. It is an object of the invention to provide an alternative method of measuring the time differences in which use is made of standard elec ⁇ tronic components.
- the starting point is that the measurements are performed by means of high frequency sine wave measuring signals hav ⁇ ing a carrier frequency of, for example, 1.18 MHz.
- the measuring signal has to be transmitted in finite bursts, for example with a length of 64 cycles, after which the transducers can be used for reception.
- Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the electronic circuit arrangement in accordance with the invention.
- Fig. 3 shows the time sequence diagram pertaining to this circuit arrangement.
- the crystal oscillator 1 coacts with the divider-by-four 2 to gen ⁇ erate the frequency of the measuring signal (1.18 MHz).
- the transducers in the measuring tube 17 are driven via the transmit gate 13 and the transducer circuits 15 and 16.
- the voltage across the transducers are also applied to two sample gates 18 and 20.
- the two sample gates are concurrently opened 32 times for brief periods by 32 sampling pulses.
- the hold circuits 19 and 21 are charged by the 32 samples.
- the sampling pulses are produced in the sampling pulse gate 24.
- a 1.18 MHz block signal is applied to sampling pulse gate 24 via divider-by-four 12 and needle pulses (pulse width of approximately 100 ns) are formed from 32 1.18 MHz cycles under the control of the samplin control circuit 23. These needle pulses cause sample gates 18 and 20 to open for brief periods.
- Divider-by-four 12 receives a 4.72 MHz signal from the voltage- controlled crystal oscillator 11. Via the phase locking circuit con ⁇ sisting of the mixer 8, the phase comparator 9 and the loop filter 10, and with the 288 Hz block signal derived via divider circuits 2-7 from crystal oscillator 1 as a reference, voltage-controlled crystal os- cillator 11 is shifted in frequency by 288 Hz relative to the frequency of crystal oscillator 1.
- sampling pulses then have (during the burst of sampling pulses) a frequency that is 72 Hz higher than the carrier frequency of the measuring signal.
- the result is that within a period of 1/72 second, a full cycle of the 1.18 MHz measuring signal is scanned by the sample pulses.
- the divider circuits 2-6 and the AND- gate 14 are operative to control the (transmit) bursts so that each time a burst with a length of 64 cycles (54/us) is transmitted concurrently by the two transducer In Fig. 3, line A represents the control signal for transmit gate 1 while line B represents the transmit signal itself.
- Fig. 4 shows a detail of Fig. 3, i.e., the interval during which the measuring signal received is being sampled.
- Line C represents the signal received, while line E' represents the successive sampling pulses.
- the 32 samples charge hold circuits 18 and 20, respectively.
- Line F represents the output voltage of the hold circuit. During the 32 samplings within a burst of the measuring signal, the hold circuit gradually adopts the value of the instantaneous voltage of the measuring signal received at the sampling point.
- the sampling pulse shifts only through 6.6 ns relative to the cycle of the measuring signal (the total duration of one cycle is 847 ns), while the duration of the sampling pulse is approximately 100 ns. It may therefore be said that, practically, the 32 successive sampling pulses sample a single point of the measuring signal.
- the next transmit burst is transmitted 434/us (512 cycles of the measuring frequency) after the previous transmit burst, and the same sampling procedure is executed.
- the sampling pulses have now been shifted through 1/32 cycle (26.5 ns) relative to the cycle of the measuring signal. Consequently, in 32 successive bursts an entire cycle of the 1.18 MHz measuring signal is scanned.
- the hold circuit which during the reception of a burst each- time acquires the voltage of the measuring signal at the instant of sampling, thus produces an AC voltage having a frequency of 72 Hz and a shape identical to that of the measuring signal (normally a sine wave shape).
- a low-pass filter smoothes out the step-like ripple on the output voltage of the hold circuit.
- Line C" in Fig. 5 shows each time a cycle of the received measuring signal in each burst.
- Line E" shows each time a sampling pulse in each burst.
- Fig. 5 shows that the instant of sampling shifts relative to the sine wave cycles of the received measuring signal.
- Line F' represents the output voltage of the hold circuit, while line G represents the waveform obtained by smoothing out by means of the low-pass filter. The sampling is executed concurrently in both reception paths connected to the two transducers. However, when there is a phase difference between the two measuring signals, the same phase difference will exist between the two 72 Hz output signals.
Abstract
Dispositif de mesure de la vitesse d'écoulement d'un liquide dans une conduite, comprenant deux transducteurs ultrasoniques et un circuit électronique. Chacun des deux transducteurs transmet simultanément une rafale à l'autre transducteur et la vitesse d'écoulement du liquide est déterminée à partir de la différence dans les temps d'arrivée aux transducteurs récepteurs respectifs des deux rafales envoyées dans deux directions opposées. Chacun des deux transducteurs est connecté par une porte d'échantillons à un circuit récepteur dans lequel les signaux ultrasonores reçus par les transducteurs sont échantillonnés simultanément.Device for measuring the flow speed of a liquid in a pipe, comprising two ultrasonic transducers and an electronic circuit. Each of the two transducers simultaneously transmits a burst to the other transducer and the liquid flow speed is determined from the difference in the times of arrival at the respective receiving transducers of the two bursts sent in two opposite directions. Each of the two transducers is connected by a sample gate to a receiver circuit in which the ultrasonic signals received by the transducers are sampled simultaneously.
Description
Title: Ultrasonic Flow Meter with Wide Measuring Range
The invention relates to an ultrasonic flow meter adapted to perform measurements throughout a wide measuring range.
Such flow meters find application in heat meters used for recording the individual heat consumption in buildings connected to a block or city heat supply network. Fig. 1 shows an example of the sensor section of such a meter.
The sensor section consists of a measuring tube of a diameter D through which the liquid flow to be measured passes. Two ultrasonic transducers are mounted in the measuring tube in facing relationship at a distance _1 from each other.The two transducers transmit simulta¬ neously, and with the same phase, bursts of a sine wave measuring signal having a carrier frequency of, for example, 1.18 MHz. The difference between the times of arrival of the bursts at the two op¬ positely mounted transducers will be proportional to the velocity v of the liquid between the transducers.
With denoting the sound velocity in the liquid, jtl the time of propagation from transducer 1 to transducer 2 and _t2 the time of . propagation from transducer 2 to transducer 1, and with the liquid flowing into the direction from transducer 1 to transducer 2, then: tl = —: and t2 = c + v c - v
The difference dt in arrival time is then:
_d_#t. -= -t•. - -tlι -= 1 - 1; β.. -l}(c+v?) - 7—l(;—c-?v) _= —22.1.v_r , ( 1 c-v c+v (c-v) . (c+v) or -or In a flow meter in accordance with the example described, the length 1 is 0.124 m and the diameter D of the measuring tube is
0.010 . The sectional area 0 is then 78.54 x 10~6 2. The relation¬ ship between the volume flow velocity V in liters per hour and the linear flow velocity v in meters per second is then: v = V/283 Assuming the upper measuring limit of V, i.e., V ax, to be 1,000 liters per hour, then the maximum linear flow velocity vmax = 3.54 m/s. Assuming the lower measuring limit of V, i.e., Vmin, to be 101/h, then vmin = 0.0354 m/s. If the liquid to be measured is water having
a temperature of 25°C, then the sound velocity c » 1,500 m/s. As the liquid flow velocity v will always be very much smaller than the sound velocity , equation (1) may be simplified to: dt = 2.1.v/c2 (2) without an appreciable error being introduced.
In the present example, the maximum and minimum arrival time differences (dt ax and dtmin, respectively) will then be: dtmax = 0.39 /us dtmin = 0.0039/us (= 3.9 ns) Especially the lower measuring limit leads to, for example, extreme¬ ly brief time differences, while a measurement accuracy of 15% is re¬ quired, which corresponds to 0.6 ns.
The direct measurement of time differences on this order requires the use of extremely fast electronic circuitry and components. It is an object of the invention to provide an alternative method of measuring the time differences in which use is made of standard elec¬ tronic components. The starting point is that the measurements are performed by means of high frequency sine wave measuring signals hav¬ ing a carrier frequency of, for example, 1.18 MHz. As the transducers are used for transmission as well as reception, the measuring signal has to be transmitted in finite bursts, for example with a length of 64 cycles, after which the transducers can be used for reception.
Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the electronic circuit arrangement in accordance with the invention. Fig. 3 shows the time sequence diagram pertaining to this circuit arrangement.
The crystal oscillator 1 coacts with the divider-by-four 2 to gen¬ erate the frequency of the measuring signal (1.18 MHz). The transducers in the measuring tube 17 are driven via the transmit gate 13 and the transducer circuits 15 and 16. The voltage across the transducers are also applied to two sample gates 18 and 20. At the point of time when a burst transmitted by one transducer reaches the other transducer, the two sample gates are concurrently opened 32 times for brief periods by 32 sampling pulses. The hold circuits 19 and 21 are charged by the 32 samples. The sampling pulses are produced in the sampling pulse gate 24. A 1.18 MHz block signal is applied to sampling pulse gate 24 via
divider-by-four 12 and needle pulses (pulse width of approximately 100 ns) are formed from 32 1.18 MHz cycles under the control of the samplin control circuit 23. These needle pulses cause sample gates 18 and 20 to open for brief periods. Divider-by-four 12 receives a 4.72 MHz signal from the voltage- controlled crystal oscillator 11. Via the phase locking circuit con¬ sisting of the mixer 8, the phase comparator 9 and the loop filter 10, and with the 288 Hz block signal derived via divider circuits 2-7 from crystal oscillator 1 as a reference, voltage-controlled crystal os- cillator 11 is shifted in frequency by 288 Hz relative to the frequency of crystal oscillator 1.
The sampling pulses then have (during the burst of sampling pulses) a frequency that is 72 Hz higher than the carrier frequency of the measuring signal. The result is that within a period of 1/72 second, a full cycle of the 1.18 MHz measuring signal is scanned by the sample pulses.
The divider circuits 2-6 and the AND- gate 14 are operative to control the (transmit) bursts so that each time a burst with a length of 64 cycles (54/us) is transmitted concurrently by the two transducer In Fig. 3, line A represents the control signal for transmit gate 1 while line B represents the transmit signal itself.
The bursts arrive 83 /us later at the oppositely mounted trans¬ ducers. Line C in Fig. 3 represents the signal received.
The beginning of the received burst is distorted due to transients caused by resonance of the transducers. Sampling will therefore be initiated only after the beginning of the burst, i.e., 112 cycles (95/us) from the beginning of the transmit burst. Subsequently, during a period of 32 cycles a sample is taken of each cycle of the measuring signal received. Line D shows the signal produced by sampling control circuit 23. Line E represents the sampling pulse burst.
Fig. 4 shows a detail of Fig. 3, i.e., the interval during which the measuring signal received is being sampled. Line C represents the signal received, while line E' represents the successive sampling pulses. The 32 samples charge hold circuits 18 and 20, respectively.
Line F represents the output voltage of the hold circuit. During the
32 samplings within a burst of the measuring signal, the hold circuit gradually adopts the value of the instantaneous voltage of the measuring signal received at the sampling point.
It can be calculated that during the sampling of burst, the sampling pulse shifts only through 6.6 ns relative to the cycle of the measuring signal (the total duration of one cycle is 847 ns), while the duration of the sampling pulse is approximately 100 ns. It may therefore be said that, practically, the 32 successive sampling pulses sample a single point of the measuring signal. The next transmit burst is transmitted 434/us (512 cycles of the measuring frequency) after the previous transmit burst, and the same sampling procedure is executed. However, the sampling pulses have now been shifted through 1/32 cycle (26.5 ns) relative to the cycle of the measuring signal. Consequently, in 32 successive bursts an entire cycle of the 1.18 MHz measuring signal is scanned.
The hold circuit, which during the reception of a burst each- time acquires the voltage of the measuring signal at the instant of sampling, thus produces an AC voltage having a frequency of 72 Hz and a shape identical to that of the measuring signal (normally a sine wave shape). A low-pass filter smoothes out the step-like ripple on the output voltage of the hold circuit.
Line C" in Fig. 5 shows each time a cycle of the received measuring signal in each burst. Line E" shows each time a sampling pulse in each burst. Fig. 5 shows that the instant of sampling shifts relative to the sine wave cycles of the received measuring signal. For the sake of clarity, in Fig. 5 it is assumed that the entire cycle is scanned in 8 samplings instead of in 32. Line F' represents the output voltage of the hold circuit, while line G represents the waveform obtained by smoothing out by means of the low-pass filter. The sampling is executed concurrently in both reception paths connected to the two transducers. However, when there is a phase difference between the two measuring signals, the same phase difference will exist between the two 72 Hz output signals.
Consequently, a transformation takes place from two pulse-shaped received measuring signals having a carrier frequency of 1.18 MHz to two continuous signals having a frequency of 72 Hz, while the phase difference between the two 72 Hz signals is identical to that between
the two original 1.18 MHz signals. Consequently, now the phase differen between two continuous, sine wave derivative measuring signals having a frequency of 72 Hz has to be measured, which can be performed with far greater accuracy than the measurement of a similar phase difference between two 1.18 MHz measuring signals. In other words, the minimum time difference of 3.9 ns to be measured has been increased by a factor 16384 to 64/us. This time and phase difference can be measured success¬ fully by means of conventional time and phase measuring circuitry. It is observed that the times, frequencies and numbers of cycles mentioned in the above are merely examples. Other combinations are possible and are considered to fall under the scope of the present invention.
*****
Claims
1. A device for measuring the flow velocity of a liquid in a conduit, comprising two ultrasonic transducers and an electronic circuit arrangement, in which each one of the two transducers con¬ currently transmits a burst to the other tranducer and the flow velocity of the liquid is determined from the difference in arrival time of the two oppositely directed bursts at the respective receiving transducers, characterized in that each one of the two transducers is connected through a sample gate to a receiver circuit in which the ultrasonic signals received by the transducers are sampled concurrent- ly.
2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that the sample gates are rendered conductive by means of sampling pulses during a fraction of the duration of a cycle of the measuring signal received.
3. A device according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that during the reception of a burst in each transducer a series of cycles from said burst is sampled in such a manner that the samplings take place within a burst in the same or substantially, the same phase angle relative to the cycle of the received signals in said burst.
4. A device according to claims 1-3, characterized in that the phase angle of the instant of sampling relative to the received measuring signal shifts upon successive bursts of the measuring signal, so that an entire cycle of the measuring signal is scanned in a fixed number of bursts.
5. A device according to claims 1-4, characterized in that the sampling procedure results in two first discontinuous measuring signals of high carrier frequency being transformed into two continuous second signals of low carrier frequency, the phase difference between said second signals being equal to the phase difference between said first signals.
&&&&&
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| NL8403221 | 1984-10-23 | ||
| NL8403221A NL8403221A (en) | 1984-10-23 | 1984-10-23 | ULTRASONIC FLOW METER WITH WIDE RANGE. |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| EP0198879A1 true EP0198879A1 (en) | 1986-10-29 |
Family
ID=19844651
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| EP19850905237 Withdrawn EP0198879A1 (en) | 1984-10-23 | 1985-10-23 | Ultrasonic flow meter with wide measuring range |
Country Status (3)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| EP (1) | EP0198879A1 (en) |
| NL (1) | NL8403221A (en) |
| WO (1) | WO1986002722A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ243294A (en) * | 1991-06-25 | 1995-04-27 | Commw Scient Ind Res Org | Time of flight of acoustic wave packets through fluid: reduction of higher order acoustic mode effects |
| NZ243293A (en) * | 1991-06-25 | 1995-03-28 | Commw Scient Ind Res Org | Fluid flow meter: time of travel of acoustic wave packet through fluid |
| FR2750495B1 (en) * | 1996-07-01 | 1998-08-21 | Schlumberger Ind Sa | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MEASURING A FLOW OF FLOWING FLUID |
| AUPQ480199A0 (en) | 1999-12-22 | 2000-02-03 | AGL Consultancy Pty. Limited | Timed window ultrasonic gas meter with nose cone |
Family Cites Families (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3050997A (en) * | 1958-06-10 | 1962-08-28 | Nat Res Dev | Flowmeters |
| US3935735A (en) * | 1974-09-03 | 1976-02-03 | Badger Meter, Inc. | Ultrasonic flow meter |
-
1984
- 1984-10-23 NL NL8403221A patent/NL8403221A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
-
1985
- 1985-10-23 EP EP19850905237 patent/EP0198879A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1985-10-23 WO PCT/NL1985/000040 patent/WO1986002722A1/en unknown
Non-Patent Citations (1)
| Title |
|---|
| See references of WO8602722A1 * |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| NL8403221A (en) | 1986-05-16 |
| WO1986002722A1 (en) | 1986-05-09 |
Similar Documents
| Publication | Publication Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| CA1157935A (en) | Ultrasonic flowmeter | |
| US3751979A (en) | Speed measurement system | |
| US4015470A (en) | Flow measuring method and apparatus | |
| CA1247229A (en) | Digital flow meter circuit and method for measuring flow | |
| Garbini et al. | Measurement of fluid turbulence based on pulsed ultrasound techniques. Part 2. Experimental investigation | |
| KR910008387A (en) | Measuring system | |
| US4011755A (en) | Acoustic flowmeter | |
| WO1993003333A1 (en) | Velocity measurement system | |
| US6788044B2 (en) | Frequency change measuring device | |
| EP0198879A1 (en) | Ultrasonic flow meter with wide measuring range | |
| CN106153173A (en) | Sonic velocity measurement method and device in a kind of water | |
| JPS55109916A (en) | Ultrasonic flow meter | |
| CN109324208A (en) | A kind of vehicle repair major current density based on ultrasonic velocity method, mass flow and phase content integrated analysis instrument | |
| Williams 3rd et al. | An acoustic sensor of velocity for benthic boundary layer studies | |
| Noble | Dual frequency ultrasonic fluid flowmeter | |
| Chande et al. | Ultrasonic flow velocity sensor based on picosecond timing system | |
| RU2208223C2 (en) | Meter measuring speed of sound in liquid media | |
| Brown | Dual path ultrasonic measurement of fluid flow | |
| EP1798529A1 (en) | Ultrasonic gas flow meter | |
| US4312239A (en) | Method and apparatus for ultrasonic measurement of the rate of flow | |
| RU26341U1 (en) | ULTRASONIC FLOW METER | |
| SU885808A1 (en) | Pulse ultrasonic flowmeter | |
| GB2099146A (en) | A phase difference flowmeter | |
| SU1610428A1 (en) | Method and apparatus for checking continuity of liquid flow in pipe-line | |
| SU1291698A1 (en) | Apparatus for measuring the depth of wells |
Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
|
| AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A1 Designated state(s): DE FR GB IT NL SE |
|
| STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN |
|
| 18D | Application deemed to be withdrawn |
Effective date: 19860924 |
|
| RIN1 | Information on inventor provided before grant (corrected) |
Inventor name: FOCKENS, TALLIENCO, WIEAND, HARM |