Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
  • G05D—SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
  • G05D11/00—Control of flow ratio
  • G05D11/02—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material
  • G05D11/13—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material characterised by the use of electric means
  • G05D11/131—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material characterised by the use of electric means by measuring the values related to the quantity of the individual components
  • G05D11/132—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material characterised by the use of electric means by measuring the values related to the quantity of the individual components by controlling the flow of the individual components
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
  • G05D—SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
  • G05D11/00—Control of flow ratio
  • G05D11/02—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material
  • G05D11/13—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material characterised by the use of electric means
  • G05D11/131—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material characterised by the use of electric means by measuring the values related to the quantity of the individual components

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to chemical injection
• Odor levels within gases or liquids are usually monitored by
• odor tester such as an odor tester, odorometer or odorator.
• Such systems typically include a pump for injecting an odorant
• the controller tracked the flow rate of the gas in the
• the system precisely monitors how much chemical is used per
• the module is designed to
• the monitor module is removed from the system
• the monitor module may be
• the usage data is processed in the audit computer to generate
• monitoring and alarm functions capable of notifying the operator in
• the system comprises three primary components: a pump, a meter
• the pump has an inlet, and an outlet connectable
• the meter supports a predetermined
• volume of a chemical and has an inlet connected to receive the
• the system also includes a flow
• level in the meter including a low level condition, as well as a
• the injection rate remains constant irrespective of such factors as
• auxiliary audit computer is provided or suitably-programmed to
• module includes appropriate storage devices, such as
• Time stamp data is also provided.
• module provides a convenient store of the date and time of each
• the audit computer is a general purpose personal computer running a
• the module preferably collects data from the controller over a period of time, such as several months. The module is removed
• the audit computer is suitably
• HOU hourly odorant usage
• the audit computer can then be controlled to generate
• FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of the preferred support
• FIGURE 2 is an elevation view of the mechanical enclosure of
• FIGURE 2A is a view of the odorant discharge manifold
• FIGURES 3A and 3B are elevations, partially cutaway, of two
• FIGURE 4 is a detailed block diagram of the preferred odorant
• FIGURE 5 is a block diagram of the auxiliary audit system of
• FIGURE 6 is a representative summary table of odorant usage
• FIGURE 7 is a table of system alarm status data generated by
• FIGURE 8 is a representative system parameter table
• FIGURE 9 is a representative system diagnostic table
• FIGURE 10 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of the
• the present invention describes a "chemical" injection
• a chemical such as an odorant
• conduit, container or the like for enabling operators to determine
• embodiment of the invention relates to "odorant" injection, it should
• the present invention provides a total system approach to
• the injection system is
• the system monitors how much odorant is used per
• FIGURE 1 an elevation view is shown of
• system 10 is designed to be extremely portable and compact.
• system 10 is preferably mounted on a support pole 1 1 supported in the ground adjacent the conduit or container to be monitored.
• the system includes a solar panel enclosure 1 2, a system control enclosure 14, a mechanical enclosure 1 6 and
• An odorant inlet filter assembly 20 is also provided.
• Filter assembly 20 connects to an odorant source as will be
• enclosures 1 2, 14, 1 6 and 1 8 may be any one or more of the enclosures 1 2, 14, 1 6 and 1 8.
• any suitable power source such as A.C may be used.
• the solar panel enclosure 12 supports a solar panel that
• Control and data signals are
• control odorant injection and metering These elements include the
• tank 18 is designed to be mounted close to the mechanical
• enclosure 1 6 acts as a pressure source/receiver for the odorant
• the expansion tank includes a relief valve 1 9, a
• valve 25 The odorant meter is connected via conduit 27 to a
• FIGURE 2 a detailed view is shown of the
• enclosure 1 6 supports two main components of the system 10, the
• the meter 32 serves as a temperature
• the pump is preferably a pneumatically-actuated, positive
• the pump has an adjustable displacement of 0-8.0
• SUBSTITUTE SHEETfRULE 26 acts as an isolation device between the hydraulic fluid and the
• FIG. 3A an elevation view, partially
• cutaway is shown of a first embodiment of the odorant meter 32.
• this device is used to meter a predetermined
• meter is refilled after a predetermined amount of odorant is metered
• the meter includes a central
• the float is designed
• this signal is delivered to the
• controller which in turn activates several valves to cause refilling of
• the meter 32 advantageously includes a detection device
• LDT linear displacement transducer
• a temperature sensor 28b is also
• controller unit to facilitate the calculation of the actual amount of
• FIGURE 3B a cross-sectional view of a
• volume of odorant enables a higher degree of accuracy in the
• the meter 32 includes a float
• SUBSTTTUTE SHEET (RULE 26) raises and lowers in response to the level of the chemical odorant.
• a level transducer 28a similar to that discussed with respect to
• FIGURE 3A is inserted into the sensor chamber 35 and interacts
• filter assembly 18 is located below the enclosure 16 and filter's the
• Assembly 1 8 also supports an odorant
• enclosure 16 also includes several other components including a fill
• valve 34 controls odorant flow into the meter
• the actuation gas manifold 36 houses an actuation gas
• Actuation gas for the pump 30 may be provided by a local
• the manifold also supports a pair of solenoid
• actuation gas delivery are provided by the system.
• the odorant discharge manifold 38 has two inlet connections
• Inlet 43a receives pump discharge via conduit 45.
• Inlet 43b is connected to the meter 32 via conduit 47.
• discharge manifold 36 includes three outlet ports 49a-c, shown in
• Port 49a receives a bypass
• conduit 51 connected between the port and an outlet 53 of the
• Port 49b is the pipeline connection
• the odorant discharge manifold 36 includes a valve 57a for controlling the flow of the odorant through the manifold.
• purge valve is also provided. These valves are normally closed.
• controller unit 40 is preferably
• the processor operates
• the controller unit is powered by the solar panel assembly 1 2
• a charger unit 50 may be
• the controller unit 40 receives a flow input signal from
• controller unit has two outputs 52a-b, and one input 53 provided
• Output 52b generates a control signal to control
• solenoid valve 33b which actuates fill valve 34 via the conduit 37.
• Output 52a generates a control signal that actuates solenoid valve
• SUBSTTTUTE SHEET (RULE 26) odorant.
• a regulated actuation gas supply (between 40-50 psi)
• the inlet filter and an odorant return valve 55 are supported
• the meter also includes an odorant filter
• Odorant is delivered to the pump 20 from the meter via conduit
• the odorant is preferably injected into the conduit or container
• the probe 62 includes a
• gauge 63 a check valve 64, a pressure relief valve 65, and a
• the pump 30 injects an
• the quantity of odorant injected per stroke is set by the
• the rate at which the pump is actuated is determined
• controller unit 40 allows
• the system to operate in either a time-based mode or a
• the controller actuates the pump at a regular time interval preset by
• controller uses the flow rate input signal and several operator input
• the desired injection rate (Ibs/MMSCF) or
• the injection rate is the desired amount of
• the pump displacement is the amount of chemical
• the injection system is
• the chemical e.g., the odorant
• a predetermined rate which as noted above is preferably set in
• MMSCF pounds per million standard cubic feet
• controller unit allows the system the ability to maintain the set
• the Actual Flow Rate is sensed by
• controller unit of the present invention controls the controller unit of the present invention.
• controller unit of the present invention controls the controller unit of the present invention.
• controller unit continually controls
• the controller provides dynamic
• the flow input signal is provided by either a flow computer
• the controller 40 distinguishes between a low flow
• the controller unit automatically defaults back to a
• the flow input signal is
• the meter 32 thus advantageously serves to meter the
• the controller unit 40 receives the various signals at input 53
• One conductor is
• 8UBSmTUTE SHEET (RULE 26) connected to the meter level transducer and signals the controller
• the controller responds to this condition by
• controller to facilitate precise calculation of the odorant injected as
• the upper portion of the meter is
• odorant injection system thus operates in a closed loop manner to
• the system include an auxiliary audit system which
• the audit system 80 is shown
• FIGURE 5 schematically in FIGURE 5 and includes an audit controller 82 and a
• Module 84 is designed to be
• the module includes appropriate storage devices,
• the module provides a convenient store
• controller 82 is a general purpose personal computer running an
• MS-DOS operating system with Microsoft Windows Version 3.1 or
• GUI graphical user interface
• SUBSTTTUTE SHEET (RULE 26) cooperates with point and click or keyboard input devices in a well-known manner.
• the module 84 preferably collects data from the controller
• the module 40 over a period of time, such as several months.
• a modem is provided as is well known.
• the audit controller is suitably
• HOU hourly odorant usage
• the audit controller can then be controlled to generate a table of
• a hard disk, CD-ROM or other storage device is used to maintain the data (in raw or table
• the tables generated by the audit controller may be
• a setup selection function enabling a user to adjust
• the event data describes alarm data, parameter change data,
• F3 key enables the operator to view the time and date of the next
• FIGURE 7 An example of a system alarm status screen is shown in FIGURE 7. A user is more easily
• system parameter screen display is shown in FIGURE 8.
• the audit controller is also programmed to generate a table of
• selection table enables selection of particular parameters for
• the parameters may be individually selected or a number
• the diagnostics selection table would include: flow voltage,
• a diagnostic table as shown in FIGURE 9,
• the raw odorant usage data may be processed into any suitable
• the system's major components comprises the system software
• system information parameters are entered at step 106 into the
• the monitor module 84 is
• step 108 initialized at step 108 to create a log file for a particular
• a log file comprises the overall monitoring
• monitor module 84 is inserted at step 10 into the odorization
• the module 84 monitors at step 1 1 2 the odorization
• the module data is downloaded into the
• SUBSTTTUTE SHEET (RULE 26) module file contains all of the data retrieved from a module.
• module file may be viewed at step 1 18 by a user to determine
• the monitor module is cleared at step
• the log file may
• step 126 then be used at step 126 for a variety of purposes, including
• controller provides significant audit and reporting capabilities for the
• the user can generate individual reports for each day of
• the invention thus facilitates the primary objectives of all gas

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
• Flow Control (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=23678345

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Families Citing this family (1)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 1996
  • 1996-04-18 WO PCT/US1996/005380 patent/WO1996033451A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1996-04-18 EP EP96920106A patent/EP0886812A1/en not_active Withdrawn

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