THROUGHFLOW MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Abstract

A throughflow measurement system comprises a measurement body that has an inlet flange, an outlet flange and a fluid passage, wherein the fluid passage has a passage axis; an ultrasonic measurement apparatus integrated into the measurement body; and a flow conditioner arranged upstream of the ultrasonic measurement apparatus in the fluid passage. An arrangement of bores for fastening means is provided at the outlet flange, wherein an axially extending outlet fastening region of the measurement body is defined by the length of the bores. The ultrasonic measurement apparatus has at least one reflection measurement path that is spanned by a first ultrasonic transducer, a reflector and a second ultrasonic transducer and that extends in a measurement plane through the fluid passage such that the second ultrasonic transducer is arranged downstream of the first ultrasonic transducer. The second ultrasonic transducer disposed downstream is arranged in or projects into the outlet fastening region.

Claims

1. A throughflow measurement system for measuring a fluid throughflow in a high pressure line, comprising: a measurement body that has an inlet flange, an outlet flange and a fluid passage, wherein the fluid passage extends between the inlet flange and the outlet flange and has a passage axis; an ultrasonic measurement apparatus integrated into the measurement body; and a flow conditioner arranged upstream of the ultrasonic measurement apparatus in the fluid passage, wherein an arrangement of bores for fastening means is provided at the outlet flange and an axially extending outlet fastening region of the measurement body is defined by the length of the bores, wherein the ultrasonic measurement apparatus has at least one reflection measurement path that is spanned by a first ultrasonic transducer, a reflector and a second ultrasonic transducer and that extends in a measurement plane through the fluid passage such that the second ultrasonic transducer is arranged downstream of the first ultrasonic transducer, wherein the second ultrasonic transducer disposed downstream is arranged in or projects into the outlet fastening region.

2. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic measurement apparatus comprises at least two reflection measurement paths, wherein each of the reflection measurement paths is spanned by a first ultrasonic transducer, a reflector and a second ultrasonic transducer and extends in a measurement plane through the fluid passage such that the second ultrasonic transducer is arranged downstream of the first ultrasonic transducer.

3. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 2, wherein, in one of the measurement planes, a connection line extending between the first ultrasonic transducer and the second ultrasonic transducer extends obliquely to the passage axis.

4. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 3, wherein the connection line extends obliquely to the passage axis in each of the measurement planes.

5. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 2, wherein at least one of the measurement planes is tilted about a perpendicular line of the associated reflector, starting from an alignment extending in parallel with the passage axis.

6. A throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 5, wherein the tilt angle has a magnitude of at least 5° and at most 60°.

7. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 5, wherein the measurement planes of the reflection measurement paths are tilted in opposite directions.

8. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 7, wherein the measurement planes of the reflection measurement paths are tilted by tilt angles of equal magnitude.

9. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 5, wherein the perpendicular line is arranged offset from the passage axis, viewed in a cross-sectional plane of the fluid passage.

10. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the measurement body has a length that amounts to at most three times the diameter of the fluid passage.

11. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the flow conditioner is designed with at least three stages.

12. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the flow conditioner has at least one hub body that is rotationally symmetrical with respect to the passage axis and that has an arched onflow region.

13. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the flow conditioner comprises at least one Spearman rectifier, a honeycomb body, an inner tube and/or a perforated plate.

14. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the reflection measurement path has a reflection angle of at least 5° and at most 45°.

15. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein each reflection measurement path has a reflection angle of at least 5° and at most 45°.

16. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the reflection measurement path measurement path is arranged completely outside a surrounding region of the passage axis.

17. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the measurement body is produced from steel and/or is formed in one piece.

18. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the measurement body is adapted for a fluid pressure of at least 0.5 bar and/or at most 110 bar.

19. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least eight bores for fastening means are provided at the outlet flange, said bores being arranged distributed around the fluid passage.

20. The throughflow measurement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least eight bores for fastening means are at the inlet flange, said bores being arranged distributed around the fluid passage.

Description

[0026] Further developments of the invention can also be seen from the dependent claims, from the description, and from the enclosed drawings.

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a throughflow measurement system in accordance with the invention in a perspective view;

[0028] FIG. 2 shows a flow conditioner and an ultrasonic measurement apparatus of the throughflow measurement system shown in FIG. 1;

[0029] FIG. 3 is a partly broken away side view of the throughflow measurement system shown in FIG. 1;

[0030] FIG. 4 is a partly broken away plan view of the throughflow measurement system shown in FIG. 1; and

[0031] FIG. 5 is a rear view of the throughflow measurement system shown in FIG. 1.

[0032] The throughflow measurement system 11 that is shown in the Figures and that is designed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention comprises a measurement body 13 which is produced from steel, which is preferably formed in one piece and in which a fluid passage 15 is formed in the form of a central leadthrough. In the embodiment shown, the fluid passage 15 has a circular cross-section. The fluid passage 15 is rectilinear and defines a passage axis 22.

[0033] For the installation into a fluid line system, not shown, the measurement body 13 has an inlet flange 16 and an outlet flange 17. The inlet flange 16 and the outlet flange 17 can, as shown, be planar and can extend in parallel with one another. An arrangement of eight bores 19 for fastening means such as screws is provided at the outlet flange 17. An axially extending, disk-like outlet fastening region 21 of the measurement body 13 is defined by the maximum, preferably uniform length of the bores 19 provided with threads. An arrangement of eight bores 19 is also provided at the inlet flange 16, as can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. For better clarity, the bores provided at the inlet flange 16 were omitted in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0034] As can be seen in FIG. 2, a flow conditioner 25 is arranged in the fluid passage 15. The flow conditioner 25 is designed with three stages, wherein three perforated plates 27 are shown by way of example as stages in FIG. 2. However, at least one stage, and preferably exactly one stage, of the flow conditioner 25 could be designed as a hub body that is rotationally symmetrical with respect to the passage axis 22 and that has an arched onflow region. Furthermore, individual stages or all the stages of the flow conditioner 25 could be designed as a Spearman rectifier, a honeycomb body or an inner tube.

[0035] Downstream of the flow conditioner 25, an ultrasonic measurement apparatus 29 is arranged in the measurement body 13. The ultrasonic measurement apparatus 29 has two reflection measurement paths 31, 32 that are each spanned by a first ultrasonic transducer 35, a reflector 36 and a second ultrasonic transducer 37. In accordance with the law of reflection, the reflection measurement paths 31, 32 extend in respective measurement planes through the fluid passage 15. In this respect, the second ultrasonic transducer 37 is in each case arranged downstream of the first ultrasonic transducer 35 with respect to a fixed flow direction 38. The first ultrasonic transducers 35 and the second ultrasonic transducers 37 are in signal connection with an electronic control device, not shown, that is configured to determine the fluid throughflow through the fluid passage 15 based on the sensor signals by means of the known transit time method while considering the Doppler effect. The first ultrasonic transducers 35 and the second ultrasonic transducers 37 can generally be transmitter/receiver combinations, that is, the reflection measurement paths 31, 32 can be provided for a bidirectional signal transmission.

[0036] So that the reflection measurement paths 31, 32 have an axial component, on the one hand, and only take up a small axial length, on the other hand, the connection lines 39 (FIG. 3), which extend between the first ultrasonic transducer 35 and the second ultrasonic transducer 37, extend obliquely to the passage axis 22, as can in particular be seen in FIG. 3. Starting from an alignment extending in parallel with the passage axis 2, the measurement planes are in particular tilted about respective perpendicular lines 41 of the reflectors 36, and indeed by tilt angles of equal magnitude in opposite directions. In the embodiment shown, the tilt angle amounts to approximately 29° in each case.

[0037] It can be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5 that the perpendicular lines 41 of the reflectors 36 each extend at right angles to the passage axis 22. However, as can be seen in FIG. 5, they are arranged offset from the passage axis 22. The perpendicular lines 41 of the reflectors 36 are in particular spaced apart by the same offset from the passage axis 22 in opposite directions. A surrounding region 45 of the passage axis 22 is omitted here. The reflection angle amounts to approximately 17° for both reflection measurement paths 31, 32.

[0038] As can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the two second ultrasonic transducers 37 disposed downstream project into the outlet fastening region 21. In this respect, the cable passages 47 associated with the second ultrasonic transducers 37 are each guided between two bores 19 through the outlet fastening region 21. In other words, the axial installation space taken up by the ultrasonic measurement apparatus 29 overlaps in the axial direction with the outlet fastening region 21. The axial installation length of the measurement body 13 can thereby be reduced.

[0039] Since, due to the arrangement of the reflection measurement paths 31, 32, a relatively large region of the cross-section of the fluid passage 15 is covered in a technical measurement aspect, the ultrasonic measurement is particularly reliable. It has been shown that reliable and disturbance-tolerant measurements are even possible with a throughflow measurement system 11 in accordance with the invention when the inlet flange 16 and the outlet flange 17 are designed as suitable for high pressure and the measurement body 13 has a length that amounts to at most three times the diameter of the fluid passage 15.

[0040] In general, the ultrasonic measurement apparatus 29 could also comprise more than two reflection measurement paths 31, 32 or only one reflection measurement path. Furthermore, the flow conditioner 25 could also, for example, be designed with one stage, two stages, four stages or five stages. In addition, a measurement path could be provided that intersects the passage axis 22 as a center path. Furthermore, reflection measurement paths having different reflection angles and/or different tilt angles could be provided.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

[0041] 11 throughflow measurement system [0042] 13 measurement body [0043] 15 fluid passage [0044] 16 inlet flange [0045] 17 outlet flange [0046] 19 bore [0047] 21 outlet fastening region [0048] 22 passage axis [0049] 25 flow conditioner [0050] 27 perforated plate [0051] 29 ultrasonic measurement apparatus [0052] 31 reflection measurement path [0053] 32 reflection measurement path [0054] 35 first ultrasonic transducer [0055] 36 reflector [0056] 37 second ultrasonic transducer [0057] 39 connection line [0058] 41 perpendicular line [0059] 45 surrounding region [0060] 47 cable passage