An ultrasonic flowmeter with bubble detection and correction and its flow velocity correction method

Abstract

The present invention discloses an ultrasonic flowmeter with bubble detection and correction, which includes a meter body, a meter head and a flow monitoring transducer group arranged on the meter body. A bubble detection transducer group is also arranged on the meter body. The bubble detection transducer group is located on one side of the water inlet of the meter body, and the flow monitoring transducer group is located on one side of the water outlet of the meter body. Both the flow monitoring transducer group and the bubble detection transducer group are electrically connected to the circuit board in the meter head. A bubble detection transducer group for bubble detection is arranged on the meter body, which can accurately identify whether the ultrasonic wave passes through bubbles. By setting multiple groups of bubble detection transducer groups, it is convenient to detect bubbles at different levels in the fluid, and can better detect bubbles and eliminate the influence of bubbles on the measurement results.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of flow meters, and particularly relates to an ultrasonic flow meter with bubble detection and correction. Background Art

[0002] Currently, ultrasonic flow meters / heat meters used in the heating field, especially in heat exchange stations, often face the situation that the measured hot water in the pipe network contains bubbles. There are two reasons for this: one is that as the water temperature rises, the gas content in the water decreases, resulting in the generation of bubbles; the other is that the hot water in the heat network is heated by a boiler. Due to the high temperature of the heating wire in the boiler, there is a gasification phenomenon when it comes into contact with the hot water. Although there are exhaust devices in the heat network, some bubbles will still flow with the hot water, affecting the measurement results.

[0003] When a traditional ultrasonic flow meter detects a flow rate fluctuation during the measurement state, it cannot determine whether the reason for the change in flow velocity is the presence of bubbles in the fluid or the change in the flow velocity of the fluid itself. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic flow meter in view of the above-mentioned deficiencies of the prior art.

[0005] To solve the above problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0006] An ultrasonic flow meter includes a meter body, a meter head and a flow monitoring transducer group arranged on the meter body. A bubble detection transducer group is also arranged on the meter body. The bubble detection transducer group is located on one side of the water inlet of the meter body, and the flow monitoring transducer group is located on one side of the water outlet of the meter body. Both the flow monitoring transducer group and the bubble detection transducer group are electrically connected to the circuit board in the meter head.

[0007] A further technical solution is that the bubble detection transducer group includes two bubble detection transducers, and the two bubble detection transducers are horizontally and oppositely arranged on both sides of the meter body. The flow monitoring transducer group includes two flow monitoring transducers, and the two flow monitoring transducers are oppositely arranged, one is located upstream of the meter body and the other is located downstream of the meter body.

[0008] A further technical solution is that there are multiple groups of bubble detection transducer groups, and the multiple groups of bubble detection transducer groups are arranged vertically from top to bottom in the same vertical plane.

[0009] A further technical solution is that there are three groups of bubble detection transducer groups, and the three groups of bubble detection transducer groups are arranged vertically from top to bottom in the same vertical plane.

[0010] A further technical solution is that the meter head is arranged on the meter body through a connecting column.

[0011] A further technical solution is that a number of transducer lead pipes are provided on the connecting column, and the leads of the flow monitoring transducer group and the bubble detection transducer group enter the connecting column through the transducer lead pipes, and then enter the meter head through the connecting column and are connected to the circuit board in the meter head.

[0012] A flow velocity correction method for an ultrasonic flowmeter based on the above includes the following steps:

[0013] S1. Detect whether there are bubbles. If there are no bubbles, go to step S2. If there are bubbles, go to step S3.

[0014] S2. Measure using the time difference method to obtain the flow rate at this time.

[0015] S3. Estimate the time for the bubbles to reach the flow velocity monitoring sound channel. When the bubbles reach the flow velocity monitoring sound channel, do not measure the flow velocity, and still use the flow rate measured without bubbles at the previous moment as the flow rate at this time.

[0016] A further technical solution is that in step S1, the existence of bubbles includes a group of bubble detection transducer groups detecting bubbles and multiple groups of bubble detection transducer groups detecting bubbles simultaneously.

[0017] The beneficial effects of adopting the above technical solutions are as follows: A bubble detection transducer group for bubble detection is provided on the meter body, which can accurately identify whether the ultrasonic wave passes through bubbles. By setting multiple groups of bubble detection transducer groups, it is convenient to detect bubbles at different levels in the fluid, can better detect bubbles and eliminate the influence of bubbles on the measurement result, and makes the measurement of hot water in the state with bubbles more accurate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 is a flowchart of the present invention.

[0020] In the figure: 1. Meter body; 2. Meter head; 3. Flow monitoring transducer group; 4. Bubble detection transducer group; 5. Connecting column; 6. Transducer lead pipe. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The following further describes in detail the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings. The following embodiments are used to illustrate the present invention, but cannot be used to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0022] As Figure 1An ultrasonic flowmeter as shown includes a meter body 1, a meter head 2 disposed on the meter body 1, and a flow monitoring transducer group 3. A bubble detection transducer group 4 is further provided on the meter body 1. The bubble detection transducer group 4 is located on one side of the water inlet of the meter body 1, and the flow monitoring transducer group 3 is located on one side of the water outlet of the meter body 1. Both the flow monitoring transducer group 3 and the bubble detection transducer group 4 are electrically connected to the circuit board in the meter head 2.

[0023] Among them, the bubble detection transducer group 4 includes two bubble detection transducers. The two bubble detection transducers are horizontally and oppositely arranged on both sides of the meter body 1, so that the connection line of the two bubble detection transducers is perpendicular to the water flow direction. The flow monitoring transducer group 3 includes two flow monitoring transducers. The two flow monitoring transducers are oppositely arranged, one is located upstream of the meter body 1 and the other is located downstream of the meter body 1.

[0024] Preferably, there are multiple groups of the bubble detection transducer group 4. Specifically, in this embodiment, there are three groups of the bubble detection transducer group 4, and the three groups of the bubble detection transducer group 4 are arranged vertically from top to bottom in the same vertical plane.

[0025] The meter head 2 is disposed on the meter body 1 through a connecting column 5.

[0026] A number of transducer lead pipes 6 are provided on the connecting column 5. The leads of the flow monitoring transducer group 3 and the bubble detection transducer group 4 enter the connecting column 5 through the transducer lead pipes 6, and then enter the meter head 2 through the connecting column 5 and are connected to the circuit board in the meter head 2.

[0027] As Figure 2 shown, a flow velocity correction method based on the above ultrasonic flowmeter includes the following steps:

[0028] S1. Detect whether there are bubbles. If there are no bubbles, go to step S2. If there are bubbles, go to step S3.

[0029] S2. Measure using the time difference method to obtain the flow rate at this time.

[0030] S3. Estimate the time for the bubbles to reach the flow velocity monitoring sound channel. When the bubbles reach the flow velocity monitoring sound channel, do not measure the flow velocity, and still use the flow rate measured when there were no bubbles at the previous moment as the flow rate at this time.

[0031] In step S1, the existence of bubbles includes that a group of the bubble detection transducer group 4 detects bubbles and multiple groups of the bubble detection transducer group 4 detect bubbles simultaneously.

[0032] Working principle:

[0033] The speed of sound in water is about 1450 m / s, and the speed in air is 340 m / s.

[0034] Detection is carried out by utilizing the different speeds of ultrasonic waves in water and in air. By detecting the delay time of transmission and reception of the multi-group bubble detection transducer group 4, it can be determined whether there are bubbles in the acoustic path.

[0035] 1. For each bubble detection sound channel, when there are no bubbles, the acoustic wave propagation time T 0 = channel length ÷ sound speed. If the propagation time T > a × T 0 (a is a correction coefficient), it is considered that there are bubbles in the pipeline.

[0036] 2. In the heat network, the actual volume of bubbles is unlikely to be too large due to the influence of the pressure during the operation of the pipeline. Therefore, by setting up the multi-group bubble detection transducer group 4, it is convenient to detect bubbles at different levels in the fluid, and can better detect bubbles and eliminate the influence of bubbles on the measurement results.

[0037] 3. The principle of fluid continuity, that is, the flow velocity of the fluid is continuous during the flow process and cannot undergo sudden changes.

[0038] Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than limiting it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that: they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements on some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic flowmeter with bubble detection and correction, characterized in that, it includes a meter body (1), a meter head (2) arranged on the meter body (1), and a flow monitoring transducer group (3). It is characterized in that: a bubble detection transducer group (4) is also arranged on the meter body (1), the bubble detection transducer group (4) is located on one side of the water inlet of the meter body (1), the flow monitoring transducer group (3) is located on one side of the water outlet of the meter body (1), and both the flow monitoring transducer group (3) and the bubble detection transducer group (4) are electrically connected to the circuit board in the meter head (2); the bubble detection transducer group (4) includes two bubble detection transducers, and the two bubble detection transducers are horizontally and oppositely arranged on both sides of the meter body (1). The flow monitoring transducer group (3) includes two flow monitoring transducers, and the two flow monitoring transducers are oppositely arranged, one is located upstream of the meter body (1), and one is located downstream of the meter body (1); there are multiple groups of the bubble detection transducer group (4), and multiple groups of the bubble detection transducer group (4) are arranged vertically from top to bottom on the same vertical plane; there are three groups of the bubble detection transducer group (4), and the three groups of the bubble detection transducer group (4) are arranged vertically from top to bottom on the same vertical plane.

2. The ultrasonic flowmeter with bubble detection and correction according to claim 1, characterized in that, the meter head (2) is arranged on the meter body (1) through a connecting column (5).

3. The ultrasonic flowmeter with bubble detection and correction according to claim 2, characterized in that, a plurality of transducer lead pipes (6) are arranged on the connecting column (5), and the leads of the flow monitoring transducer group (3) and the bubble detection transducer group (4) enter the connecting column (5) through the transducer lead pipes (6), and then enter the meter head (2) through the connecting column (5) and are connected to the circuit board in the meter head (2).

4. A flow velocity correction method for an ultrasonic flowmeter with bubble detection and correction, which is applied to the ultrasonic flowmeter with bubble detection and correction according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, it includes the following steps: S1. Detect whether there are bubbles. If there are no bubbles, go to step S2. If there are bubbles, go to step S3; S2. Use the time difference method for measurement to obtain the flow rate at this time; S3. Estimate the time when the bubbles reach the flow velocity monitoring sound channel. When the bubbles reach the flow velocity monitoring sound channel, do not perform flow velocity measurement, and still use the flow rate measured without bubbles at the previous moment as the flow rate at this time.

5. The flow velocity correction method for an ultrasonic flowmeter with bubble detection and correction according to claim 4, characterized in that, in step S1, the existence of bubbles includes that a group of the bubble detection transducer group (4) detects bubbles and multiple groups of the bubble detection transducer group (4) detect bubbles simultaneously.

Images