Ultrasonic flowmeter with transducer cleaning function

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of ultrasonic transducers, and provides an ultrasonic flowmeter with a transducer cleaning function, which comprises an inert gas source, a stainless steel gas pipe, a stainless steel tee joint, a pressure regulating filter valve, an electromagnetic pulse valve, a one-way stop valve, a self-purging transducer, an ultrasonic flowmeter, an electromagnetic valve control line and a transducer external signal wire, the self-purging transducer comprises a threaded quick-insertion adapter, a transducer signal transfer box, a transducer junction box air pipe, a transducer signal transfer plate, a clamping sleeve quick-insertion adapter, a stainless steel pipe, a transducer connecting pipe, a threaded clamping sleeve adapter, a transducer mounting adapter, a sealing gasket, a transducer main body, a transducer signal line, an electric appliance line interface and a locking nut. By means of the technical scheme, the problems that in the prior art, an energy converter is prone to smudginess, frequent manual maintenance is needed, and the maintenance cost is high are solved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of ultrasonic transducer, in particular to an ultrasonic flowmeter with transducer cleaning function. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the improvement of people's environmental protection consciousness in recent years, natural gas as a clean and high-quality energy is more and more widely used, and the development of natural gas industry is also faster and faster. The natural gas industry measurement instrument is mainly composed of Roots table and turbine table, but these traditional instruments have the disadvantages of high quality requirement for measurement, frequent maintenance, high maintenance cost, low intelligence level and the like, which will restrict the rapid development of natural gas industry. Compared with differential pressure instrument, volumetric instrument and traditional velocity instrument, the gas ultrasonic flowmeter has the advantages of wide range ratio, intelligence, easy installation, low cost, high precision, long service life and low maintenance cost. It is widely used in the following fields: natural gas high-pressure long-distance pipeline and provincial and municipal sub-station measurement management, city gas measurement management, natural gas and coal bed gas exploitation and utilization, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, large-scale industrial gas measurement management, blast furnace gas and coke oven gas measurement, and other energy-saving and emission-reducing gas emission measurement. At present, the ultrasonic flowmeter has been widely used in the measurement of large-diameter dirty gas (such as blast furnace gas, coke oven gas, flue gas, charcoal gas, torch gas, etc.), but the conventional ultrasonic flowmeter also encounters the following problems in the measurement of dirty gas: 1. The gas is relatively dirty, and the transducer surface of the flowmeter is easily attached by dirt, which causes the flowmeter to fail to measure normally; 2. The transducer needs to be manually disassembled and maintained after being dirty, which will cause the measurement to be interrupted; 3. Since the flowmeter itself does not have a transducer self-cleaning function, the transducer needs to be frequently maintained by a dedicated person, and the cost of disassembly and maintenance is extremely high for large-diameter and high-pressure pipelines. Some pipelines transport dangerous gas, and some pipelines are located in high altitude, so maintenance will have great safety hazards; In order to solve these problems in the measurement of dirty gas, the present application provides an ultrasonic flowmeter with transducer cleaning function, which can change the ultrasonic flowmeter from a passive maintenance "consumable" to an intelligent asset that can actively maintain the best state and provide continuous and reliable data. This is of great significance to the highest goal of modern industry, i.e. unmanned operation, predictive maintenance and minimization of total life cycle cost. SUMMARY

[0003] The present application provides an ultrasonic flowmeter with transducer cleaning function, which solves the problem of dirty transducer in the related art, which needs frequent manual maintenance and has high maintenance cost.

[0004] The technical solution of the present invention is as follows: An ultrasonic flow meter with transducer cleaning function includes an inert gas source, a stainless steel gas pipe, a stainless steel tee, a pressure regulating filter valve, an electromagnetic pulse valve, a one-way shut-off valve, a self-purge transducer, an ultrasonic flow meter, electromagnetic valve control lines, and external signal wiring for the transducer. The inert gas source diagram uses a high-pressure gas tank as an example; The stainless steel gas pipe is provided with multiple pipes, and one of the stainless steel gas pipes is connected to the inert gas source. The stainless steel tee is provided in multiple parts, and one of the interfaces of the stainless steel tee is connected to the stainless steel air pipe. The pressure regulating filter valve is provided in two parts, and the two pressure regulating filter valves are respectively connected to the other two ports of the stainless steel tee. The pressure regulating filter valve and the electromagnetic pulse valve are connected through the stainless steel air pipe; The electromagnetic pulse valve is connected to one of the interfaces of another stainless steel tee. Two one-way shut-off valves are provided, and the two one-way shut-off valves are connected to the other two ports of the other stainless steel tee. The self-purge transducer is connected to two one-way shut-off valves through two stainless steel air pipes, and the self-purge transducer is installed on the pipe being tested. Ultrasonic flow meter; The electromagnetic valve control line is electrically connected to the ultrasonic flow meter. The external signal wiring of the transducer is electrically connected to the ultrasonic flow meter; Furthermore, the self-purge transducer includes a threaded quick-connect adapter, a transducer signal adapter box, an air pipe at the transducer junction box, a transducer signal adapter board, a ferrule to quick-connect adapter, a stainless steel pipe, a transducer connecting pipe, a threaded ferrule adapter, a transducer mounting adapter, a sealing gasket, a transducer body, a transducer signal line, an electrical wire interface, and a locking nut. Two threaded quick-connect adapters are provided; One end of each of the two threaded quick-connect adapters is threadedly connected to the transducer signal adapter box, and the other end of the two threaded quick-connect adapters is connected to the two one-way shut-off valves through the two stainless steel air pipes. A connection port is provided on the transducer signal adapter box. The transducer junction box has two air pipes, and the two air pipes at the transducer junction box are respectively connected to the two threaded quick-connect adapters; Transducer signal adapter board; Two said sleeve fast plug adapters are provided, and two said transducer wiring boxes are respectively communicated with two said air pipes at one end of the two said sleeve fast plug adapters; Two said stainless steel pipes are respectively communicated with the other ends of the two said sleeve fast plug adapters; Two said transducer signal adapter boxes are installed in the transducer connecting pipe; A threaded sleeve adapter is installed in the transducer connecting pipe; The transducer mounting adapter is installed in the transducer connecting pipe, and the transducer mounting adapter is communicated with the transducer signal adapter box through the transducer connecting pipe, and the transducer mounting adapter is communicated with the stainless steel pipe through the threaded sleeve adapter; The sealing gasket is installed on the transducer mounting adapter; The transducer body is communicated with the transducer connecting pipe through the transducer mounting adapter; A transducer signal line is used to transmit the transducer signal; The electrical appliance line interface is electrically connected with the transducer signal adapter plate, and the electrical appliance line interface is communicated with the connection port on the transducer signal adapter box; A locking nut is used to adjust the installation position of the transducer signal adapter box.

[0005] The working principle and beneficial effects of the present application are as follows: 1. In the present application, the flow meter can automatically open the transducer self-cleaning function according to the signal strength of the transducer, without manual maintenance, and almost no manual maintenance cost; 2. The flow meter self-cleaning function adopts a high-frequency multiple cleaning method, which greatly reduces the metering interruption time and almost does not affect the normal metering of the flow meter; 3. The ultrasonic transducer adopts a 316SS, titanium alloy, hastelloy alloy, etc. Metal full-sealed structure packaging, which has strong corrosion resistance and ensures stable operation of the flow meter in harsh environments; 4. Realize predictive maintenance and health diagnosis, the operation frequency and trigger conditions recorded by the intelligent self-cleaning system can trace the upstream process condition changes, such as the frequency of the episode is getting higher and higher, which strongly prompts the deterioration of the upstream process gas condition, and checks the upstream working condition, realizes early warning, and ensures the safety of the whole pipeline; 5. After the self-cleaning function, it can be better applied to some dirty gas metering environments, such as tar-rich gas, light hydrocarbon wet natural gas, not thoroughly purified coal gas, biogas, flue gas, etc. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0006] The present application will be further described in detail below in combination with the drawings and specific embodiments.

[0007] Fig. 1 This is a schematic diagram of the self-purge assembly of the transducer of the present invention. Fig. 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall assembly of the present invention; Fig. 3 This is a flowchart illustrating the self-cleaning function of the present invention.

[0008] In the diagram: 1. Threaded quick-connect adapter; 2. Transducer signal adapter box; 3. Air pipe at the transducer junction box; 4. Transducer signal adapter board; 5. Compression fitting to quick-connect adapter; 6. Stainless steel pipe; 7. Transducer connecting pipe; 8. Threaded compression fitting adapter; 9. Transducer mounting adapter; 10. Sealing gasket; 11. Transducer body; 12. Transducer signal line; 13. Electrical wire interface; 14. Locking nut; 101. Inert gas source; 102. Stainless steel air pipe; 103. Stainless steel tee; 104. Pressure regulating filter valve; 105. Electromagnetic pulse valve; 106. One-way shut-off valve; 107. Self-purge transducer; 108. Ultrasonic flow meter; 109. Electromagnetic valve control line; 110. External signal wiring of the transducer. Detailed Implementation

[0009] The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0010] like Figs. 1-3 As shown, this embodiment proposes an ultrasonic flow meter 108 with transducer cleaning function, including an inert gas source 101, a stainless steel gas pipe 102, a stainless steel tee 103, a pressure regulating filter valve 104, an electromagnetic pulse valve 105, a one-way shut-off valve 106, a self-purge transducer 107, an ultrasonic flow meter 108, an electromagnetic valve control line 109, and an external signal wiring 110 for the transducer. The inert gas source 101 in the diagram uses a high-pressure gas tank as an example; Multiple stainless steel gas pipes 102 are provided, and one stainless steel gas pipe 102 is connected to an inert gas source 101. The stainless steel tee 103 has multiple connections, one of which is connected to a stainless steel air pipe. Two pressure regulating filter valves 104 are provided, and the two pressure regulating filter valves 104 are respectively connected to the other two ports of a stainless steel tee 103. The pressure regulating filter valve 104 and the electromagnetic pulse valve 105 are connected by a stainless steel air pipe. The electromagnetic pulse valve 105 is in communication with one interface of the other stainless steel tee joint 103, divides the gas source into two parts, and realizes single gas source double-side purging. The two one-way stop valves 106 are in communication with the other two interfaces of the other stainless steel tee joint 103, prevent the backflow of the gas in the pipeline when the purging is stopped, ensure the safety of the gas source connection part, and prevent the gas in the pipeline from entering; The self-purging transducer 107 is in communication with the two one-way stop valves 106 through two stainless steel gas pipes, and is installed on the measured pipeline; The ultrasonic flowmeter 108; The electromagnetic valve control line 109 is electrically connected to the ultrasonic flowmeter 108; The transducer external signal connection line 110 is electrically connected to the ultrasonic flowmeter 108, and the opening and closing of the electromagnetic valve are controlled through transducer signal feedback to realize the cleaning of the transducer surface. When cleaning, intermittent purging is realized through pulse signals, which is more conducive to the removal of dirt.

[0011] The self-purging transducer 107 includes a threaded quick plug adapter 1, a transducer signal adapter box 2, a transducer wiring box gas pipe 3, a transducer signal adapter plate 4, a sleeve quick plug adapter 5, a stainless steel pipe 6, a transducer connecting pipe 7, a threaded sleeve adapter 8, a transducer mounting adapter 9, a sealing gasket 10, a transducer main body 11, a transducer signal line 12, an electrical wire interface 13, and a locking nut 14. The threaded quick plug adapter 1 is provided with two; One end of the two threaded quick plug adapters 1 is in threaded connection with the transducer signal adapter box 2, and the other end of the two threaded quick plug adapters 1 is in communication with the two one-way stop valves 106 through two stainless steel gas pipes. A connection port is formed in the transducer signal adapter box 2, and the threaded quick plug adapter 1 is used for safe signal connection of the transducer; The transducer wiring box gas pipe 3 is provided with two, and the two transducer wiring box gas pipes 3 are respectively in communication with the two threaded quick plug adapters 1 to guide the gas. High-pressure resistant gas pipes are adopted; The sleeve quick plug adapter 5 is provided with two, and one end of the two sleeve quick plug adapters 5 is respectively in communication with the two transducer wiring box gas pipes 3. The main function is to transport purging gas, and the main material is stainless steel to ensure the internal connection strength and the ability to transport high-pressure gas; The other end of the two sleeve quick plug adapters 5 is respectively in communication with two stainless steel pipes 6. The two transducer signal adapter boxes 2 are installed in the transducer connecting pipe 7, the transducer connecting pipe 7 is a connecting piece of the overall installation part, protects the internal steel pipe and transducer wire, is responsible for the overall strength structure, and ensures the safety of the overall use in the pipeline. The transducer mounting adapter 9 is installed in the transducer connecting pipe 7, the transducer mounting adapter 9 is communicated with the transducer signal adapter box 2 through the transducer connecting pipe 7, the transducer mounting adapter 9 is communicated with the stainless steel pipe 6 through the threaded sleeve adapter 8, and the transducer mounting adapter 9 is internally provided with a pre-set venting pipeline for venting; The sealing gasket 10 is installed on the transducer mounting adapter 9 and mainly plays a gas-tight role; The transducer main body 11 is communicated with the transducer connecting pipe 7 through the transducer mounting adapter 9, and is composed of the internal transducer main body 11 and the two side elbow blow-sweeping air pipe structures. The transducer part plays a role of receiving signals, the two side air pipes blow-sweep air to ensure the cleanliness of the transducer surface, the nozzle is flat and is at a proper angle with the transducer surface, the air is vented to realize the simultaneous blow-sweeping of the two sides and completely clean the transducer surface; The transducer signal line 12 is used for transmitting the transducer signal; The electric appliance line interface 13 is electrically connected with the transducer signal adapter plate 4 and is communicated with the connecting port on the transducer signal adapter box 2, and is used for connecting the external host line to the transducer signal adapter plate 4 to obtain the transducer signal information; The locking nut 14 is used for adjusting the installation position of the transducer signal adapter box 2.

[0012] The transducer self-cleaning function working process is as follows: Step one, complete the flowmeter installation and debugging, and set the gas source pressure to a reasonable range through the adjustment of the pressure regulating filter valve; Step two, after the flowmeter runs stably, the flowmeter host will automatically adjust the signal strength to a preset range according to the signal strength of the transducer and automatically calculate the AGC value; (Special note: AGC is the signal automatic gain value, when the ultrasonic signal is weaker, the AGC value is larger, at this time, the transducer is more dirty; when the ultrasonic signal is stronger, the AGC value is smaller, at this time, the transducer is less dirty;) Step three, the flowmeter host compares the calculated AGC value with the preset threshold AGC0 (AGC0 is the automatic gain value when the transducer signal is very weak, that is, the transducer needs to be cleaned), and the next execution step is detailed in 4) or 5); Step four, the current calculated AGC value is less than AGC0, indicating that the current ultrasonic signal strength is sufficient and the transducer is not seriously dirty, so the flowmeter continues to normally measure, and the next execution process is referred to Fig. 3 Real-time monitoring process; Step five, the current calculated AGC value is greater than AGC0, indicating that the current ultrasonic signal strength is very weak and the transducer is very seriously dirty, so the transducer needs to be blow-swept and cleaned, and the next execution process is referred toFig. 3 The middle transducer purging cleaning process, the specific process is as follows: (1) pause flow measurement, prevent flow value from being abnormal because of purging cleaning; (2) open electromagnetic valve, start purging, in order to prevent flow measurement interruption time too long, adopt multiple high frequency fast purging method (recommended purging time is 5s); (3) after purging pause, wait for a period of time (recommended stable time is 5s), repeat 2) and 3) steps after signal stabilization, until AGC is less than AGC0, that is, ultrasonic signal strength is enough, transducer has completed dirt cleaning, the next execution process refers to Fig. 3 Real-time monitoring process; In summary, the flowmeter can automatically open the transducer self-cleaning function according to the signal strength of the transducer, without manual maintenance, and almost no manual maintenance cost; The flowmeter self-cleaning function adopts high frequency multiple cleaning method, which greatly reduces the measurement interruption time and almost does not affect the normal measurement of the flowmeter; Realize predictive maintenance and health diagnosis, the frequency and trigger condition of the episode operation recorded by the intelligent self-cleaning system can trace the upstream process condition change, for example, if the frequency of the episode is higher and higher, it strongly prompts that the upstream process gas condition is deteriorated, check the upstream working condition, realize early warning, and guarantee the overall pipeline safety.

[0013] After having the self-cleaning function, it can be better applied to some dirty gas measurement environment, such as tar-rich gas, light hydrocarbon wet natural gas, not thoroughly purified coal gas, biogas, flue gas and the like.

[0014] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present application, and does not limit the present application, any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement and the like within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic flow meter with a transducer cleaning function, characterized by, Include: Inert gas source (101), for example, high-pressure tank in the figure; Stainless steel gas pipe (102), the stainless steel gas pipe (102) is provided with a plurality of, one of the stainless steel gas pipe (102) is communicated on the inert gas source (101); Stainless steel tee (103), the stainless steel tee (103) is provided with a plurality of, one of the interfaces of one of the stainless steel tee (103) is communicated with the stainless steel gas pipe (102); Pressure regulating filter valve (104), the pressure regulating filter valve (104) is provided with two, two pressure regulating filter valves (104) are respectively communicated with the other two interfaces of one of the stainless steel tee (103); Electromagnetic pulse valve (105), the pressure regulating filter valve (104) and the electromagnetic pulse valve (105) are communicated through the stainless steel gas pipe (102); Wherein, the electromagnetic pulse valve (105) is communicated with one interface of another stainless steel tee (103); One-way stop valve (106), the one-way stop valve (106) is provided with two, two one-way stop valves (106) are communicated on the other two interfaces of another stainless steel tee (103); Self-blowing transducer (107), the self-blowing transducer (107) is communicated with two one-way stop valves (106) through two stainless steel gas pipes (102), and the self-blowing transducer (107) is installed on the measured pipeline; Ultrasonic flowmeter (108); Electromagnetic valve control line (109), the electromagnetic valve control line (109) is electrically connected to the ultrasonic flowmeter (108); Transducer external signal connection (110), the transducer external signal connection (110) is electrically connected to the ultrasonic flowmeter (108); 2. The ultrasonic flow meter with transducer cleaning function according to claim 1, characterized in that, The self-blowing transducer comprises: Threaded quick plug adapter (1), the threaded quick plug adapter (1) is provided with two; Transducer signal adapter box (2), one end of two threaded quick plug adapters (1) is threadedly connected with the transducer signal adapter box (2), the other end of two threaded quick plug adapters (1) is communicated with two one-way stop valves (106) through two stainless steel gas pipes (102), and a connecting port is formed in the transducer signal adapter box (2); Transducer junction box gas pipe (3), the transducer junction box gas pipe (3) is provided with two, two transducer junction box gas pipes (3) are respectively communicated with two threaded quick plug adapters (1); Transducer signal adapter plate (4); Sleeve quick plug adapter (5), the sleeve quick plug adapter (5) is provided with two, one end of two sleeve quick plug adapters (5) is respectively communicated with two transducer junction box gas pipes (3); Stainless steel pipe (6), the other end of two sleeve quick plug adapters (5) is respectively communicated with two stainless steel pipes (6); Transducer connecting pipe (7), two transducer signal adapter boxes (2) are installed in the transducer connecting pipe (7); Threaded sleeve adapter (8); A transducer mounting adapter (9) is installed in the transducer connecting pipe (7), the transducer mounting adapter (9) is communicated with the transducer signal adapter box (2) through the transducer connecting pipe (7), and the transducer mounting adapter (9) is communicated with the stainless steel pipe (6) through the threaded sleeve adapter (8); A sealing gasket (10) is installed on the transducer mounting adapter (9); A transducer main body (11) is communicated with the transducer connecting pipe (7) through the transducer mounting adapter (9); A transducer signal line (12) is used for transmitting a transducer signal; An electrical line interface (13) is electrically connected with the transducer signal adapter plate (4), and the electrical line interface (13) is communicated with a connecting port on the transducer signal adapter box (2); A locking nut (14) is used for adjusting the installation position of the transducer signal adapter box (2).

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