Method of detecting leaks in liquid storage tanks
US4649739A · kind A · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 9, 1985 |
| Grant date | Mar 17, 1987 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 9, 2005 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01M3/3236
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method of detecting leaks in hazardous liquid tanks, such as underground gasoline tanks connected with a fuel pump withdrawal system, and having a fuel supply line and a vent pipe to atmosphere. The tank is filled incompletely such that there is a space or volume left in the tank above the liquid level in the tank. The space above the liquid level is then filled with a gas under pressure, which maintains a predetermined regulated pressure on the liquid in the tank from one end of the tank to the other. Next, a continuous stream of gas is forced into the liquid near the bottom of the tank to reflect the resistance or back pressure to gas introduction as influenced by the head of the liquid in the tank. The static pressure of the gas in the space above the liquid, to which the gas proceeds in a continuous flow of bubbles, is balanced as a reference pressure against the pressure required to continuously bubble air at the predetermined depth, and any differential variation is noted on an indicator such as a chart recorder.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.