Tank gauging system and methods
US4748846A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 14, 1987 |
| Grant date | Jun 7, 1988 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 14, 2007 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01F23/2962
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Ultrasonic apparatus for measuring and remotely displaying the amount of liquid in a tank, the amount of water in the tank and the velocity of sound through the liquid in the tank is described with special application to a buried tank containing gasoline with the possibility of water in the bottom of the tank. The apparatus includes an ultrasonic transducer at a fixed distance above the bottom of the tank, a plurality of submerged reflectors vertically arranged at fixed distances above the transducer and a remote console, containing a computer, for activating the transducer and receiving signals of ultrasonic reflections developed by the transducer. Methods are disclosed utilizing the apparatus for computing the height of the liquid (gasoline) level, the depth of the water, if any, the velocity of sound through the gasoline and through the liquid as a whole, and for computing average temperature of the liquid in the tank. In the preferred embodiment, the reflectors are thin, planar sheets increasing in horizontal length with increasing distance from the transducer, the lower edges of which may be concave to maximize the reflections of ultrasonic pulses from the transducer back thro…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.