High accuracy mass sensor for monitoring fluid quantity in storage tanks
US5245869A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 1, 1991 |
| Grant date | Sep 21, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 1, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01F23/18
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A mass sensoring system for monitoring the amount of fluid in a storage tank with an accuracy high enough to determine both the quantity present and the potential loss of fluid at a loss rate of 0.05 gal/hr or at least 0.1 gal/hr. The system utilizes a pressure sensor positioned at the bottom of the tank and in contact with the fluid. This device includes a bellows unit whose displacement is correlated to changes in the mass of fluid in which it is immersed, and a transducer for monitoring the position of the bellows, wherein the interior of the bellows unit is in the same atmosphere as the sensor, and the sensor is in communication with the vapor pressure immediately above the fluid in the tank. The outside of the bellows is subjected to the stored fluid. A multiple-capsule bellows assembly is coupled to an LDVT transducer in a thermal-expansion-cancelling configuration of the invention.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.