Storage tank and line leakage detection and inventory reconciliation method
US5297423A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 27, 1992 |
| Grant date | Mar 29, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 27, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01M3/3254
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method for inventory maintenance and leak detection in liquid storage tanks and dispensing lines, that combines tank level measurements, tank product temperature measurements, output flow measurements, liquid product characteristics data, initial product delivery volume data, and redundantly calculates changes in the quantity of liquid product within the tank and compares these calculations to determine abnormalities in the changes in the quantities of product within the tank. Changes in the quantity of product within the tank are verified as either the delivery of additional product into the tank or the dispensing of product from the tank as with a customer sale. Changes that cannot be verified as either delivery into or dispensing from the tank are appropriately characterized as possible leak conditions in the tank or lines. The system additionally incorporates an accuracy improving process of restrapping or recharacterizing the physical conditions within the tank and recalibrating the flow meters associated with dispensing product from the tank. The combination of redundant measurements of volume changes and continuous recalibration of system measurements, along with the incor…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.