Methods and apparatus for monitoring water process equipment
US5565619A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 14, 1994 |
| Grant date | Oct 15, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 14, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T436/13
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for using tracers to monitor industrial process equipment to which liquid is added and from which liquid is removed. In preferred embodiments, the methods are directed to detecting water leakage in a boiler in which an aqueous temperature control liquid is supplemented with feedwater at a known or unknown rate and is removed as blowdown at a known rate. The methods include determining the blowdown removal rate, adding a tracer to the temperature control liquid at a rate that is directly proportional to the blowdown removal rate, analyzing the blowdown to determine the measured concentration of tracer contained therein, deriving an expected concentration of tracer in the blowdown, and comparing the measured and expected concentrations to detect excessive variance between them.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.