Control system for multi-pump operation
US6045332A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 8, 1998 |
| Grant date | Apr 4, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 8, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T137/86163
- WIPO fieldEngines, pumps, turbines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A control system, particularly adaptable to multiple-pump operations in process units, is disclosed. A measured variable, such as pressure, is sensed by a master controller. The master controller, in turn, sends a signal to the driver of the individual pumps or in other ways regulates the output of the two pumps. The master controller is configured to send different signals simultaneously to the two pumps in response to a change in the measured variable. The result is that the response time of one of the pumps is faster than the other. Thus, minor deviations from the desired setpoint of the measured variable are primarily responded to by the pump configured to react faster. Dramatic upsets, resulting in a significant deviation from the desired setpoint for the measured variable, allow one pump to react fast and change its capacity dramatically to bring the measured variable back to the desired setpoint, while the other pump responds more slowly and thus maintains a reasonable forward fluid flowrate all the time to prevent a process unit shutdown. On sensing a loss of the fast-responding pump the master controller automatically speeds up the response time of the slowly responding pu…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.