Patent · US Expired

Tracking vibrations in a pipeline network

US7668670B2 · kind B2 · utility

65Cited by
61References
31Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 8, 2004
Grant dateFeb 23, 2010
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 8, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01M3/243
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Tracking vibrations on a pipeline network includes installing multiple vibration recorders on the pipeline network, with each recorder including a sensor, a processor, and a communication device. At each vibration recorder, vibration signals are received from the sensor at programmed times under the control of the processor of the vibration recorders and processed by the processor. The processed vibration signals are communicated from the vibration recorder to a reader device using the digital communication device. In addition, at a particular vibration recorder, meter readings from a flow meter associated with the particular vibration recorder are received. The meter readings are indicative of a level of flow in the pipeline network, and are communicated from the particular vibration recorder to a reader device using the communication device of the particular vibration recorder. Thereafter, the processed vibration signals from the one or more reader devices are collected at a central computer system. Finally, the collected processed vibration signals and the meter readings are analyzed at the central computer system to determine abnormal vibration patterns and to obtain measures o…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.