Mass gauging demonstrator for any gravitational conditions

US8537365B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration · US

Inventors

• Valentin Korman · Huntsville, US
• Kevin Pedersen · Atco, US
• William K. Witherow · Huntsville, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 2, 2010
• Grant date: Sep 17, 2013
• Expiry date: Sep 9, 2031

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01N2021/451
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

The present invention is a mass gauging interferometry system used to determine the volume contained within a tank. By using an optical interferometric technique to determine gas density and/or pressure a much smaller compression volume or higher fidelity measurement is possible. The mass gauging interferometer system is comprised of an optical source, a component that splits the optical source into a plurality of beams, a component that recombines the split beams, an optical cell operatively coupled to a tank, a detector for detecting fringes, and a means for compression. A portion of the beam travels through the optical cell operatively coupled to the tank, while the other beam(s) is a reference.