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    • 专利摘要:
    "method for operating a vibrating flow meter, and," meter electronics ". a method and apparatus for operating a vibrating flow meter is provided. the method comprises the steps of receiving signals from sensors from the vibrating flow meter and determining a zero current deviation for the "vibratory flow meter. the current zero deviation can be determined based on the received sensor signals. the method also comprises the step of determining one or more current operating conditions. one or more current operating conditions can be compared to one or more previous operating conditions of the deviation correlation. the method also includes the step of generating a mean zero deviation if the deviation correlation includes a previously determined zero deviation corresponding to current operating conditions. the mean zero deviation can be based on the current zero deviation and the previously determined zero deviation.
    公开号:BR112012002920B1
    申请号:R112012002920-7
    申请日:2009-08-12
    公开日:2021-03-30
    发明作者:J. Hays Paul；Weinstein Joel
    申请人:Micro Motion, Inc.；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    TECHNICAL FIELD
    The present invention relates to vibratory flow meters and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for determining a change in zero deviation from a vibratory flow meter. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
    Vibratory sensors, such as, for example, vibratory densitometers and Coriolis flow meters are generally known and are used to measure mass flow and other information for materials flowing through a conduit in the flow meter. Exemplary Coriolis flow meters are described in US Patent 4,109,524, US Patent 4,491,025, and Re. 31,450 all to J.E. Smith et al. These flow meters have one or more ducts with a straight or curved configuration. Each conduit configuration on a Coriolis mass flow meter has a set of natural vibration modes, which can be of simple, torsional or coupled bending type. Each duct can be operated to oscillate in a preferred mode.
    Material flows into the flow meter from a pipe connected to the inlet side of the flow meter, is directed through the duct (s), and exits the flow meter through the outlet side of the flow meter. The natural vibration modes of the material-filled vibratory system are defined in part by the combined mass of the ducts and the material flowing within the ducts.
    When there is no flow through the flow meter, a driving force applied to the duct (s) causes all points along the duct (s) to oscillate with identical phase or a small “zero offset” , which is a time delay measured at zero flow. As the material begins to flow through the flow meter, Coriolis forces cause each point along the duct (s) to have a different phase. For example, the phase at the input end of the flow meter delays the phase at the centralized trigger position, while the phase at the output leads the phase at the centralized trigger position. Deviation sensors in the conduit (s) produce sinusoidal signals representative of the movement of the conduit (s). Signal output from the deviation sensors is processed to determine the time delay between the deviation sensors. The time delay between the two or more deviation sensors is proportional to the rate of mass flow of material flowing through the conduit (s).
    Meter electronics connected to the trigger generates a trigger signal to operate the trigger and determine a mass flow rate and other properties of a material from signals received from the bypass sensors. The driver can comprise one of many well-known arrangements; however, a magnet and an opposite drive coil have achieved great success in the flow meter industry. An alternating current is passed to the drive coil to vibrate the duct (s) at a desired amplitude and frequency of the flow tube. It is also known in the art to provide the deviation sensors as a magnet and coil arrangement very similar to the driver arrangement. However, while the driver receives a current that induces a movement, the deviation sensors can use the movement provided by the driver to induce a voltage. The magnitude of the time delay measured by the deviation sensors is very small; often measured in nanoseconds. Therefore, it is necessary to make the transducer output to be very accurate.
    Generally, a Coriolis flow meter can be initially calibrated and a flow calibration factor along with a zero offset can be generated. In use, the flow calibration factor can be multiplied by the time delay measured by the deviation sensors minus the zero deviation to generate a mass flow rate. In most situations, the Coriolis flow meter is initially calibrated, typically by the manufacturer, and assumed to provide accurate measurements without subsequent calibrations required. In addition, a prior art approach involves a user calibrating the flow meter to zero after installation by stopping the flow, closing the valves and therefore providing the meter with a zero flow rate reference under process conditions.
    As mentioned above, in many vibrating sensors, including Coriolis flow meters, a zero offset may be present, which prior art approaches initially corrected. While this initially determined zero deviation can adequately correct measurements in limited circumstances, the zero deviation may change over time due to a change in a variety of operating conditions, primarily temperature, resulting in only partial corrections. However, other operating conditions can also affect zero offset, including pressure, fluid density, sensor assembly conditions, etc. In addition, the deviation from zero can change at a different rate from one meter to another. This may be of particular interest in situations where more than one meter is connected in series such that each meter must read the same if the same flow of fluid is being measured.
    Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method for determining and compensating for a change in the zero offset of a vibrating sensor. The present invention overcomes this and other problems and an advance in the technique is achieved. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
    A method for operating a vibratory flow meter having a previously established drift correlation between a drift of zero and one or more operating conditions is provided in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The method comprises the steps of receiving sensor signals from the vibrating flow meter and determining a zero current deviation for the vibrating flow meter based on the received sensor signals. The method also comprises the steps of determining one or more conditions of current operating conditions and compare one or more current operating conditions to one or more previous operating conditions of the deviation correlation. According to an embodiment of the invention, if the deviation correlation includes a predetermined zero deviation corresponding to the current operating conditions, then the method generates an average zero deviation based on the current and predetermined zero deviations.
    A meter electronics for a vibrating flow meter is provided according to an embodiment of the invention. The meter electronics includes a processing system configured to receive signals from sensors from the vibrating flow meter. The processing system can also be configured to determine a zero current deviation for the vibratory flow meter based on the received sensor signals and to determine one or more current operating conditions. According to an embodiment of the invention, the meter electronics can also be configured to compare one or more current operating conditions to one or more previous operating conditions of the deviation correlation, and if the deviation correlation includes a deviation previously determined zero corresponding to one or more current operating conditions, then generate an average zero deviation based on the current and previously determined zero deviations. ASPECTS
    According to one aspect of the invention, a method of operating a vibratory flow meter having a previously established deviation correlation between a zero deviation and one or more operating conditions comprises the steps of: receiving sensor signals from the flow meter. vibratory flow; determine a zero current deviation for the vibratory flow meter based on the received sensor signals; determine one or more current operating conditions; compare one or more current operating conditions to one or more previous operating conditions of the deviation correlation; and if the deviation correlation includes a previously determined zero deviation corresponding to the current operating conditions, then generate an average zero deviation based on the current and previously determined zero deviations. Preferably, the method further comprises the step of storing the current zero offset for the vibrating flow meter and one or more current operating conditions if the offset correlation does not include a previously determined zero offset corresponding to one or more operating conditions. current operation. Preferably, the step of generating the mean zero offset comprises the steps of: applying a first weighting factor to the current zero offset to generate a first weighted zero offset; applying a second weighting factor to the previously determined zero deviation to generate a second weighted zero deviation; and calculating the mean zero deviation based on the first and second weighted zero deviations. Preferably, the first and second weighting factors comprise time-weighted factors. Preferably, the method still comprises the steps of: generating a new deviation correlation based on the mean zero deviation and one or more operating conditions.
    In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a meter electronics for a vibrating flow meter includes a processing system configured to: receive signals from sensors from the vibrating flow meter; determine a zero current deviation for the vibratory flow meter based on the received sensor signals; determine one or more current operating conditions; 10 compare one or more current operating conditions to one or more previous operating conditions of the deviation correlation; and if the deviation correlation includes a predetermined zero deviation corresponding to one or more current operating conditions, then generate an average zero deviation based on the current and 15 predetermined zero deviations. Preferably, the processing system is further configured to: store the current zero offset for the vibratory flow meter and one or more current operating conditions if the 20 offset correlation does not include a previously determined zero offset corresponding to one or more more current operating conditions. Preferably, the step of generating the mean zero offset comprises the steps of: applying a first weighting factor to the current zero offset 25 to generate a first weighted zero offset; applying a second weighting factor to the previously determined zero deviation to generate the second weighted zero deviation; and calculating the mean zero deviation based on the first and second weighted zero deviations. Preferably, the first and second weighting factors comprise time-weighted factors. Preferably, the processing system is further configured to: generate a new deviation correlation based on the mean zero deviation and one or more operating conditions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a vibrating sensor assembly according to an embodiment of the invention. Figure 2 shows a meter electronics for a vibrating sensor according to an embodiment of the invention. Figure 3 shows a block diagram of a flow meter system according to an embodiment of the invention. Figure 4 shows a differential deviation determination routine according to an embodiment of the invention. Figure 5 shows a graph of a differential deviation correlation according to an embodiment of the invention. Figure 6 shows a differential zero determination routine according to an embodiment of the invention. Figure 7 shows a zero deviation determination routine according to another embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figures 1 - 7 and the following description describe specific examples to teach those skilled in the art how to make and use the best mode of the invention. For the purpose of teaching inventive principles, some conventional aspects have been simplified or omitted. Those skilled in the art will appreciate variations of these examples that are within the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the features described below can be combined in various ways to form multiple variations of the invention. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specific examples described below, but only by the claims and their equivalents. Figure 1 illustrates an example of a vibrating sensor assembly 5 in the form of a Coriolis flow meter comprising a flow meter 10 and one or more meter electronics 20. The one or more meter electronics 20 are connected to the flow meter 10 to measure a characteristic of a flowing material, such as, for example, density, mass flow rate, volume flow rate, totalized mass flow, temperature, and other information.
    Flow meter 10 includes a pair of flanges 101 and 101 ', manifolds' manifold '102 and 102', and conduits 103A and 103B. Manifold manifolds 102, 102 are attached to opposite ends of the ducts 103A, 103B. Flanges 101 and 101 'of the present example are attached to manifolds' manifold '102 and 102'. Manifold collectors 102 and 102 of the present example are attached to opposite ends of spacer 106. Spacer 106 maintains the spacing between the manifold collectors 102 and 102 in the present example to prevent unwanted vibrations in conduits 103A and 103B. The conduits 103A and 103B extend outside the manifold manifolds in an essentially parallel manner. When flow meter 10 is inserted into a piping system (not shown) that carries the flowing material, the material enters flow meter 10 through flange 101, passes through inlet manifold 102 where the total quantity of material is directed to enter ducts 103A and 103B, flows through ducts 103A and 103B and back into manifold 'outlet 102' where it exits flow meter 10 through flange 101 '.
    The flow meter 10 includes an actuator 104. Actuator 104 is attached to conduits 103A and 103B in a position where actuator 104 can vibrate conduits 103A, 103B in actuation mode. More particularly, driver 104 includes a first driver component (not shown) attached to conduit 103A and a second driver component (not shown) attached to conduit 103B. The actuator 104 can comprise one of many well-known arrangements, such as a magnet mounted to conduit 103 A and an opposite coil mounted to conduit 103B.
    In the present example, the actuation mode is the first out-of-phase bending mode and the conduits 103A and 103B are preferably selected and suitably mounted on the inlet manifold 102 and the outlet manifold collector 102 ', so to provide a balanced system having substantially the same mass distribution, moments of inertia, and elastic modules on bending axes WW and W'-W ', respectively. In the present example, where the drive mode is the first out-of-phase bending mode, conduits 103A and 103B are driven by actuator 104 in opposite directions over their respective bending axes W-W and W'-W '. An actuation signal in the form of an alternating current can be provided by one or more meter electronics 20, such as for example via path 110, and passed through the coil to cause both conduits 103A, 103B to oscillate. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that another mode of drives can be used within the scope of the present invention.
    The flow meter 10 shown includes a pair of offsets 105, 105 'which are attached to conduits 103A, 103B. More particularly, a first bypass component (not shown) is located in conduit 103A and a second bypass component (not shown) is located in conduit 103B. In the described embodiment, the deviations 105, 105 'can be electromagnetic detectors, for example, deviation magnets and deviation coils that produce deviation signals that represent the speed and position of the ducts 103A, 103B. For example, offsets 105, 105 ’can provide deviation signals to one or more meter electronics via paths 111, 111’. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the movement of the ducts 103 A, 103B is proportional to some characteristics of the flowing material, for example, the mass flow rate and density of the material flowing through the ducts 103 A, 103B.
    It should be appreciated that while the flow meter 10 described above comprises a dual flow duct flow meter, it is well within the scope of the present invention to implement a single duct flow meter. In addition, while flow ducts 103A, 103B are shown to comprise a curved flow duct configuration, the present invention can be implemented with a flow meter comprising a straight flow duct configuration. Therefore, the particular embodiment of the flow meter 10 described above is merely an example and should in no way limit the scope of the present invention.
    In the example shown in Figure 1, one or more meter electronics 20 receives the deviation signals from the deviations 105, 105 ’. Path 26 provides an input and an output means that allows one or more meter electronics 20 to interface with an operator. The one or more meter electronics 20 measure a characteristic of a flowing material, such as, for example, a phase difference, a frequency, a time delay, a density, a mass flow rate, a flow rate of volume, a totalized mass flow, a temperature, a meter check, and other information. More particularly, one or more meter electronics 20 receive one or more signals, for example, deviations 105, 105 'and one or more temperature sensors (not shown), and use that information to measure a characteristic of a flowing material .
    The techniques by which vibrating sensor assemblies, such as, for example, Coriolis flow meters or densitometers, measure a characteristic of a flowing material are well understood; therefore, a detailed discussion is omitted for the sake of brevity of this description.
    As briefly discussed above, a problem associated with vibrating sensor assemblies, such as Coriolis flow meters, is the presence of a zero offset, which is the measured time delay of the 105, 105 'offsets in zero fluid flow. If zero deviation is not taken into account when calculating the flow rate and several other flow measurements, flow measurements will typically include an error in the measurement. The typical prior art approach to compensate for the zero offset is to measure an initial zero offset (Act) during an initial calibration process, which generally involves shut-off valves and provide a zero flow reference condition. Such calibration processes are generally known in the art and a detailed discussion is omitted for the sake of brevity. Once an initial zero offset is determined, during operation, flow measurements are corrected by subtracting the initial zero offset from the time difference measured according to equation (1).
    where: m = mass flow rate FCF = flow calibration factor Attained = measured time delay Act = initial zero deviation
    It should be appreciated that equation (1) is merely provided as an example and should in no way limit the scope of the present invention. Although equation (1) is provided to calculate the mass flow rate, it should also be appreciated that several other flow measurements can be affected by the zero deviation and therefore can also be corrected.
    While this approach can provide satisfactory results in situations where the operating conditions are substantially the same as those present during the initial calibration and zero offset determination, Δto, in many circumstances, the operating conditions during use are substantially different from the operating conditions. operation present during calibration. As a result of the change in conditions, the vibrating flow meter may experience a change in the zero offset. In other words, the zero deviation can change from the zero deviation initially calculated, Δto- The change in the zero deviation can seriously affect the performance of the sensor resulting in inaccurate measurements. This is because, in the prior art, the zero offset used to compensate for the time difference measured during operation simply comprised the zero offset initially calculated without taking into account a change in the zero offset. Another prior art approach required manually re-calibrating the sensor. Typically, re-calibration requires stopping the flow through the sensor to reset the sensor to zero. This can be expensive because the complete system must be shut down. Also, when flow is interrupted to perform a prior art zero calibration, the meter temperature can change rapidly if the ambient temperature differs from that of the fluid temperature. This can cause an unreliable zero calibration.
    According to an embodiment of the invention, meter electronics 20 can be configured to generate a correlation between a zero offset and one or more operating conditions. According to an embodiment of the invention, the meter electronics 20 can be configured to compensate for a change in the zero offset. According to an embodiment of the invention, meter electronics 20 can compensate for a change in zero deviation based on the correlation between a zero deviation and one or more measurable operating conditions. According to an embodiment of the invention, the zero offset comprises an absolute zero offset. According to another embodiment of the invention, the zero offset comprises a differential zero offset. The differential zero offset comprises an initial zero offset of a sensor combined with a differential error between two or more sensors. Differential zero offset can be required in order to generate substantially equal flow rates through the sensor of interest and a reference sensor. In other words, referring to equation (1) above, if the same fluid flow rate flows through a sensor being calibrated and a reference sensor, the two sensors can generate two mass flow rates using equation (1 ) for each sensor. If it is assumed that the mass flow rate of the reference sensor is equal to the mass flow rate of the meter being calibrated, then the differential zero deviation of the sensor being calibrated can be calculated. This method finds a new zero deviation for the sensor being calibrated to reflect the reference flow rate. This new deviation from zero is essentially a differential deviation. This is shown in equations (2 and 3).
    where: mR = mass reference flow rate Δtoc = initial zero deviation of the sensor being calibrated ΔtE = differential error Δtc = measured time delay of the sensor being calibrated FCFc = flow calibration factor of the sensor being calibrated
    Equation (3) can be further reduced by combining the zero deviation of the sensor being calibrated and the differential error. The result is an equation that defines the differential zero deviation, which is shown in equation (4).
    where ΔtD = differential zero deviation
    Therefore, the differential zero deviation of the sensor of interest is not an absolute zero deviation in the sense that the zero flow rate is referenced, but rather, the zero deviation comprises a differential zero deviation in which this counts for a difference between the two sensors. When this differential deviation is characterized and eliminated, the differential measurement performance of the sensor pair is greatly improved. It may be necessary to characterize the differential deviation with a change in operating conditions. It should be appreciated that equation (4) could be further reduced in form numbers assuming some values remain constant, such as flow calibration factors or initial zero deviation values. Therefore, the particular form of equation (4) should not limit the scope of the present invention.
    In any embodiment, the present invention can compensate for a change in the zero offset without interrupting the flow through the sensor. Advantageously, the present invention can determine and compensate for a change in zero offset while operating the sensor during normal use. Figure 2 shows meter electronics 20 according to an embodiment of the invention. Meter electronics 20 may include an interface 201 and a processing system 203. Processing system 203 may include storage system 204. Storage system 204 may comprise an internal memory as shown, or alternatively may comprise a memory external. Meter electronics 20 can generate a trigger signal 211 and supply trigger signal 211 to driver 104. In addition, meter electronics 20 can receive signals from sensors 210 from flow meter 10 and / or flow meter 305 shown below, such as deviation / speed sensor signals. In some embodiments, signals from sensors 210 may be received from driver 104. Meter electronics 20 may operate as a densitometer or may operate as a mass flow meter, including operating as a Coriolis flow meter. It should be appreciated that meter electronics 20 can also operate as some other type of vibrating sensor assembly and the particular examples provided should not limit the scope of the present invention. The meter electronics 20 can process the signals from sensors 210 in order to obtain flow characteristics of the material flowing through the flow ducts 103A, 103B. In some embodiments, the meter electronics 20 can receive a temperature signal 212 from one or more RTD sensors or other temperature measurement devices, for example.
    Interface 201 can receive signals from sensors 210 of driver 104 or bypass sensors 105, 105 ’, via wires 110, 111, 111’. Interface 201 can perform any necessary or desired signal conditioning, such as any way of formatting, amplifying, temporarily storing, etc. Alternatively, some or all of the signal conditioning can be performed on the 203 processing system. In addition, interface 201 can enable communications between meter electronics 20 and external devices. Interface 201 can be capable of any electronic, optical, or wireless communication mode.
    Interface 201 in one embodiment may include a digitizer (not shown), wherein the sensor signal comprises an analog sensor signal. The digitizer can sample and digitize the analog sensor signal and produce a digital sensor signal. The digitizer can also perform any necessary decimation, in which the digital sensor signal is decimated in order to reduce the amount of signal processing required and to reduce the processing time.
    The processing system 203 can conduct operations of the meter electronics 20 and process flow measurements from the flow meter 10. The processing system 203 can perform one or more processing routines, such as the differential deviation determination routine 213, a differential zero determination routine 215, and zero deviation determination routine 216, and thereby process flow measurements to produce one or more flow characteristics that are compensated for a change in the sensor's zero deviation .
    The processing system 203 may comprise a general purpose computer, a microprocessing system, a logic circuit, or some other general purpose or custom processing device. Processing system 203 can be distributed among multiple processing devices. Processing system 203 may include any mode of integral or independent electronic storage medium, such as storage system 204.
    The processing system 203 processes the sensor signal 210 in order to generate the drive signal 211, among other things. The trigger signal 211 is supplied to the driver 104 in order to vibrate the associated flow tube (s), such as the flow tubes 103 A, 103B of Figure 1.
    It should be understood that meter electronics 20 can include several other components and functions that are generally known in the art. These additional aspects are omitted from the description and figures for the sake of brevity. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to the specific embodiments shown and discussed.
    As the processing system 203 generates the various flow characteristics, such as, for example, the mass flow rate or volume flow rate, an error can be associated with the flow rate generated due to the zero offset of the vibratory flow meter, and more particularly, a change or a change in zero deviation of the vibratory flow meter. Although the zero offset is typically initially calculated as described above, the zero offset may change away from this initially calculated value due to a number of factors including a change in one or more operating conditions, such as the flow meter temperature vibrating. The change in temperature may be due to a change in fluid temperature, room temperature, or both. The change in temperature can be a change of a reference or calibration temperature To of the sensor during the determination of the initial zero deviation. The change in temperature can be attributable to a change in sensor temperature, a change in temperature meter electronics, or both. According to an embodiment of the invention, meter electronics 20 can implement a differential deviation determination routine 213 as further described below.
    Although the present invention has been described above in relation to a simple vibratory flow meter, there are many applications that use multiple vibratory flow meters in series. In many of these applications, the absolute flow rate measured by each individual flow meter is not of interest, but the difference in flow rates measured by the various flow meters is of interest. Two common examples of such a situation are in the application of fuel efficiency measurements and leak detection measurements. A fuel efficiency application is shown in Figure 3; however, the figure is equally applicable to other situations, such as leak detection systems, where multiple flow meters are implemented in series and the difference in measurements between at least two flow meters is of interest. Figure 3 shows a block diagram of a flow meter system 300 according to an embodiment of the invention. Although the flow meter system 300 is shown as a typical fuel efficiency system, it should be appreciated that fuel is merely an example and the system 300 is equally applied to other fluids. Therefore, the use of fuel should not limit the scope of the present invention. The flow meter system 300 includes a fuel supply 301, a fuel supply duct 302, a first vibratory flow meter 10 positioned in the fuel supply duct 302, a fuel outlet 304, a fuel return duct 306, and a second vibratory flow meter 305 positioned in the fuel return line 306. Typically, an engine or other fuel consumption device would be positioned between the first and second flow meters 10, 305; however, the device has been omitted from the figure to reduce the complexity of the design. Although not shown, it should be appreciated that flow meters 10, 305 will typically be connected to one or more meter electronics, as discussed above. In some embodiments, the first and second flow meters 10, 305 can be connected to the same meter electronics. According to an embodiment of the invention, the first and second flow meters 10, 305 comprise Coriolis flow meters. However, flow meters can comprise other types of vibrating sensors that require the measurement capabilities of Coriolis flow meters. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to Coriolis flow meters.
    In use, a fluid, such as fuel, can be supplied to the first flow meter 10 through the fluid supply line 302. The first flow meter 10 can calculate various fluid parameters, including a fluid flow rate, such as discussed above. The fuel then exits the first flow meter 10 and flows through the fuel consumption device and stops either the fuel outlet 304 or the second flow meter 305. If fuel is being withdrawn from the fuel outlet 304, such as, for example, For example, if an engine is running and consuming fuel, then only a portion of the fuel exiting the first vibratory flow meter 10 will flow to the second vibratory flow meter 305. Therefore, the flow rates measured by the first and second flow meters vibratory 10, 305 will be different. Unused fuel flows through the second vibratory flow meter 305 and can resume to fuel supply 301, as shown. It should be appreciated that while the fuel efficiency system 300 only shows a fuel outlet 304 and two vibratory flow meters 10, 305, in some embodiments, multiple fuel outlets will be present and therefore more than two meters of vibratory flow.
    According to an embodiment of the invention, the difference in flow rates measured by the first and second flow meters 10, 305 is substantially equal to the flow rate of the fuel exiting the fluid outlet 304, that is, being consumed by the motor. Therefore, the difference in flow rates measured between the two flow meters 10, 305 is the value of interest in most applications similar to the configuration shown in Figure 3. As a result, a meter can be configured as a reference meter and the other meter can be calibrated to match the reference meter when the flow rate is assumed to be the same ie no fluid is coming out of the 304 fuel outlet. In most embodiments it will not matter which meter is configured as a reference meter.
    The flow rate of the fuel exiting the fuel outlet 304 (fluid consumption) is typically much lower than the flow rate in the supply and return ducts 302, 306, leading to oversized sensors. There is also a desire in these configurations to size flow meters such that a very small pressure drop occurs, which means relatively low flow rates for the size of the meter. With such flow rates low for the meter size, the time delay between deviations will also be relatively short. With the measured time delay so close to the zero offset, the zero offset of the flow meter can seriously affect the accuracy of the meter. It can easily be appreciated that due to the increased sensitivity to zero deviation in system 300, that even a small change in zero deviation can adversely affect the system. However, because the difference in the measurements is the value of interest, the deviation from absolute zero of the individual flow meters 10, 305 is not necessary to correct the measurement. Preferably, the initially calibrated zero offset of one meter can be used and a differential zero offset, as defined above, can be calculated for the second meter. As an example, the second flow meter 305 can be referenced against the first flow meter 10. Therefore, in embodiments where the zero offset comprises a differential zero offset, one of the flow meters is considered a flow meter. reference flow with the zero deviation of the other flow meter calibrated to match the reference meter. Therefore, the differential zero deviation can be calculated using equation (3).
    Advantageously, compensating for a differential zero deviation between two or more meters not only pays off to operate condition-based zero differences, but also removes differences in absolute zero deviation between the meters due to installation effects, for example. Furthermore, the differential zero deviation does not necessarily need to be determined when the flow rate through the flow meter is zero as long as the fluid flowing through the flow meter of interest and the reference flow meter have substantially the same flow rate. of fluid. Therefore, the differential zero offset can be determined whenever the engine is switched off, for example. This assumes, however, that any difference between the measured flow rates is due to a change in the zero offset and is not attributable to other factors, such as a change in the flow calibration factor. In many applications, it is relatively easy to determine if the engine is running because fuel consumption is typically more than 5 times greater than the differential zero offset. Therefore, it is likely that the difference between measurements of the first and second flow meters 10, 305 due to fuel consumption would be mistaken for a differential zero offset. According to an embodiment of the invention, the differential deviation determination routine 213 can be implemented to determine a zero correlation deviation 214. While the discussion below refers to the zero correlation deviation 214 as comprising a correlation for a deviation of zero differential zero, it should be appreciated that a similar routine would be performed to generate a correlation of deviation from absolute zero. However, such a correlation would require the flow rate through the vibrating flow meter to be zero in order to generate various values of zero deviation. Figure 4 shows the differential deviation determination routine 213 according to an embodiment of the invention. According to an embodiment of the invention, meter electronics 20 can be configured to perform the differential deviation determination routine 213, for example. The differential deviation determination routine 213 can be performed by the manufacturer or by a user after the sensor has been installed.
    According to embodiments when the differential deviation determination routine 213 is implemented with multiple flow meters as shown in Figure 3, routine 213 can be implemented when the flow rate through the two or more flow meters is substantially the same, including a fluid flow rate of zero. The differential deviation determination routine 213 can be performed to calibrate a differential zero deviation between two or more flow meters. Therefore, the differential deviation determination routine 213 may not necessarily calibrate flow meters to read an absolute absolute flow rate of mass; rather, flow meters can be calibrated such that the differential reading between the two is accurate. As an example, if the true flow rate through the first flow meter 10, as determined by a provider or similar device, is 2000 kg / hour and the flow rate of the fluid exiting through outlet 304 comprises 1000 kg / hour , then it is desirable to have the difference between the second flow meter 305 and the first flow meter 10 equal to 1000 kg / hour. However, in many embodiments it may be acceptable if the first flow meter 10 measures a flow rate of 2020 kg / hour as long as the second flow meter 305 is calibrated to receive 1020 kg / hour. Therefore, while the absolute flow rate through each meter may not be accurate, the differential reading is accurate or at least within an acceptable error range. It should be appreciated that the values mentioned above are merely examples and should in no way limit the scope of the present invention.
    The differential deviation determination routine 213 can be performed when the fluid consumption device, such as an engine, is switched off. In other embodiments, the differential deviation determination routine 213 can be performed when the flow rates measured by the first flow meter 10 and the second flow meter 305 are expected to comprise the same measurement, as if it is determined that the leak detection system does not have a leak. Therefore, it should be appreciated that the flow through the flow meters 10, 305 does not necessarily comprise zero flow and in many embodiments it will not comprise zero flow during the differential deviation determination routine 213.
    According to an embodiment of the invention, the differential deviation determination routine 213 can be performed after an initial calibration of the vibratory flow meter or can comprise part of the initial calibration of the vibratory flow meter. The differential deviation determination routine 213 can be used to generate a correlation between a zero deviation of a vibrating flow meter and one or more operating conditions of the vibrating flow meter. The zero offset may comprise an absolute zero offset or a differential zero offset as described above.
    The differential deviation determination routine 213 starts at step 401 where one or more sensor signals can be received from the first vibratory flow meter 10 and the second vibratory flow meter 305. The sensor signals can be received by deviation sensors, such as bypass sensors 105, 105 'of the first vibratory flow meter 10, for example. Because there are multiple vibratory flow meters, as in Figure 3, sensor signals can be received from both flow meters when fluid is flowing through the flow meters. In step 402, the received sensor signals can be processed to determine a first flow rate as determined by the first vibratory flow meter 10 and a second flow rate as determined by the second vibratory flow meter 305. The first and second flow rates flow can be determined using equation (1), for example. In step 403, a differential zero offset of the first vibratory flow meter 10 can be determined. According to an embodiment of the invention, the differential zero deviation can be determined using equation (3), for example. According to an embodiment of the invention, the determined zero offset may comprise the initially determined zero offset. This may be the case if the 213 zero offset determination routine is implemented as part of the initial calibration of the vibratory flow meter, for example. According to another embodiment of the invention, the determined zero offset may comprise a subsequently determined zero offset. The subsequently determined zero deviation may differ from the initially determined zero deviation. This may be the case especially in situations where the operating conditions are different from the operating conditions when the initial zero offset has been determined, for example. In some embodiments, routine 213 can end after step 403. According to another embodiment, routine 213 can continue for either step 404 or step 406. In step 404, one or more current operating conditions can be determined . One or more current operating conditions can be determined by processing the sensor signals received in step 401. Alternatively, one or more operating conditions can be determined from external inputs such as external temperature sensors, viscometers, etc. The operating conditions can comprise one or more of a temperature, a pressure, a fluid density, a sensor set condition, a drive gain, etc. According to an embodiment, the drive gain can be compared to a threshold value and if the drive gain exceeds the threshold value, the zero offset determined in step 402 can be considered an error and not stored. The error can be attributable to entrained gas, for example. If one of the operating conditions comprises a temperature, the temperature can be determined using an RTD, for example. The temperature can correspond to a flow meter temperature or a meter electronics temperature, for example. According to an embodiment of the invention, the temperature is assumed to be substantially the same between the first flow meter 10 and the second flow meter 305. According to another embodiment of the invention, it is assumed that the difference in The temperature between the first flow meter 10 and the second flow meter 305 remains substantially constant. In step 405, a deviation correlation 214 can be generated between the differential zero deviation and one or more operating conditions. It should be appreciated that while the correlation can be improved by repeating the differential deviation determination routine 213 multiple times under various operating conditions, a correlation 214 can be generated from a simple differential zero deviation determined along with the corresponding operating conditions. . This is especially true in situations where an initially calculated zero offset is available from an initial calibration, for example. However, it can easily be appreciated that as more deviations from zero are determined under several additional operating conditions, the deviation correlation 214 becomes more comprehensive. As an example, the temperature can be adjusted to a new temperature, which is different from the temperature measured in step 403 and another deviation from zero can be determined. Alternatively, the zero deviation determination routine 213 can be performed whenever the flow rate through the vibratory flow meter is substantially zero or when the flow rate through the first flow meter 10 and the second flow meter 305 are substantially the same. The new zero offset can be stored together with the new temperature in order to add additional values to the deviation correlation 214. The deviation correlation 214 can be stored for future retrieval by meter electronics 20. The deviation correlation 214 can be stored in a variety of formats including, for example, lookup tables, graphs, equations, etc. Although the above discussion is limited to temperature as comprising the operating condition, other operating conditions can be considered other than temperature. According to another embodiment of the invention, the deviation correlation 214 can comprise a multi-dimensional correlation. For example, the deviation correlation 214 can consider not only temperature, but also fluid density. Therefore, the zero deviation could change with both temperature and fluid density resulting in a three-dimensional correlation. According to another embodiment of the invention, separate zero offset correlations can be generated for each fluid density. For example, if it is expected that two fluids can flow through the system, then a separate correlation can be generated for each of the two fluids. If a third fluid having a different density is subsequently measured, then the corrected zero deviation can be obtained by interpolating or extrapolating from the available correlations.
    Once a 214 deviation correlation between a differential zero deviation and one or more operating conditions is determined, a measured operating condition can be compared to a previous stored operating condition in correlation 214 in order to determine a zero deviation. associated in the particular operating condition. According to an embodiment of the invention, the corrected zero offset can provide a more accurate determination of the various flow characteristics. For example, a compensated flow rate can be generated based on the differential zero offset. The compensated flow rate can account for variations in zero deviation due to changes in one or more operating conditions, such as temperature. As mentioned above, deviation correlation 214 can be stored in a variety of formats. An example of a lookup table is shown below in table 1 with a corresponding graph shown in Figure 5. TABLE 1

    According to the embodiment of the invention used in table 1, the initial calibration was carried out at 0 ° C. Therefore, there is no differential zero deviation between the first and second flow meters 10, 305 at 0 ° C. However, as the temperature increases, the differential zero deviation between the zero deviation initially calculated and the zero deviation determined in the new operating condition also increases. Lookup table 1 can be stored on storage system 204 of meter electronics 20 or some other storage system for later retrieval. Figure 5 shows a graph of a differential zero deviation correlation according to an embodiment of the invention. Thus, temperature comprises the measured operating condition; however, it should be appreciated that any number of other operating conditions can be used to generate similar graphics. As can be seen in Figure 5, the correlation of differential zero deviation is approximately linear. It must be appreciated that this may not always be the case. The particular correlation may depend on the flow meter in question as well as the fluid density, along with other factors. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the particular values shown in Figure 5 are merely examples and should in no way limit the scope of the present invention.
    According to an embodiment of the invention, the zero correlation deviation 214 determined by routine 213 can be used during normal operations to determine a differential zero deviation. More particularly, the correlation zero offset 214 can be used to determine a differential zero offset between a first flow meter 10 and at least a second flow meter 305 based on one or more measured operating conditions. As determination is shown in the differential zero determination routine 215 shown in Figure 6. Figure 6 shows a differential zero determination routine 215 according to an embodiment of the invention. The differential zero determination routine 215 can be performed during normal operations. The differential zero determination routine 215 can be performed by meter electronics 20, for example. The differential zero determination routine 215 can be implemented with a vibratory flow meter system as shown in Figure 3. The differential zero determination routine 215 can be used to compensate for a change in a zero deviation from one vibratory flow meter. The differential zero determination routine 215 starts at step 601 where sensor signals are received from a vibratory flow meter, such as the vibratory flow meter 10. The vibratory flow meter from which the sensor signals are received comprises a meter of vibratory flow having a predetermined deviation correlation, such as deviation correlation 214, for example. The sensor signals received in step 601 can be received during normal operation, for example, while fluid is flowing through the vibrating flow meter. The sensor signals can comprise a time delay, a phase difference, a frequency, a temperature, etc. The sensor signals can be processed to determine one or more operating conditions in step 602. The one or more current operating conditions can comprise a temperature, a fluid density, a pressure, a drive gain, etc.
    In step 603, one or more operating conditions can be compared to previously determined operating conditions of the deviation correlation. The previously determined operating conditions may comprise the same operating conditions as the current operating conditions. According to another embodiment of the invention, current operating conditions can be compared to two or more predetermined operating conditions.
    In step 604, a differential zero deviation can be determined based on the deviation correlation, for example. The differential zero deviation comprises a zero deviation that counts for a change in zero deviation away from an initially determined zero deviation due to a variation in one or more operating conditions of the operating conditions when an initial zero deviation was determined . The differential zero offset can then be used to generate a compensated flow rate by solving equation (1) using the differential zero offset instead of using the absolute zero offset.
    It should be appreciated that in many situations, the exact measured operating condition may not be stored as a correlated value. However, the appropriate zero deviation can be interpolated or extrapolated from the values known in the 214 deviation correlation. For example, if the measured operating condition comprised a temperature of 20 ° C and the stored deviation correlation 214 had deviation values of corresponding zero for temperatures of 10 ° C and 30 ° C, the appropriate differential zero offset value could be interpolated from the two available temperatures. Advantageously, a differential zero offset can be generated using the 214 offset correlation and the measured operating conditions. The differential zero offset can be determined without having to reset the vibratory flow meter again. The differential zero offset can be determined without having to stop the flow of fluid. In contrast, the differential zero deviation can be determined 5 simply by comparing the operating conditions measured to the 214 deviation correlation. Therefore, the differential zero deviation comprises a zero deviation that considers a change in the zero deviation due to changes in a or more operating conditions.
    In some embodiments, the determined operating conditions 10 can be the same or within a threshold difference from the operating conditions that were present during the initial calibration. Therefore, in some embodiments, the measured operating conditions can be compared to the initial calibration operating conditions. If the difference is less than the threshold difference, then the differential zero determination routine 215 may not attempt to recover a differential zero offset, but instead can use the initially calibrated zero offset.
    According to another embodiment of the invention, it may be desirable to compensate for a change in the zero offset of a vibrating flow meter without having to generate a offset correlation or store a previously generated offset correlation. Furthermore, in some embodiments, while the zero deviation of the vibratory flow meters 10, 305 can change significantly from the initially calibrated value, the zero deviations may not change significantly between periods of fuel consumption. In these embodiments, instead of generating a correlation to correct for changes in the zero deviation of the vibratory flow meters, a new differential deviation can be determined each time the flow rate through the first and second flow meters vibratory 10, 305 is substantially the same. The newly determined differential deviation can be used until another differential deviation is determined. This is shown by returning to the differential deviation determination routine 213 which proceeds from step 403 to step 406 instead of step 404.
    In step 406, subsequent first sensor signals are received from the first vibrating flow meter 10. The subsequent first sensor signals can be received after the first and second initial sensor signals. For example, the first and second sensor signals can be received when the flow rate through the first and the second vibratory flow meter 10, 305 is substantially the same and the subsequent first sensor signals can be received when the flow rates through the first and second sensor signals are not the same, such as when an engine is running and consuming fuel.
    In step 407, a compensated flow rate can be determined based on the first sensor signals subsequently received and the differential zero offset determined in step 403. It should be appreciated that the differential zero offset determined in step 403 can be used up to the rate flow through the first and the second vibratory flow meter 10, 304 will again be substantially the same and a new differential zero deviation can be determined.
    The differential deviation determination routine 213 advantageously does not need to determine the operating conditions and compare the operating conditions to the previous operating conditions of a deviation correlation. In contrast, the differential zero determination routine 216 assumes that the operating conditions are substantially the same as the operating conditions when the differential zero deviation was determined last.
    The above discussion was limited to a discussion of several methods for determining and correcting a change in the deviation from zero or one or more vibratory flow meters. Typically, in low flow applications, such as fuel efficiency applications where the sensors are oversized, a change in zero deviation due to a change in operating conditions takes into account one of the biggest potential measurement errors. However, according to an embodiment of the invention, a change or difference in the flow calibration factor of the vibratory flow meter can also be considered. While the flow calibration factor is generally more stable with varying operating conditions than the zero offset, it is still advantageous to remove any slope between the two flow meters to optimize differential measurements. Generally, in prior art situations, the flow calibration factor is determined and is assumed to remain substantially constant across a wide range of flow rates and fluid conditions, for example. However, in situations where the value of interest is a difference between measurements of two or more flow meters, even a small change or difference in the flow calibration factor can adversely affect measurements. For example, a change or difference in the flow calibration factor can be experienced as a slope between the first flow meter 10 and the second flow meter 305. As an example, the first flow meter 10 can measure a rate of mass flow of 100 kg / hour while the second flow meter 305 measures a mass flow rate of 101 kg / hour, that is, there is a 1% slope between the two meters. This slope can be compensated for by the flow calibration factor. If this 1% slope remains indifferent to the flow rate, then it would be assumed that if the first flow meter 10 measures a mass flow of 1000 kg / hour, the second mass flow rate would measure a mass flow rate of 1010 kg / hour. However, a distant variation of this 1% slope may be due to a change in the flow calibration factor, as long as the other operating conditions remain the same.
    According to an embodiment of the invention, two separate tests can be carried out at different flow rates with the other operating conditions kept the same. Values for both the flow calibration factor and the zero offset of the sensor can be determined. This 5 can be achieved using equation (1), for example.
    For example, if the present invention is implemented with the fuel efficiency system 300 or a similar system with multiple flow meters in series, a flow meter can be chosen as a reference flow meter, taking, for example , the second flow meter 10 305. With the engine turned off to create substantially equal flow rates through the first and second flow meter 10, 305, sensor signals can be received from both the first and the second flow meters 10, 305. According to an embodiment of the invention, a mass flow rate can be generated from the second flow meter 305 (reference flow meter) as is generally known in the art. This calculated flow rate can be inserted in equation (1) for the first flow meter 10. Therefore, according to equation (1), two unknowns exist, that is, the flow calibration factor of the first flow meter. 10 and the zero deviation (in this case, differential deviation). In the 20 embodiments described above, it was assumed that the flow calibration factor did not change from the initial calibration and therefore, this value was also known. However, if this assumption is not made, there are two unknowns to an equation. In order to solve both unknowns, the operating conditions are kept the same, except for the mass flow rate, which is adjusted to a different value. With a different mass flow rate, sensor signals are once again received with a mass flow rate being generated by the second flow meter 305. At this point, there are two equations with two unknowns. Both the flow calibration factor and the differential zero offset for the first flow meter 10 can be calculated. If this determination is made in more than one operating condition, correlations can be determined between one or more of the operating conditions and both the flow calibration factor and the differential zero offset. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, a correlation including flow calibration factor may only be required if the fluid flow rate exceeds a threshold value. According to an embodiment of the invention, the flow calibration factor can be assumed to remain constant if the fluid flow rate remains below the threshold value, for example.
    According to the various embodiments described above, only a single zero offset has been determined for each measured operating condition. According to an embodiment of the invention, subsequently calculated zero offset values can be determined under operating conditions already stored in order to take into account changes in the offset zero offset that can occur over time. The aforementioned correlation 214 is typically determined during one or more calibration routines. According to another embodiment of the invention, the calibration can be performed automatically and can continuously update the deviation correlation 214 to account for changes that may occur over the life of the vibrating flow meter. This allows the present invention to continually adapt to varying conditions. The zero deviation determination routine 216 described below can be used with a single flow meter, as shown in Figure 1, or alternatively, with multiple flow meters, as shown in Figure 3. Thus, while the deviation correlation 214 described above was primarily related to a differential zero deviation, the zero deviation determination routine 216 can be used to update an absolute zero deviation. Figure 7 shows a zero deviation determination routine 216 according to an embodiment of the invention. Meter electronics 20 can automatically update the zero offset of a particular vibrating flow meter using the zero offset determination routine 216.
    In step 701, signals from sensors can be received. Sensor signals can be received as described above. Sensor signals can be received from only one vibrating flow meter, such as the vibrating flow meter 10, for example. In other embodiments, when the zero offset determination routine 216 is implemented with multiple vibratory flow meters, sensor signals can be received from more than one vibratory flow meter. According to an embodiment of the invention, the sensor signals can be received from a vibrating flow meter having a predetermined deviation correlation. The previously determined deviation correlation can correspond to a differential zero deviation, just like the 214 deviation correlation. According to another embodiment, the previously determined deviation correlation can correspond to an absolute zero deviation, such as for a simple vibratory flow meter, for example. The absolute zero deviation correlation can be determined in a manner similar to the 213 differential deviation determination routine, except that the absolute zero deviation would need to be determined when the flow rate was substantially zero. However, operating conditions such as temperature could be determined and a correlation could be generated as described above. In step 702, a current zero offset can be generated. The current zero offset can be generated using the sensor signals received in step 701, for example. The current zero offset may comprise an absolute zero offset or, alternatively, a differential zero offset. In step 703, one or more current operating conditions can be determined. In step 704, one or more current operating conditions can be compared to one or more previous operating conditions of the deviation correlation previously determined between zero deviation and operating conditions, such as deviation correlation 214, for example. In step 705, the zero offset determination routine 216 determines whether a previously determined zero offset exists under current operating conditions. According to an embodiment of the invention, if the deviation correlation does not include a deviation from zero for one or more specified operating conditions, routine 216 proceeds to step 706 where the current zero deviation generated in step 702 can be stored as a new value in the zero correlation deviation 214 along with the determined associated operating conditions. According to another embodiment of the invention, if the deviation correlation includes a predetermined zero deviation corresponding to one or more determined operating conditions, the zero deviation determination routine 216 can proceed to step 707. The deviation of previously determined zero can comprise a “guest of honor” zero deviation, which can be programmed by a manufacturer, for example. In step 707, an average zero deviation can be determined. According to an embodiment of the invention, the current zero offset and the previously determined zero offset can be attributed to a weighting factor and the weighted zero offset may comprise a weighted average of the current and previously determined zero offset. The weighting factors attributed to the current deviations from zero and previously determined can be based on time, for example. According to an embodiment of the invention, more recent determined zero deviations are given greater weight than the oldest determined zero deviations. Thus, the current zero offset would likely be given more weight than the previously determined zero offset. For example, the current zero offset may receive twice as much weight as the previously determined zero offset when determining the average zero offset. Likewise, the particular weight given to the current zero deviation can be based on the relative lapse in time between the current and previously determined zero deviations. The weighting factor can be used to generate a offset zero offset during normal operation, such as during the differential zero determination routine 215, for example. The weighted zero offset can be stored with the 214 offset correlation, for example. Thus, during the differential zero determination routine 215, the zero offset values stored with the 214 offset correlation may comprise weighted zero offset values.
    Using a weighted average in order to update the zero deviation, the present invention can not only continuously adapt to varying conditions, but also reduce significant errors produced by extreme changes in a simple zero deviation that can be attributable to factors other than the conditions measured operating conditions.
    According to an embodiment of the invention, meter electronics 20 can use the updated values for the zero offset when comparing one or more operating conditions measured for the 214 offset correlation. According to an embodiment of the invention , each time a zero deviation determination routine, such as the differential deviation determination routine 213 or the zero deviation determination routine 216 is performed, the deviation correlation 214 can be stored in a database. With each successive correlation of deviation that is generated, the database grows.
    It should also be appreciated that the offset zero offset can be determined automatically by meter electronics 20, for example. This avoids the need for a user / operator to manually enter a offset zero offset based on the previously generated correlation.
    The present invention as described above provides several methods for determining and compensating for changes that may occur in the zero offset of a vibratory flow meter, such as a Coriolis flow meter. In addition, the present invention provides a method to compensate for a change in the flow calibration factor that may occur over time, or more simply, to remove a constant difference in flow calibration factors between two or more meters as to maximize the differential measurement performance. Although the various embodiments described above are aimed at flow meters, specifically Coriolis flow meters, it should be appreciated that the present invention should not be limited to Coriolis flow meters but, on the contrary, the methods described here can be used with other types of flow meters, or other vibrating sensors that do not have some of the measurement capabilities of Coriolis flow meters.
    The detailed descriptions of the above embodiments are not exhaustive descriptions of all the embodiments contemplated by the inventors as being within the scope of the invention. In fact, those skilled in the art will recognize that some elements of the embodiments described above can be variablely combined or eliminated to create other embodiments, and such other embodiments are within the scope and teachings of the invention. It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments described above can be combined in whole or in part to create additional embodiments within the scope and teachings of the invention.
    Thus, although specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described here for illustrative purposes, several equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. The teachings provided here can be applied to other vibrating sensors, and not just to the embodiments described above and shown in the attached figures. Thus, the scope of the invention must be determined from the following claims.
    权利要求:
    Claims (10)
    [0001]
    1. Method for operating a vibratory flow meter having a previously established deviation correlation between a zero deviation and one or more operating conditions, comprising the steps of: receiving sensor signals from the vibrating flow meter; determine a zero current deviation for the vibratory flow meter based on the received sensor signals; determine one or more current operating conditions; characterized by the fact that it comprises comparing one or more current operating conditions to one or more previous operating conditions of the deviation correlation; and if the deviation correlation includes a previously determined zero deviation corresponding to the current operating conditions, then generate an average zero deviation based on the current and previously determined zero deviations.
    [0002]
    2. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that it still comprises a step of storing the zero current deviation for the vibratory flow meter and one or more current operating conditions if the deviation correlation does not include a deviation of zero previously determined corresponding to one or more current operating conditions.
    [0003]
    3. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the step of generating the mean zero deviation comprises the steps of: applying a first weighting factor to the current zero deviation to generate a first weighted zero deviation; applying a second weighting factor to the previously determined zero deviation to generate a second weighted zero deviation; and calculating the mean zero deviation based on the first and second weighted zero deviations.
    [0004]
    4. Method according to claim 3, characterized by the fact that the first and second weighting factors comprise time-weighted factors.
    [0005]
    5. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that it still comprises a step of: generating a new deviation correlation based on the mean zero deviation and one or more operating conditions.
    [0006]
    6. Meter electronics (20) for a vibratory flow meter (10), including a processing system (203) configured to: receive sensor signals (210) from the first vibratory flow meter (10); determining a zero current deviation for the vibratory flow meter (10) based on the received sensor signals (210); determine one or more current operating conditions; characterized by the fact that the processing system is further configured to compare one or more current operating conditions to one or more previous operating conditions of the deviation correlation; and if the deviation correlation includes a previously determined zero deviation corresponding to one or more current operating conditions, then generate an average zero deviation based on the current and previously determined zero deviations.
    [0007]
    7. Meter electronics (20) according to claim 6, characterized by the fact that the processing system (203) is further configured to: store the zero current deviation for the vibratory flow meter (10) and a or more current operating conditions if the deviation correlation does not include a previously determined zero deviation corresponding to one or more current operating conditions.
    [0008]
    8. Meter electronics (20) according to claim 6, characterized by the fact that generating the mean zero deviation comprises the processing system (203) being further configured to: apply a first weighting factor to the current zero deviation to generate a first weighted zero offset; applying a second weighting factor to the previously determined zero deviation to generate a second weighted zero deviation; and calculating the mean zero deviation based on the first and second weighted zero deviations.
    [0009]
    9. Meter electronics (20) according to claim 8, characterized by the fact that the first and second weighting factors comprise time-weighted factors.
    [0010]
    10. Meter electronics (20) according to claim 6, characterized by the fact that the processing system (203) is further configured to: generate a new deviation correlation based on the mean zero deviation and one or more conditions of operation.
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    法律状态:
    2019-01-22| B06F| Objections, documents and/or translations needed after an examination request according [chapter 6.6 patent gazette]|
    2019-08-06| B06U| Preliminary requirement: requests with searches performed by other patent offices: procedure suspended [chapter 6.21 patent gazette]|
    2021-02-23| B09A| Decision: intention to grant [chapter 9.1 patent gazette]|
    2021-03-30| B16A| Patent or certificate of addition of invention granted [chapter 16.1 patent gazette]|Free format text: PRAZO DE VALIDADE: 10 (DEZ) ANOS CONTADOS A PARTIR DE 30/03/2021, OBSERVADAS AS CONDICOES LEGAIS. |
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    PCT/US2009/053544|WO2011019345A1|2009-08-12|2009-08-12|Method and apparatus for determining a zero offset in a vibrating flow meter|
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