Patent ID: 9746434
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: G01F,G01K,G01N

Claim:
1. A method for determining the flow distribution of a fluid through a component, comprising: providing within a component a sensing cable including an optical fiber sensor array aligned with a heating element; propagating at least one heat pulse through the heating element along at least a portion of the sensing cable to affect an exchange of thermal energy between the heating element and the fluid exposed to the sensing cable; measuring, over time, a temperature profile of the sensing cable corresponding to the heat pulse at each of a plurality of sensor locations on the optical fiber sensor array; and determining a flow of the fluid by determining one or more properties of the fluid exposed to the sensing cable at each of the plurality of sensor locations based on the temperature profile corresponding thereto, wherein the component is a hydroprocessing reactor which includes a particulate bed and the particulate bed is comprised of catalyst particles.