Patent ID: 8068999
Filing Date: 2011-11-29
Classification: G01F,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of determining a flow rate of a fluid comprising: providing a flow sensor comprising a bypass with a plurality of bypass tubes, a sensor conduit in fluid communication with the bypass; generating a measured signal representative of a flow rate of a fluid through the sensor conduit; accessing characteristic information generated during calibration of the flow sensor at a plurality of flow rates with at least one calibration fluid, the characteristic information including a plurality of first dimensionless parameters based on a dynamic pressure of each of the plurality of flow rates and a corresponding plurality of second dimensionless parameters based on a Reynolds number of each of the plurality of flow rates; and generating a representation of the flow rate of the fluid through the flow sensor based at least partially on the measured signal and on the characteristic information, wherein the characteristic information is at least partially defined by a characteristic function: where Q is a bypass dynamic pressure determined during calibration with the at least one calibration fluid, ΔP is a pressure differential across the flow sensor determined during calibration, Re is a Reynolds number through the bypass determined during calibration, D is the inside diameter of the bypass tubes, and L is the bypass tube length.