Patent ID: 7124621
Filing Date: 2006-10-24
Classification: G01F

Abstract:
1. An acoustic flowmeter calibration method that compensates for variation in a transducer time delay, the flowmeter including a first acoustic transducer and a second acoustic transducer, the first and second transducers being arranged to define a path across a conduit, the path crossing the conduit on an angle, wherein the velocity of a fluid flowing through the conduit is determined based on the path, the transit time across the path for an acoustic pulse in the upstream direction, and the transit time across the path for an acoustic pulse in the downstream direction, wherein determining a transit time takes into consideration the transducer time delay, the method comprising for a plurality of different fluid temperatures, at each temperature, generating a raw transit time for an acoustic pulse in the upstream direction and a raw transit time for an acoustic pulse in the downstream direction wherein the fluid is flowing through the conduit at a known velocity; and estimating a path length and a transducer time delay based on the generated transit times and associated known flow velocities to calibrate the acoustic flowmeter path length and transducer time delay over the plurality of different temperatures.