Patent ID: 7841243

Claim:
A transit time method of measuring both a speed of sound in a fluid flowing in a pipe and a diameter of the pipe, the method comprising the steps of: providing a probe having at least one ultrasonic transducer disposed thereon, the at least one transducer generating an acoustic beam in the fluid; providing a plurality of reflectors defining, with the at least one transducer, a return leg having a selected length; intercepting, by one of the plurality of reflectors, a first portion of the acoustic beam; measuring a time required for the first portion of the acoustic beam to traverse the return leg and determining therefrom the speed of sound; rotating the probe about an axis thereof so that the acoustic beam propagates perpendicular to the axis of the pipe; setting the at least one transducer at an insertion depth selected to define a diameter measuring path comprising a plurality of reflections from the inside surface of the pipe; and measuring a time required for a second portion of the acoustic beam to traverse the diameter measuring path and determining therefrom the diameter of the pipe.