Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090282892 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REAL-TIME CALIBRATION OF A LIQUID STORAGE TANK LEVEL GAUGE - A system and method are provided that receive a signal representing a reflection of an electromagnetic wave from a liquid and from one or more reference pins in a storage tank. A sensed distance to the liquid and one or more sensed distances to the pins are calculated from the signal, and the sensed distances to the pins are compared to one or more reference distances. A correction factor is calculated based on the comparison of the sensed distances and the reference distances, and a corrected distance to the liquid is calculated based on the correction factor and the sensed distance to the liquid. While the storage tank is empty, a reference signal representing a reflection of an electromagnetic wave from the reference pins may be obtained and reference sensed distances to the reference pins calculated and stored as the reference distances. | 11-19-2009 |
20100070209 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ADAPTIVELY HANDLING LEVEL MEASUREMENTS UNDER UNSTABLE CONDITIONS - A method includes retrieving at least one first measurement associated with material in a tank from a memory at a level gauge. The method also includes comparing the at least one first measurement to at least one second measurement associated with the material in the tank. The method further includes determining whether a difference between the at least one first measurement and the at least one second measurement exceeds a threshold. In addition, the method includes identifying a current level of the material in the tank in a first manner if the difference does not exceed the threshold or a second manner if the difference does exceed the threshold. The first manner could include correcting a level measurement using the difference between the at least one first measurement and the at least one second measurement. The second manner could include identifying an offset value based on differences between pairs of level measurements. | 03-18-2010 |
20100299105 | ONLINE CONDITION-BASED MONITORING FOR TANK FARMS - A method for online condition-based monitoring (CBM) of a tank farm including a plurality of storage tanks includes providing a tank model including a diagnostic and/or predictive tank model based on calculated tank metrics that is derived from historical data including tank operation data. The calculated tank metrics include tank operational metrics based on the tank operational data for the storage tanks and tank condition metrics based on tank inspection or maintenance data for the storage tanks. The tank model provides relationships between the tank condition metrics and the tank operational metrics. Results are generated using the tank model including at least one failure indicia for at least a first of the storage tanks using the calculated tank metrics and current measured data for the first tank as inputs to the tank model. The failure indicia is processed for scheduling at least one maintenance task for the first tank. | 11-25-2010 |
20120069193 | THERMAL CAMERA CALIBRATION - A system for calibrating a thermal camera with a calibration target. The calibration target may have a pattern which can be seen on an infrared image captured by the camera. The pattern may be of various kinds. For example, the pattern may be a checkerboard with some, such as every other square, having one emissitivity and the remaining squares having a different emissitivity, or having infrared light sources placed at corners of the squares. A difference between the emmissitivities may be sufficient so that the checkerboard pattern appears in an infrared image captured by the camera for calibration. The calibration may aid in determining intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the camera. The parameters may provide a basis for transforming camera pixel coordinates to a world coordinate system which allows measurement of real world entities by the thermal camera. Measurements may incorporate distances between objects, heights of objects, and so forth. | 03-22-2012 |
20120281096 | STORAGE TANK INSPECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD - A multi-sensor method and system for imaging and inspecting a storage tank that holds a liquid. The system includes an infrared sensor including a scanning vertical mount positioned outside the storage tank, an ultrasonic sensor array positioned outside the storage tank, and at least one of an ultrasonic sensor positioned inside the storage tank and a phased array radar positioned inside the storage tank secured to an interior top surface of the storage tank. The system further includes a processor coupled to receive multi-sensor data from the infrared sensor, ultrasonic sensor array and at least one of the ultrasonic sensor in the tank and the phased array radar. The processor fuses the multi-sensor data to generate a sludge level image profile for sludge in the storage tank, a liquid level image for liquid in the storage tank, and optionally an integrity profile for a shell of the storage tank. | 11-08-2012 |
20150160065 | RECEIVER WITH PROGRAMMABLE GAIN FOR UWB RADAR - A receiver for an ultra wideband (UWB) pulse radar system includes a programmable gain network (PGN) block coupled to process a received UWB radar signal. The programmable PGN block includes programmable attenuator having an output coupled to an input node of a UWB low noise amplifier (LNA), and a fast acting power limiter is between the input node and a system ground and/or a power supply node for the radar system. A sampling unit is coupled between an output of the LNA and a processor. The processor implements an attenuation algorithm, wherein the processor is coupled to the programmable attenuator, and provides attenuation control signals to dynamically control a gain or attenuation of the programmable attenuator, such as based on a distance from a transmitting antenna to the product material. | 06-11-2015 |
20150160066 | ADAPTIVE RADAR SYSTEM WITH MUTLIPLE WAVEFORMS - A pulsed radar method of sensing or measuring a product material in a storage tank. A plurality of waveform types are automatically selected based on a power limitation. The pulsed radar signal is transmitted by a programmable transmitter to the product material, wherein the pulsed radar signal is reflected or scattered by the product material to provide a radar signal during an interval of time including a target signal. An initial gain or attenuation is automatically set for a programmable receiver. The programmable receiver receives the radar signal including the target signal during the interval of time, and the target signal is signal processed using a lower attenuation setting as compared to the initial gain or attenuation to determine at least one parameter associated with the product material. The transmitted and received radar signal can also be adjusted according to the measured SNR. | 06-11-2015 |
20150160067 | MULTI-MODE PULSED RADAR PROVIDING AUTOMATIC TRANSMIT PULSE SIGNAL CONTROL - A multi-mode pulsed radar method for sensing or measuring a product material in a storage tank includes providing a measure of radar signal attenuation for pulsed radar signals transmitted to the product material. Automatic adjustment of one or more transmitted radar pulse parameters is implemented by selecting a pulse width and a pulse amplitude based on the measure of radar signal attenuation. In signal mode 2 higher amplitude and/or wider pulses are selected when the measure of radar signal attenuation is relatively high and in signal mode 1 lower amplitude and/or narrower pulses are selected when the measure of radar signal attenuation is relatively low. The radar pulse is transmitted to the product material using the selected pulse width and the pulse amplitude. The target signal reflected or scattered from the product material is processed to determine at least one parameter, such as product level. | 06-11-2015 |