Omni Technologies, Inc. (OTI) is proposing a unique acoustic method for measuring flow rate of liquid cryogens. Over the last 30 years, acoustic flowmeters have been demonstrated that non-intrusively measure flow rates in fluid filled pipes. The majority of these use pulsed time of flight techniques but none have used continuous wave (CW) techniques as is being proposed. The advantages of the proposed technique are simplicity of electronics, better signal detection capability, and continuous verses periodic measurements. This translates to a cheaper, smaller, more capable and highly accurate sensor suite. The risk of the proposed technique is reduced since proven pulsed time of flight systems use nearly identical sensor configurations and are based on the same physics. Measurement of fluid flow of liquid cryogens adds significant complexity to the sensor design due to material thermal effects but literature suggests that acoustic flowmeters are applicable for flow measurement of liquid cryogens. Upon completion of Phase I, OTI expects to have demonstrated the validity of the proposed method and have a working commercially viable flowmeter design by the end of Phase II. OTI expects the new flowmeter will provide NASA with a means to more accurately and more reliably measure cryogenic flow. POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) : Acoustic flowmeters are applied in many industrial process control applications from the oilfield, to nuclear power plants, to waste water treatment, to manufacturing facilities. Any plant where flow measurements are required is a potential application. The proposed flowmeter likewise has similar application but will be faster and less costly. The proposed flowmeter will be cost competitive with traditional flowmeters but provide better accuracy. Current acoustic flowmeters are costly and generally used only where wetted sensors are not feasible and the cost is not the driving factor. Researchers have also demonstrated acoustic flowmeters that provide density estimates allowing a single sensor to provide mass flow. This is of particular interest in industries such as the paper industry where process control requires mass flow. OTI believes the proposed flowmeter capabilities can be extend in the future to include density calculations thus increasing market opportunities.
