Invensys, the London-based automation conglomerate, announced on Feb. 16 that it has received two additional patents for the core technology of the company’s Foxboro CFT50 Digital Coriolis mass flowmeter. The patents apply to the CFT50 flowmeter and its ability to accurately measure traditionally difficult-to-handle materials and two-phase flow—that is, flow that involves gas and liquid masses.
Two-phase flow has historically caused problems for Coriolis mass flowmeters, and is a major contributor to process interruptions, measurement inaccuracies and deviations in product quality.
Invensys said the new patents relate to new signal processing techniques used to provide useful measurements of both mass flow and density, and the operational aspects of keeping the Coriolis meter running stably in single-phase or two-phase conditions, and dynamic transitions between these flow conditions.
The first patent includes an advanced control and measurement system with high-speed digital signal processing that responds to changing flow conditions many times faster than standard Coriolis flowmeters, the company said. The second patent relates to detecting and compensating for two-phase flow conditions and generating a validated mass flow measurement.
The Digital Coriolis flowmeter technologies were developed through a collaborative program between the Foxboro, Mass.-based Foxboro Measurements and Instruments Division of Invensys Process Systems, and Oxford University, in the United Kingdom. These technologies are incorporated into the Foxboro CFT50 Digital Coriolis mass flow transmitter. The CFT50 was introduced in 2002, and has won numerous awards, Invensys said.
