Measurement of energy in flowing fluid

Claim 1

Apparatus for providing a measurement of the energy in steam or the like converted from liquid to vapor by heating and transmitted to a vapor-condensing load, said apparatus including: i. a probe, ii. a vapor-supply conduit for the load, and iii. read-out means for providing a measure of the latent heat and other factors in be energy in the vapor flowing along the supply conduit, said probe including a heat transmitter that is elongated and includes a portion protruding inward into the supply conduit, at least a segment of the length of the heat transmitter being a linear thermal impedance of high thermal conductivity, a sensing tip constituting part of said heat transmitter and limited to a small portion of the inward protruding portion thereof, the comparatively much larger remainder of said inward protruding portion of the heat transmitter being covered with thermal insulation, said sensing tip being spaced substantially from the inner surface of the supply conduit and being exposed to the vapor in said conduit, a heat absorber at the end of the heat transmitter remote from the sensing tip, said heat absorber having at least such capacity and the heat transmitter having such limited thermal impedance and the sensing tip having such limited exposed area in relation to one another as to maintain the temperature of the sensing tip well below the condensation point of the vapor at the maximum rate of energy transmission and flow of vapor to be monitored, and first and second temperature sensors spaced apart along said linear thermal impedance, said second sensor being farther than said first sensor from the sensing tip, said sensros being connected to said read-out means for providing input representing the temperature difference between the sensors, and said read-out means being calibrated to provide a measure of energy trnasmission along the conduit.

Claim 27

The method of measuring the energy supplied to a load at any rate within a range using as an energy-transfer medium steam or like fluid that changes state from liquid to vapor by heating, where such fluid, in common with steam, has a latent heat of condensation that is many times the specific heat of water, including the steps of exposing the sensing tip of a probe to flow of the vapor along a conduit to the load, the probe having an elongated heat transmitter with a sensing tip at one end, a linear thermal impedance forming at least part of the heat transmitter, and first and second temperature sensors spaced apart along the thermal impedance, cooling the sensing tip sufficiently to maintain the sensing tip well below the condensation temperature of the vapor throughout said range, and deriving a measure of the energy in said flow of vapor, including its latent heat of condensation, from the temperature difference of the sensors.

Claim 28

The method of measuring the energy supplied to a load at any rate within a range using as an energy-transfer medium steam or like fluid that changes state from liquid to vapor by heating, where such fluid, in common with steam, has a latent heat of condensation that is many times the specific heat of water, including the steps of exposing the sensing tip of a probe to flow of the vapor along a conduit to the load, the probe having an elongated heat transmitter with a sensing tip at one end, a linear thermal impedance forming at least part of the heat transmitter, and first and second temperature sensors spaced apart along the thermal impedance, cooling the sensing tip sufficiently to maintain the sensing tip well below the condensation temperature of the vapor throughout said range, and deriving a measure of the energy in said flow of vapor, including its latent heat of condensation, from the temperature difference of the sensors.