US2009208346A1PendingUtilityA1
System and method of controlling pump pressure
Individually held — no corporate assignee on recordPriority: Feb 15, 2008Filed: Feb 15, 2008Published: Aug 20, 2009
Est. expiryFeb 15, 2028(~1.6 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
F04D 15/0066
50
PatentIndex Score
0
Cited by
0
References
0
Claims
Abstract
A method and system for operating a pump driven by an engine are disclosed, including adjusting and measuring a speed of the engine with a controller electrically coupled to the engine, the controller having encoded therein a computer-readable method of controlling a pump; receiving a first discharge pressure at a first engine speed from a discharge pressure sensor coupled to a discharge line of the pump, and a second discharge pressure at a second engine speed from the discharge pressure sensor; determining a pump constant and an intake pressure in response to the first and second engine speeds; determining a maximum engine speed in response to the pump constant, the intake pressure, and a desired discharge pressure; and, limiting the engine speed to the maximum engine speed.
Claims
exact text as granted — not AI-modified1 . A method of operating a pump driven by an engine comprising:
adjusting and measuring a speed of the engine with a controller electrically coupled to the engine, the controller having encoded therein a computer-readable method of controlling a pump; receiving a first discharge pressure at a first engine speed from a discharge pressure sensor coupled to a discharge line of the pump, and a second discharge pressure at a second engine speed from the discharge pressure sensor; determining a pump constant and an intake pressure in response to the first and second engine speeds; determining a maximum engine speed in response to the pump constant, the intake pressure, and a desired discharge pressure; and limiting the engine speed to the maximum engine speed.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring an intake pressure from an intake pressure sensor coupled to an intake line of the pump; and determining the pump constant in accordance with:
k
=
p
1
-
h
m
n
1
2
,
where
k=the pump constant,
p 1 =the first discharge pressure,
h m =the measured intake pressure, and
n 1 =the first engine speed.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the pump constant and the intake pressure in accordance with:
p 1 =h c +k ( n 1 ) 2 , and p 2 =h c +k ( n 2 ) 2 , where
p 1 =the first discharge pressure,
p 2 =the second discharge pressure,
n 1 =the first engine speed,
n 2 =the second engine speed,
h c =the intake pressure, and
k=the pump constant.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining the maximum engine speed in accordance with:
n
limit
=
p
i
n
-
h
k
and
n
max
=
n
limit
+
n
buffer
,
where
n limit =an engine speed limit,
p in =the desired discharge pressure,
h=the intake pressure,
k=the pump constant,
n max =the maximum engine speed, and
n buffer =a buffer quantity.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the buffer quantity is between about 10% to about 20% of the engine speed limit.
6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein limiting the engine speed further comprises:
receiving a third engine speed; comparing the third engine speed to the maximum engine speed with the criteria:
n 3 ≦n max ,
where
n 3 =the third engine speed, and
n max =the maximum engine speed;
setting the engine speed to n 3 if n 3 ≦n max ; and limiting the engine speed to n max if n 3 >n max .
7 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
measuring a third discharge pressure from a discharge pressure sensor; comparing the third discharge pressure to the desired discharge pressure; and incrementing the engine speed limit if p 3 <p in , where
p 3 =a third discharge pressure, and
p in =a desired discharge pressure.
8 . A pumping system driven by an engine, comprising:
a pump coupled to the engine and operable to forcibly push a fluid received at an intake line to a discharge line; a discharge pressure sensor coupled to the discharge line of the pump and operable to measure a discharge pressure; a controller electrically coupled to the engine and operable to measure and adjust a speed of the engine, the controller having encoded therein a computer-readable method of controlling a pump; and the controller operable to receive a first discharge pressure at a first engine speed, and a second discharge pressure at a second engine speed, determine a pump constant and an intake pressure in response to the first and second engine speeds, and determine a maximum engine speed in response to the pump constant, the intake pressure, and a desired discharge pressure, and further limit the engine to the maximum engine speed.
9 . The pumping system of claim 8 , further comprising an intake pressure sensor coupled to the intake line of the pump and operable to measure an intake pressure, and the controller being operable to determine the pump constant in accordance with:
k
=
p
1
-
h
m
n
1
2
,
where
k=the pump constant,
p 1 =the first discharge pressure,
h m =the measured intake pressure, and
n=the first engine speed.
10 . The pumping system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is operable to determine the pump constant and the intake pressure in accordance with:
p 1 =h c +k ( n 1 ) 2 , and p 2 =h c +k ( n 2 ) 2 , where
p 1 =the first discharge pressure,
p 2 =the second discharge pressure,
n 1 =the first engine speed,
n 2 =the second engine speed,
h c =the intake pressure, and
k=the pump constant.
11 . The pumping system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is operable to determine the maximum engine speed in accordance with:
n
limit
=
p
i
n
-
h
k
and
n
max
=
n
limit
+
n
buffer
,
where
n limit =the engine speed limit,
p in =the desired discharge pressure,
h=the intake pressure, and
k=the pump constant,
n max =the maximum engine speed, and
n buffer =the buffer quantity.
12 . The pumping system of claim 11 , wherein the buffer quantity is between about 10% to about 20% of the engine speed limit.
13 . The pumping system of claim 12 , the controller further adapted for measuring a third discharge pressure from a discharge pressure sensor near a pump discharge, comparing the third discharge pressure to the desired discharge pressure, and incrementing the engine speed limit if p 3 <p in , where
p 3 =the third discharge pressure, and p in =the desired discharge pressure.
14 . The pumping system of claim 13 , the controller further adapted for sampling the third discharge pressure on an interval greater than or equal to about 1 second.
15 . A computer-readable medium having encoded thereon a method comprising:
receiving a first discharge pressure from a discharge pressure transducer coupled to a discharge line of an engine-driven pump rotating at a first engine speed; receiving the first engine speed from an engine module; receiving a second discharge pressure from the discharge pressure transducer with the pump rotating at a second engine speed; receiving the second engine speed from the engine module; determining a pump constant and an intake pressure as functions of the first and second engine speeds and the first and second discharge pressures; determining a maximum engine speed as a function of the pump constant, the intake pressure, and a desired discharge pressure; and sending the maximum engine speed to the engine module to limit the engine speed.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving an intake pressure from an intake pressure transducer coupled to an intake of the engine-driven pump; determining the pump constant as a function of the intake pressure, first engine speed and first discharge pressure in accordance with:
k
=
p
1
-
h
m
n
1
2
,
where
k=the pump constant,
p 1 =the first discharge pressure,
h m =the measured intake pressure, and
n 1 =the first engine speed.
17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
determining the pump constant and the intake pressure as functions of the first and second engine speeds and the first and second discharge pressures in accordance with:
p 1 =h c +k ( n 1 ) 2 , and
p 2 =h c +k ( n 2 ) 2 ,
where
p 1 =the first discharge pressure,
p 2 =the second discharge pressure,
n 1 =the first engine speed,
n 2 =the second engine speed,
h c =the intake pressure, and
k=the pump constant.
18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
determining the maximum engine speed as a function of the pump constant, the intake pressure, a desired discharge pressure and an engine speed buffer in accordance with:
n
limit
=
p
i
n
-
h
k
and
n
max
=
n
limit
+
n
buffer
,
where
n limit =an engine speed limit,
p in =the desired discharge pressure,
h=the intake pressure, and
k=the pump constant,
n max =the maximum engine speed, and
n buffer =the engine speed buffer.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the engine speed buffer is a percentage of the engine speed limit computed with an equation:
n buffer =(buffer % *n limit ); where
n buffer =the engine speed buffer,
n limit =the engine speed limit, and
buffer % =the engine speed buffer percentage.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the engine speed buffer is between about 10% to about 20% of the engine speed limit.
21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the engine speed buffer is 16% of the engine speed limit.
22 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
receiving a third engine speed; comparing the third engine speed to the maximum engine speed with the criteria:
n 3 ≦n max ,
where
n 3 =the third engine speed, and
n max =the maximum engine speed;
sending the third engine speed to the engine module if n 3 ≦n max ; and maintaining a current engine speed if n 3 >n max .
23 . The method of claim 22 , further comprising:
receiving a third discharge pressure from a discharge pressure transducer; comparing the third discharge pressure to the desired discharge pressure; and incrementing the current engine speed if p 3 <p in , where
p 3 =the third discharge pressure, and
p in =the desired discharge pressure.Join the waitlist — get patent alerts
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