Contact-based transducers for characterizing unsteady pressures in pipes

Abstract

A sensor head characterizes unsteady pressures in a fluid flowing within a pipe, as may be caused by one or both of acoustic waves propagating through the fluid within the pipe and/or pressure disturbances that convect with the fluid flowing in the pipe. The sensor head comprises a rigid support structure and at least one transducer attached to the rigid support structure. The rigid support structure holds the transducer in contact with an outer surface of the pipe. The at least one transducer senses relative movement between the outer surface of the pipe and the support structure and provides a signal indicative of unsteady pressures within the fluid at a corresponding axial position of the pipe in response to the relative movement. The support structure may be attached to each transducer in an array of transducers, and may include a handle secured thereto for manipulating the sensor head into contact with the pipe. Output signals from the transducers are provided to a processing unit, which processes the output signals to provide a signal indicative of at least one parameter of the flow process.