Feibiao Zhou

Remote condition monitoring for railway point machine

This paper presents the research work carried out at Oxford University on condition monitoring of railway point machines. The developed condition monitoring system includes a variety of sensors for acquiring trackside data related to different parameters. Key events to be logged include time stamping of points operation, opening and closing of case cover associated with a points machine, insertion and removal of a hand-crank, loss of supply current and the passage of a train. The system also has built-in Web functions. This allows a remote operator using Internet Explorer to observe the condition of the point machine at any time, while the acquired data can be downloaded automatically for offline analysis, providing more detailed information on the health condition of the monitored point machine. A short daily condition report message can also be sent to relevant staff via email. Finally, experience is reported on the four trackside installed systems.

Coriolis Mass Flow Metering for Wet Gas

Most two-phase applications for Coriolis mass flow metering are for low Gas Void Fraction (GVF) conditions, i.e. where the process fluid is essentially liquid with relatively low levels of entrained air or gas. There are particular challenges associated with metering wet gas, where the GVF exceeds 95%. Established wet gas metering techniques are typically based on a differential pressure-type device (for example an orifice plate or V-cone). It is well-known that such devices over-read compared to a dry gas calibration; equations to correct the reading are available if the degree of gas “wetness” is known. For Coriolis mass flow metering of wet gas, two approaches are described. The natural extension of the low GVF techniques is to map the observed mass flow and density readings onto estimates of the flow rates of the gas and liquid components. The alternative is to use the Coriolis meter to estimate the degree of gas “wetness” (e.g. the Lockhart-Martinelli number) and to apply a conventional correlation (e.g. Murdock or Chisholm) to a differential pressure flow reading. A prototype Coriolis-based wet gas meter is described, together with results from laboratory trials at CEESI in Colorado, and from extended field trials at BPs Wamsutter gas field in Wyoming.

A New Method for Measuring Fuel Flow in an Individual Injection in Real Time

Knowledge of fuel mass injected in an individual cycle is important for engine performance and modeling. At the moment, such measurements are not possible on engine or in real time. In this article, a new method using Coriolis flow meters (CFMs) and a new, patented, signal processing technique, known as the Prism, are introduced. CFMs are extensively used for flow measurement both in the automotive industry and further afield and, when coupled with the Prism, have the potential to make these challenging high-speed measurements. A rig-based feasibility study was conducted injecting very small quantities of diesel (3 mg) at pressures of up to 1000 bar at simulated engine speeds of up to 4000 rpm. The results show that these small quantities can in principle be measured. The results also reveal a previously unknown behavior of CFMs when measuring very low flow rates at high speed. The study concludes that by combining high-resonant frequency flow tubes with the Prism technology in a new instrument—the fast next-generation Coriolis (fast NGC) flow meter—it will be possible to measure individual injector flow rates on engine in real time.