Novel probe design allows for the measurement of flow angles in unique environments
Aeroprobe Corporation announced today that it has been named as co-inventor of a newly patented probe design. The flow angle probe was invented in a collaborative effort with GE and has been issued US Patent 9,689,886 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The probe covered by the patent is capable of measuring flow angles in conditions that would normally not be conducive to conventional pressure-based measurement probes, such as flows with wide ranges of speeds or pressures. It is also capable of measuring flow angles of multi-phase flows, such as air and water mixtures.
Operating in a similar manner to a weather vane, the probe is based on a free-rotating shaft with a vane that turns to align itself with the flow direction. A magnet mounted on the base of the shaft and a Hall Sensor are used to measure the orientation of the magnetic field as the shaft rotates, thus measuring the flow angle.
The probe is designed to be used in a range of applications, including fluid processing systems, flow assurance, and turbomachinery design and operational control.
