JPS624663B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field] The present invention relates to a liquid flow rate measuring device, and particularly to a liquid flow rate measuring device suitable for measuring the flow rate of underground water or the like that exhibits minute movements.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, propeller-type current meters,
Alternatively, there are flow measurement devices that use radioactive substances such as radioisotopes. Among these, it is extremely difficult to measure minute flows of less than 2 [cm] per second with propeller-type current meters, and with measuring devices that use radioactive materials, it is not only dangerous to handle them, but also However, there were drawbacks such as the equipment being extremely expensive.

An apparatus that improves these drawbacks of the prior art and is capable of measuring minute flows satisfactorily has been developed as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 154670/1983. The outline of this measuring device will be explained based on FIGS. 1 and 2. First, as shown in FIG.
The container 9 from which 5 protrudes is filled with electrolyte 11, and the entire apparatus is placed at a position where flow measurement is to be performed. Next, as shown in FIG. 1b, when the sleeve 6 constituting the side wall of the container 9 is pulled up, groundwater flows into the container 9 at a speed proportional to the flow of groundwater, as indicated by the arrow 10 in the figure. becomes. Focusing on the changes in the resistance values R ₁₃ and _{R 35} between electrodes 1 and ₃ and between electrodes 3 and 5 described above, in the state shown in FIG. However, in the state shown in FIG. 1b, substitution and dilution of the electrolytic solution 11 by the groundwater 10 progresses between the electrodes 1 and 3, and the resistance value R ₁₃
increases. On the other hand, the resistance value _R35 does not change at all in the state shown in FIG. 1b. Therefore, the resistance value R ₁₃
If either R 35 or R ₃₅ changes first, that direction becomes the inflow direction of the groundwater 10, and the flow direction can thereby be measured. In addition, Figure 1c
As shown in Figure 1, the resistance value increases due to the inflow of groundwater10.
R ₃₅ will also increase in time.

Actually, as shown in FIG. 2, the electrodes 1A, 1B,
5A and 5B are provided so that the flow direction can be measured even if groundwater flows in from either direction. In addition, the flow velocity can be determined by measuring the time when the sleeve 6 is pulled up and the time when the groundwater 10 flows in and reaches the electrode 3 and the resistance value R ₁₃ becomes maximum. The time taken to move from the sleeve 6 to the electrode 3 is determined, and then the distance between the sleeve 6 and the electrode 3 is determined, and calculation can be made from both of these values.

On the other hand, groundwater 10 reaches the electrode 1 and the resistance value
It is also possible to measure the time when R ₁₃ starts to increase and the time when the groundwater 10 reaches the electrode 5 and the resistance value R ₃₅ reaches its maximum, and calculate from this and the distance between the electrodes 1 and 5. . In reality, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of electrodes 1A and 1B are provided as the electrode 1, and a plurality of electrodes 5A and 5B are provided as the electrode 5, thereby improving measurement accuracy. There is.

[Problems with conventional technology]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, once the measurement is performed, all of the electrolyte in the container 9 flows out, so when measuring again, for example, when measuring the flow rate of underground water, the entire device must be bored. It is necessary to lift the sleeve from the hole and fill the electrolyte in the container 9, which not only makes it impossible to perform continuous measurements, but also may disturb the flow of groundwater, etc. depending on how the sleeve is pulled up. An inconvenience occurred.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention improves the drawbacks of the above-mentioned prior art, and provides a durable device that, once installed, can repeatedly and continuously measure the flow velocity and flow direction of liquid without disturbing the flow of groundwater. The object is to provide a liquid flow rate measuring device.

[Means for solving problems]

Therefore, in the present invention, in a liquid flow rate measuring device comprising an ion generating means supported by a support member and a sensor electrode that detects the ion flow from the ion generating means and outputs a predetermined flow rate signal, A support member is equipped with a plurality of sensor electrodes in a ring shape, and a water-permeable ion generating electrode is arranged concentrically on the outside of each sensor electrode, and each sensor electrode is constituted by a pair of rod-shaped electrode members, Each of the rod-shaped electrode members is arranged along the radial direction of the concentric circles, and the support member is equipped with an alternating current electric field applying means for applying an alternating current electric field in the radial direction to each of the pair of rod-shaped electrode members. The purpose of the present invention is to achieve the above object by adopting a configuration.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of actual measurement using the liquid flow rate measuring device according to the present invention. In this figure, first, a boring hole 30 is provided in the ground E that requires measurement, and a measuring head (hereinafter referred to as
(referred to as a "sonde") 40 is lowered. At this time, the direction of the sonde 40 is designated by a compass (not shown) built into the sonde 40, and based on this, the sonde 40 moves toward the borehole 30.
It is placed and fixed inside. Ground E is marked with arrow F in the diagram.
There is a flow of groundwater as indicated by the symbol "▽", and as a result, groundwater W gushes out below the borehole 30 (indicated by the symbol "▽"), and the sonde 40 is immersed in this groundwater W. There is. A transmission/reception cable 41 is connected to the sonde 40, so that information regarding the flow of underground water detected by the sonde 40 is transmitted to the outside. Furthermore, a control device as shown in FIG. 6 is connected to the cable 41 externally, so that fluid flow can be measured or recorded.

FIG. 4 specifically shows the configuration of the sonde 40 described above. In FIG. 4, a head 43 is provided at the tip of the support member 42. As shown in FIG. The head 43 includes a tapered portion 44A in which the periphery of the lower end of the support member 42 is cut into an inverted conical shape, and a sensor electrode support portion 44B formed in a cylindrical shape. ing. Further, this head 43 is made of an insulator, and is designed to provide good electrical insulation between each electrode, which will be described later. The sensor electrode support portion 44B and the tapered portion 44A are arranged concentrically, and the inside of the tapered portion 44A is hollow so that wiring for electrodes and the like, which will be described later, can be carried out.

On the outer periphery of the tapered portion 44A, one ion generation voltage electrode 47 is attached in a ring shape as shown in the figure. Inside this one ion generation voltage electrode 47, the other ion generation voltage electrode 48, which is cylindrical and has water permeability, is provided. The other ion generation voltage electrode 48 is actually extended downward to surround the sensor electrode support part 44B, as shown in FIG. It's summery.

As shown in FIG. 5, the sensor electrode support portion 44B is provided with alternating current electric field applying means consisting of a first electrode 50 and a second electrode 51 exposed in an annular shape on its lower end surface.

Among them, the second electrode 51 is connected to the sensor electrode support part 44
A first electrode 50 is formed in a large ring shape and is installed concentrically with the second electrode 51. A pair of rod-shaped electrode members 49A, 4 protruding downward between the first electrode 50 and the second electrode 51 is provided.
A plurality of sensor electrodes 49 made of 9B are provided.

To explain this in more detail, the sensor electrodes 49 are provided radially and at equal intervals at twelve locations, as shown in FIG. 5, so as to surround the aforementioned second electrode 51. And each of these sensor electrodes 49,
Rod-shaped electrode members 49A, 49 constituting 49, .
B represents one rod-shaped electrode member 49A, 49, respectively.
A, . . . are located outside and are installed on the same circumference, and the other rod-shaped electrode members 49B, 49B, .
... are located on the inside and are each equipped on the same circumference. Each of the sensor electrodes 49, the first electrode 50, and the second electrode 51 is connected to a control device (see FIG. 6), which will be described later, through the support portion 42 and the tapered portion 44A. There is.

The lower end of the other ion generating voltage electrode 48 in FIG. 4 is supported by a bottom plate 46. As shown in FIG. This bottom plate 46 is supported by the support portion 42 by a plurality of support columns 45 . Note that in FIG. 4, a part of the configuration is omitted for the sake of explanation.

Next, an example of the configuration of a control device that electrically drives and controls the aforementioned sonde 40, performs measurements and records the results will be described with reference to FIG.

This control device includes an amplification section 61 that amplifies the signal from the sensor electrode 49 described above, a peak detection section 62 that detects a peak from this output, and a control section 6 that drives a display device 65 according to the detected peak.
3 are connected in series,
In addition, a recorder section 64 for recording the output of the amplifying section 61, a pulse generating section 66 and a timer 67 for sending ion generation pulses to the one and the other ion generation voltage electrodes 47 and 48 described above are provided. It is being

Among these, the control section 63 is reset in response to the pulse outputted by the pulse generation section 66, and also resets the sensor electrode 49 whose peak has been detected as soon as possible after the output of this pulse signal.
A display device 6 corresponding to the signal received from the
It has a function of lighting up one of the plurality of indicator lights 65P on the display panel 5. Further, the timer 67 similarly has a function of being reset and started in response to a pulse outputted by the pulse generation section 66, and stopped in response to an output from the control section 63 described above. There is. Here, the amplifying section 61 is built in the aforementioned supporting section 42 (see FIG. 4).

Next, a specific measurement method and overall operation will be explained with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 shows the conditions in which measurements were actually carried out sequentially over time, and an AC voltage is applied between the first electrode 50 and the second electrode 51 by the power supply 60. .

Therefore, when the conductivity of each sensor electrode 49 portion is constant, each sensor electrode 49 is in an atmosphere of an alternating electric field output from the alternating electric field applying means.
Each of the rod-shaped electrode members 49A and 49B, numbered 9, is adapted to constantly detect and output an alternating voltage signal of a constant level generated between them.

On the other hand, due to the influence of the ion flow described later, polarization occurs in the rod-shaped electrode members 49A and 49B, and due to impedance changes caused by this, for example, the flow of DC current between the rod-shaped electrodes is inhibited. occurs. However, even in this case, due to the action of the alternating electric field, the sensor electrode 49 is not affected by the occurrence of such a situation.
It has become possible to effectively understand ion flow as a change in conductivity.

First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the pulse generator 66
Each ion generation voltage electrode 4 on the other hand depending on the
When a pulse is applied between 7 and 48, positive ions (H ⁺ etc.) P are applied to the other ion generation voltage electrode 48 which is on the negative side, and the other ion generation voltage electrode 47 which is on the positive side Negative ions (OH ^-, etc.), Q, etc. are generated respectively. At this time, depending on the voltage of the pulse, electrolysis or the like is also performed, and bubbles R are also generated. Further, among the control devices described above, the control section 63 enters a state of waiting for peak output, and the timer 67 is reset and starts operating.

Next, in the state shown in FIG. 7B, the above-mentioned negative ions Q move away from the sensor electrode support part 44B along with the bubbles R by the tapered part 44A.
The layer of positive ions P moves toward the center of the head portion 44B by the flow of underground water indicated by the arrow F in the figure, and begins to reach one of the rod-shaped electrode members 49A constituting the sensor electrode. Therefore, the electrical conductivity between the one rod-shaped electrode member 49A and the other rod-shaped electrode member 49B begins to increase. Therefore, the rod-shaped electrode member 49 serves as a sensor electrode in an alternating electric field.
The conductivity between A and 49B increases, causing a potential drop. Figure 8 shows this voltage change.
The state in FIG. 7B corresponds to time _T1 .

Next, in the state shown in FIG. 7C after further time has elapsed, the mutual conductivity between the rod-shaped electrode members 49A and 49B increases, and the voltage decreases to the state shown at time _T2 in FIG. 8. Since the voltage at this time T ₂ has just reached its peak, the peak detection section 62 (see FIG. 6) detects this and sends a signal to the control section 63. In response to this signal, the control unit 63 controls a plurality of indicator lights 65 provided on the display device 65.
Among the electrodes P, the one corresponding to the detection electrode 49 at the position where the peak is detected is turned on. To be more specific, as described above, a plurality of sensor electrodes 49 are provided in the above direction, and the above-mentioned operation is performed for each pair of rod-shaped electrode members 49A and 49B, and A change in voltage as shown in FIG. 8 will be detected. However, these voltage changes occur due to the flow of underground water, and are detected with a time lag.
The aforementioned detection section 62 detects a peak for each of the sensor electrodes 49 and sends a signal to the control section 63, but as described above, the first of these, in other words, the peak in the direction in which groundwater flows When a signal is input from the peak detection section 62 corresponding to the peak of voltage change detected by the sensor electrode 49 located, the control section 63 controls the control section 63 to control the signal corresponding to the sensor electrode 49 where the peak is detected. After that, even if a signal is sent from the peak detection section 62, no lighting operation is performed and the state is maintained as it is. Through the above operations, the flow direction will be measured.

Next, at this time _T2 , the layer of positive ions P is formed on each of the one and other rod-shaped electrode members 49.
A, 49B, the time from the end of the ion generation pulse application to time _T2 and the other ion generation voltage electrode 48
The flow velocity can be determined from the distance between the point and the midpoint of the sensor electrode 49. In detail, time T ₂
As described above, the control section 63 issues a signal, which causes the timer 67, which has been operating since the end of the ion generation pulse application, to stop, and the time from the end of the pulse application to the time _T2 to stop. It will be measured and displayed by the timer 67. Further, since the distance from the ion generation voltage electrode 48 to the midpoint of the sensor electrode 49 is predetermined, the flow rate of groundwater can be easily calculated from the display of the timer 67.

As time passes further, the layer of positive ions P moves further to the right as shown in FIG. The detection potential between 49A and 49B is shown in Figure 8.
It rises again as shown at T ₃ .

Here, impurities etc. may be washed away by the flow of groundwater during the above operation, but as shown in Fig. 7D
Regarding relatively large particulate matter S as shown in
Movement in the direction of the sensor electrode 49 is prevented by the other ion generation voltage electrode 48, allowing good measurement. In addition, there is a shielding effect by the other ion generation voltage electrode 48,
This makes it possible to perform measurements without being affected by external noise such as earth currents.

The voltage changes that occur in each of the plurality of sensor electrodes 49 during the above operation, for example as shown in FIG. 8, are recorded by the recorder section 64.

In the above embodiment, the case where positive ions are used has been described, but the purpose can be similarly achieved using negative ions. Also,
The voltage magnitude, width, etc. of the pulse for forming the ion layer may be changed depending on the state of the fluid to be measured. Furthermore, in measuring the flow velocity in the above example, the time was measured from the end of pulse application, but in cases where the movement of the fluid is very slow, the time may be measured from the start of pulse application. You can do it like this.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention is configured and functions as described above,
According to this, it is possible to safely generate an ion flow within the measurement area without using radiation.
This makes it possible to repeatedly measure the flow velocity without causing turbulence in the measurement area. Since cylindrical ion generating electrodes with sufficient water permeability are arranged concentrically, the flow of the liquid can be detected very easily by the ions in all directions within the horizontal plane, and therefore the flow direction and direction of the liquid can be detected very easily. It becomes possible to detect the flow velocity simultaneously and with high precision, and by adopting a configuration in which the sensor electrode is composed of a pair of rod-shaped electrode members and an alternating electric field is applied to each of the pair of rod-shaped electrode members, It is possible to almost completely eliminate the inconvenience of a decrease in sensitivity of the sensor electrode when detecting a signal due to polarization, etc. occurring on the outer surface of each rod-shaped electrode member, and in this respect, measurement accuracy decreases over time. It is possible to provide an unprecedented and excellent fluid flow rate measuring device that does not cause any problems.

Although the present invention is particularly effective in measuring minute flows such as groundwater, it is also effective in measuring general fluids.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the operating principle of a flow measuring device for underground water etc. using electrolyte, Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view showing the cross-sectional shape of the measuring device in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a diagram according to the present invention. An explanatory diagram showing a state in which measurement is performed using a liquid flow rate measuring device, Figure 4 is an enlarged front view of the flow rate measuring device in Figure 3, and Figure 5 is a diagram showing the line shown in Figure 4. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control device used for measurement; FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the operating principle of the liquid flow rate measuring device according to the present invention; FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of measurement results. 42...Supporting member, 47...One voltage electrode for ion generation, 48...The other voltage electrode for ion generation, 49...Sensor electrode, 49A, 49B...A pair of rod-shaped electrode members constituting the sensor electrode, 50,
51... Electrode constituting AC electric field applying means, F...
...groundwater flow as the fluid to be measured, P...positive ions as an ion layer, Q...negative ions as an ion layer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A liquid flow rate measuring device comprising an ion generating means supported by a support member and a sensor electrode that detects the ion flow from the ion generating means and outputs a predetermined flow rate signal, A plurality of the sensor electrodes are arranged in a ring shape on a supporting member, and a water-permeable ion generating electrode is arranged concentrically outside each sensor electrode, and each sensor electrode is constituted by a pair of rod-shaped electrode members. , each of the rod-shaped electrode members is arranged along the radial direction of the concentric circles, and an alternating current electric field applying means for applying an alternating current electric field in the radial direction to each of the pair of rod-shaped electrode members,
A fluid flow rate measuring device, characterized in that the support member is equipped with the fluid flow rate measuring device.