US 12,270,691 B2
System for measuring the flow rate of liquid in a microfluidic pipe
Adrien Plecis, Bourg-la-Reine (FR); Alexander McMillan, Paris (FR); Guilhem Velve-Casquillas, Paris (FR); and Eric Farin, Fontenay-sous-Bois (FR)
Assigned to ELVESYS, Paris (FR)
Appl. No. 18/689,828
Filed by ELVESYS, Paris (FR)
PCT Filed Jun. 27, 2022, PCT No. PCT/EP2022/067493
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 18, 2024,
PCT Pub. No. WO2023/036482, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 16, 2023.
Claims priority of application No. 2109401 (FR), filed on Sep. 8, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0337515 A1, Oct. 10, 2024
Int. Cl. G01F 1/36 (2006.01); G01F 1/48 (2006.01); G01F 1/88 (2006.01)
CPC G01F 1/48 (2013.01) [G01F 1/363 (2013.01); G01F 1/88 (2013.01)] 8 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A flow rate measurement system in a microfluidic pipe, comprising:
n pressure sensors, with n greater than or equal to 3, arranged in series on the microfluidic pipe to measure a pressure of a liquid through the n pressure sensors, the n pressure sensors being separated from each other by n−1 pipe portions of the microfluidic pipe, each pipe portion having a calibrated hydraulic resistance Rhi, respectively, each pressure sensor measures the pressure of the liquid through said each pressure sensor, a pressure sensor is arranged respectively at the two ends of said each pipe portion of the microfluidic pipe configured in series to measure pressure variations ΔPi between two pressure sensors at both ends of an i-th portion of the microfluidic pipe; and
a processor-based computer specially configured to:
measure pressure variations or pressure losses between two successive pressure sensors;
calculate an apparent liquid flow rate Di in said each pipe portion according to the following relationship:

OG Complex Work Unit Math
calculate a proportional difference ΔDk,j in the apparent liquid flow rates between two pipe portions according to the following relationship:

OG Complex Work Unit Math
comparing the proportional difference in the apparent liquid flow rates between any two pipe portions to a threshold value; and
wherein the processor-based computer further comprises a blockage detector configured to generate an alert signal when the proportional difference in the apparent liquid flow rates between any two pipe portions is greater than a threshold value, the alert signal indicating at least one of a partial blockage and a clogging of the microfluidic pipe.