	US 12,072,247 B2
	Thermocouple structure
Yunbo Liu, Beijing (CN); Michael Tier, Pearland, TX (US); Scott Coots, League City, TX (US); Robert Torgerson, Houston, TX (US); Robert Francis Poteet, Houston, TX (US); and Song Zhang, Jiangsu (CN)
Assigned to Wika Alexander Wiegand SE & Co. KG, Klingenberg/Main (DE); and Wika Instrumentation Suzhou Co., Ltd., Jiangsu (CN)
Appl. No. 17/286,756
Filed by WIKA Alexander Wiegand SE & Co. KG, Klingenberg (DE); and WIKA Instrumentation Suzhou Co., Ltd., Jiangsu (CN)
PCT Filed Jun. 6, 2019, PCT No. PCT/CN2019/090384 § 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 19, 2021, PCT Pub. No. WO2020/007162, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 9, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 201821053818.X (CN), filed on Jul. 4, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0389188 A1, Dec. 16, 2021
Int. Cl. G01K 7/02 (2021.01); G01K 1/024 (2021.01); G01K 1/14 (2021.01)

CPC G01K 7/02 (2013.01) [G01K 1/024 (2013.01); G01K 1/14 (2013.01)]

16 Claims

1. A thermocouple sensing structure for measurement of a temperature distribution inside of a vessel filled fully or partially with a multi-phase mixed fluid, the multi-phase mixed fluid comprising residue oil, hydrogen, cracked oil/gas products, sulfur, catalyst particles or catalyst droplets, wherein the thermocouple sensing structure comprises:

a support structure; and

a number of thermocouple sensing elements,

wherein the vessel contains one or more levels of support structures,

wherein the thermocouple sensing elements each have a measuring point at a closed tip which is fixed inside the vessel by at least one of the support structures,

wherein each thermocouple sensing element together with other thermocouple sensing elements pass through a sealed port into the vessel,

wherein a connecting end of each thermocouple sensing element is electrically connected outside of the vessel to a process control system,

wherein each one of the thermocouple sensing elements is partially or fully covered by at least one of the support structures,

wherein the closed tip of each one of the thermocouple sensing elements is passed through at least one of the support structures to the inside of the vessel,

wherein at least one of the support structures has a protection portion for covering the thermocouple sensing elements and a support element for distribution of the thermocouple sensing elements,

wherein the closed tip of the thermocouple sensing elements passes through the support structure at a special point within the vessel,

wherein at least one of the support structures is reinforced by one or more additional elements, the one or more additional elements comprising a profile structure element selected from a hollow profile or a T-shaped or a double T-shaped structure element, and

wherein at least one end of the one or more additional elements is fixed to an inner wall of the vessel thereby forming a downward path for the closed tip of the thermocouple sensing elements.