Glenn L Kauffman

US Patent:

54718678, Dec 5, 1995

Filed:

Dec 27, 1993

Appl. No.:

8/173826

Inventors:

John E. Tuma - Cypress TX
Glenn A. Kauffman - Pasadena TX
Barry N. Williams - Rosharan TX

Assignee:

Tanknology Corporation International - Houston TX

International Classification:

G01M 326

US Classification:

73 492

Abstract:

A system for inventory reconciliation and leak detection of particular utility in liquid storage tanks such as the terminal facilities that are used for the storage and distribution of gasoline. The system has the ability to monitor the inventory of several different liquid products on hand at such a facility, account for product deliveries and product dispensations (e. g. , to tank trucks which deliver the product from the terminal facility to a gasoline service station), and to continually check the volume of each product dispensed against the inventory on hand so as to provide a real-time system for detecting leaks from the tanks containing each product, losses due to evaporation, volume discrepancies from flow meters which are out of calibration, and other irregularities. The system is non-volumetric in that it operates by measuring the differential pressure in the liquids contained in each storage tank, converting pressure to volume and correlating any change in the volume of inventory of each product to the amount of liquid delivered and/or dispensed, and includes corrections for the effect of temperature on the volume measured by the in-line flow meter, or totalizer, for each product.

US Patent:

44397305, Mar 27, 1984

Filed:

May 8, 1981

Appl. No.:

6/261918

Inventors:

Glenn A. Kauffman - Pasadena TX

Assignee:

AMF Inc. - White Plains NY

International Classification:

G01N 2772
G01R 3312
G09F 930

US Classification:

324232

Abstract:

Method and apparatus for nondestructively testing each incremental area of a ferromagnetic sample by first passing a steady magnetic flux field through an area in a first direction and producing an inspection signal in response thereto, and then passing a steady magnetic flux field through the same area in an orthogonal direction and producing a second inspection signal in response thereto. The magnitudes of the two inspection signals corresponding to a given incremental area are added to produce a composite signal whose magnitude is the sum of the two signals. The composite signal associated with a given incremental region is displayed on a visual presentation means at a location corresponding to the location of the incremental region on the ferromagnetic sample and with an indicia, such as color, that is a function of the magnitude of the respective composite signal.

US Patent:

53478495, Sep 20, 1994

Filed:

Jul 22, 1992

Appl. No.:

7/918559

Inventors:

Mahan L. Reeme - Houston TX
Barry N. Williams - Rosharon TX
Glenn A. Kauffman - Pasadena TX

Assignee:

Tanknology Corporation International - Houston TX

International Classification:

G01F 2330
G01F 2364
G01M 332

US Classification:

73 492

Abstract:

The apparatus of the invention is a water level probe comprised of a probe body, a sleeve having openings permitting fluid flow and encasing part of a magnetostrictive sensor, and an external housing encasing electronic circuitry for processing and transmitting the electric signal generated by the magnetostrictive sensor and sealing the circuitry from fluids. The sensor comprises a float slidably mounted on a rod, the float designed to float in water but sink in a petroleum product, thereby ensuring that it will float at the interface between the water and the product. The water level probe is used in the method of the invention to measure the depth of the water in a vessel storing hydrocarbon product at predetermined time intervals. The longitudinal angle of inclination of the vessel with respect of the horizon having previously been determined, the volume of water in the vessel is calculated from the depth measurements. The rate of hydrocarbon leakage is then determined from the calculated volumes to ascertain the rate of change of water volume over time.