Real-time implementation of Kalman filter for unsteady flow measurement in a pipe

Abstract

A Kalman filter which estimates unsteady laminar flow in a pipe is implemented on a real-time computing system. The plant model is the optimised finite element model of pipeline dynamics considering unsteady laminar friction. A steady-state Kalman filter is built based on the model of pipeline dynamics. Pressure signals at both ends of a target section of a pipe are input to the model of pipeline dynamics, and as an output of the model an estimated pressure signal at a mid-point of the pipe is obtained. Difference between measured and estimated pressure signals at the mid-point is fed back to the model of pipeline dynamics to modify state variables of the model. According to the Kalman filter principle, the state variables of the model are adjusted so that they converge to real values. It is demonstrated that real-time implementation of the Kalman filter is possible with the sampling time of 0.1 ms.