Oil content sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10591441-B2
Application number	US-201916416564-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2019
Priority date	May 31, 2018
Publication date	Mar 17, 2020
Grant date	Mar 17, 2020

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring oil/water content in oil-water mixtures, regardless of the salinity of the mixture and regardless of air in the sensor pipe. In some embodiments, the oil content is measured using a dielectric sensor. It is determined whether the oil content is above or below a threshold. If the oil content is above the threshold, the oil content is reported using the measurement from the dielectric sensor. If the oil content is below the threshold, the oil content is reported using the measurement from the eddy current sensor. In some embodiments, which improve performance when there is air in the sensor pipe, two dielectric sensors with different geometries are used instead of the one dielectric sensor.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for measuring oil content of a fluid, comprising:
a pipe having a cavity configured to hold air, oil, and water;
a first dielectric sensor, comprising:
a first side electrode on a first side of the pipe; and
a second side electrode on a second side of the pipe, wherein the first side of the pipe is opposite the second side of the pipe; and

a second dielectric sensor, comprising:
a top electrode on a top of the pipe; and
a bottom electrode on a bottom of the pipe.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
an inner surface of the top of the pipe is in contact with the air;
an inner surface of the bottom of the pipe is in contact with the water;
an inner surface of the first side of the pipe is in contact with all of the air, the oil and the water; and
an inner surface of the second side of the pipe is in contact with all of the air, the oil and the water.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an eddy current sensor, comprising:
a resonance circuit formed by a capacitor, and an inductor configured to produce a magnetic field within the cavity; and
a SWR analyzer configured to measure a height of a peak of a resonance frequency of the resonance circuit.

4. The system of claim 3 , further comprising one or more processors configured to:
determine if the oil content is above or below a threshold;
if the oil content is above the threshold, determine the oil content using the first and second dielectric sensors; and
if the oil content is below the threshold, determine the oil content using the eddy current sensor.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more processors configured to:
approximate a water fraction w in the pipe according to the equation:
w=+a 1 +a 2 f 1 +a 3 f 1 2

wherein a 1 , a 2 , a 3 are constant parameters, and f 1 is a frequency measured by the first dielectric sensor.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
approximate an oil o fraction in the pipe using the equation:
o=b 1 +b 2 w+b 3 f 2 +b 4 wf 2 +b 5 w 2 +b 6 f 2 2 +b 7 f 2 3

wherein b 1 , b 2 , b 3 , b 4 , b 5 , b 6 , b 7 are adjustable parameters, and f 2 is a frequency measured by the second dielectric sensor.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more processors configured to:
approximate a water fraction in the pipe using the first dielectric sensor comprising the first and second side electrodes.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to approximate an oil fraction in the pipe using: (i) the approximated water fraction in the pipe, and (ii) the second dielectric sensor comprising the top and bottom electrodes.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a display configured to display the approximated oil fraction in liquid (OF) as determined by the expression:

OF
=

o

o
+
w

where o is the oil volume fraction inside of the pipe and w is the water fraction in the pipe.

10. A method for measuring oil content of a fluid, comprising:
with a first dielectric sensor, measuring a first frequency of the fluid in a pipe, wherein the first dielectric sensor comprises:
a first electrode on a first side of the pipe; and
a second electrode on a second side of the pipe, wherein the first side of the pipe is opposite the second side of the pipe; and

with a second dielectric sensor, measuring a second frequency the fluid, wherein the second dielectric sensor comprises:
a first electrode on a top of the pipe; and
a second electrode on a bottom of the pipe.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
an inner surface of the top of the pipe is in contact with air;
an inner surface of the bottom of the pipe is in contact with water;
an inner surface of the first side of the pipe is in contact with all of the air, oil and the water; and
an inner surface of the second side of the pipe is in contact with all of the air, the oil and the water.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising using the first frequency to approximate a water fraction in the pipe.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising approximating an oil fraction in the pipe using (i) the approximated water fraction, and (ii) the second frequency.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising displaying the approximated oil fraction on a display.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising horizontally orienting a portion of the pipe at which the first and second dielectric sensors are disposed.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising flowing the fluid through the pipe during the measuring of the first and second frequencies.

17. A nontransitory storage medium storing instructions readable and executable by a processor to perform a method for determining oil content of a fluid in a pipe, the method comprising:
determining a water fraction of the fluid in the pipe using a capacitance value measured horizontally across the pipe; and
determining an oil fraction of fluid in the pipe using a capacitance value measured vertically across the pipe and further using the determined water fraction.

18. The nontransitory storage medium of claim 17 , wherein:
the water fraction is determined using a frequency measured by a first Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) analyzer operatively connected horizontally across the pipe; and
the oil fraction is determined using a frequency measured by a second SWR analyzer operatively connected vertically across the pipe.

19. The nontransitory storage medium of claim 17 , wherein:
the water fraction is determined using an empirical look-up table or empirical calibration function receiving the capacitance value measured horizontally across the pipe; and
the oil fraction is determined using an empirical look-up table or empirical calibration function receiving the capacitance value measured vertically across the pipe and further receiving the determined water fraction.

20. The nontransitory storage medium of claim 17 , wherein:
the oil fraction is determined using an empirical calibration function receiving the capacitance value measured vertically across the pipe and further receiving the determined water fraction.

21. A system for measuring oil content of a fluid, comprising:
at least one processor;
and at least one memory including computer program code;
the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the system at least to:
with a first dielectric sensor, measure a first frequency of the fluid in a pipe, wherein the first dielectric sensor comprises:
a first electrode on a first side of the pipe; and
a second electrode on a second side of the pipe, wherein the first side of the pipe is opposite the second side of the pipe; and

with a second dielectric sensor, measure a second frequency the fluid, wherein the second dielectric sensor comprises:
a first electrode on a top of the pipe; and
a second electrode on a bottom of the pipe.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein:
an inner surface of the top of the pipe is in contact with air;
an inner surface of the bottom o

Assignees

• Battelle Memorial Institute

Inventors

• Winecki Slawomir
• Davis Iii Richard J
• Melnik Martin V

Classifications

• G01R27/06

  Measuring reflection coefficients; Measuring standing-wave ratio · CPC title

• G01F23/263

  by measuring variations in capacitance of capacitors · CPC title

• G01F1/74

  Devices for measuring flow of a fluid or flow of a fluent solid material in suspension in another fluid · CPC title

• G01N27/74

  of fluids (G01N24/00 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01R27/2617

  Measuring dielectric properties, e.g. constants (testing dielectric strength G01R31/12; detecting insulation faults G01R31/52; G01R27/2688 takes precedence) · CPC title