Concentration Monitoring of Highly-Diluted Crude Oil-In-Water Emulsions by Ultrasonic Backscattering Sensors

This work deals with the feasibility of ultrasonic monitoring of the crude oil content in highly diluted crude oil-in-water emulsions, common mixtures obtained in the coalescence process of the petroleum industry. The measurement principle is the determination of the time of flight using the reflect...

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Main Authors: Carlos A. B. Reyna, Ediguer E. Franco, Santiago Laín, Timoteo F. de Oliveira, Marcos S. G. Tsuzuki, Flávio Buiochi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Fluids
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/10/5/108
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author Carlos A. B. Reyna
Ediguer E. Franco
Santiago Laín
Timoteo F. de Oliveira
Marcos S. G. Tsuzuki
Flávio Buiochi
author_facet Carlos A. B. Reyna
Ediguer E. Franco
Santiago Laín
Timoteo F. de Oliveira
Marcos S. G. Tsuzuki
Flávio Buiochi
author_sort Carlos A. B. Reyna
collection DOAJ
description This work deals with the feasibility of ultrasonic monitoring of the crude oil content in highly diluted crude oil-in-water emulsions, common mixtures obtained in the coalescence process of the petroleum industry. The measurement principle is the determination of the time of flight using the reflected pulses from a set of scatterers located in the near field of commercial transducers of 5 and 10 MHz. Dispersers consist of two rows of metal wires tensioned in front of the transducer using a specially designed mechanical part. The resulting assembly is a probe that can be introduced into a tank or pipe to perform the measurement. Experiments with crude oil-in-water emulsions with concentrations from 10 to 2000 ppm (parts per million) at a temperature of 20 °C were carried out. The results show that the small changes in the propagation velocity resulting from changes in concentration and temperature can be detected by the developed ultrasonic sensor. This opens up the possibility of determining the oil content in the emulsion by means of a calibration approach. The main motivation is the development of techniques for real-time monitoring of crude oil content in the wastewater produced in the petroleum industry.
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-42cdd15ea95a46f488ebdd7f5b7591132025-08-20T03:47:58ZengMDPI AGFluids2311-55212025-04-0110510810.3390/fluids10050108Concentration Monitoring of Highly-Diluted Crude Oil-In-Water Emulsions by Ultrasonic Backscattering SensorsCarlos A. B. Reyna0Ediguer E. Franco1Santiago Laín2Timoteo F. de Oliveira3Marcos S. G. Tsuzuki4Flávio Buiochi5Department of Mechatronics and Mechanical Systems Engineering, Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-030, BrazilEngineering Faculty, Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Cali 760030, ColombiaEngineering Faculty, Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Cali 760030, ColombiaDepartment of Mechatronics and Mechanical Systems Engineering, Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-030, BrazilDepartment of Mechatronics and Mechanical Systems Engineering, Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-030, BrazilDepartment of Mechatronics and Mechanical Systems Engineering, Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-030, BrazilThis work deals with the feasibility of ultrasonic monitoring of the crude oil content in highly diluted crude oil-in-water emulsions, common mixtures obtained in the coalescence process of the petroleum industry. The measurement principle is the determination of the time of flight using the reflected pulses from a set of scatterers located in the near field of commercial transducers of 5 and 10 MHz. Dispersers consist of two rows of metal wires tensioned in front of the transducer using a specially designed mechanical part. The resulting assembly is a probe that can be introduced into a tank or pipe to perform the measurement. Experiments with crude oil-in-water emulsions with concentrations from 10 to 2000 ppm (parts per million) at a temperature of 20 °C were carried out. The results show that the small changes in the propagation velocity resulting from changes in concentration and temperature can be detected by the developed ultrasonic sensor. This opens up the possibility of determining the oil content in the emulsion by means of a calibration approach. The main motivation is the development of techniques for real-time monitoring of crude oil content in the wastewater produced in the petroleum industry.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/10/5/108ultrasonic transducerbackscatteringcrude oil-in-water microemulsionconcentration
spellingShingle Carlos A. B. Reyna
Ediguer E. Franco
Santiago Laín
Timoteo F. de Oliveira
Marcos S. G. Tsuzuki
Flávio Buiochi
Concentration Monitoring of Highly-Diluted Crude Oil-In-Water Emulsions by Ultrasonic Backscattering Sensors
Fluids
ultrasonic transducer
backscattering
crude oil-in-water microemulsion
concentration
title Concentration Monitoring of Highly-Diluted Crude Oil-In-Water Emulsions by Ultrasonic Backscattering Sensors
title_full Concentration Monitoring of Highly-Diluted Crude Oil-In-Water Emulsions by Ultrasonic Backscattering Sensors
title_fullStr Concentration Monitoring of Highly-Diluted Crude Oil-In-Water Emulsions by Ultrasonic Backscattering Sensors
title_full_unstemmed Concentration Monitoring of Highly-Diluted Crude Oil-In-Water Emulsions by Ultrasonic Backscattering Sensors
title_short Concentration Monitoring of Highly-Diluted Crude Oil-In-Water Emulsions by Ultrasonic Backscattering Sensors
title_sort concentration monitoring of highly diluted crude oil in water emulsions by ultrasonic backscattering sensors
topic ultrasonic transducer
backscattering
crude oil-in-water microemulsion
concentration
url https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/10/5/108
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