Spectral oil analyzer

Abstract

We worked out a spectral oil analyzer, implemented the method of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, which allow simultaneous detecting characteristic peaks of water absorption and sulfur-containing substances in oil within the wavelength range from 0.2 to 25.0 μm. The usage of fiber-optic delivering channels makes it possible to produce online industrial probes for the control of chemical composition and concentration, what is demanded at oil producing platforms and oil refinery plants. As identifiers, we used the most intense absorption peaks of water (λ - 1.45 μm, 1.95 μm, 3.00 μm, 6.00 μm), oil (λ - 1.72 μm, 2.31 μm, 3.41 μm) and sulfur-containing heterocycles (λ - 8.00 μm). The spectral analyzer consists of a broadband-light source, a flow-cell, a fiber-optic assembly, narrow-band optical filters and photodetectors. For delivering a broadband optical signal, a fiber-optic assembly was developed. It comprises silica fibers and polycrystalline fibers derived from solid solutions of silver and thallium (I) halides. It was calculated the effective area and diameter of each fiber type in the assembly, taking into account attenuation coefficients and overall optical losses of the system. Using eight channels for the probe at the same time, we were able to measure the content of water and sulfur-containing substances in oil in concentrations from 0.1 to 100.0 wt %. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.