A Novel Approach to Measuring Separation Process of Oil-Saline Using Differential Electromagnetic Inductive Sensor and FPGA-Based Impedance Analyzer

• Published in: IEEE sensors journal Vol. 18; no. 19; pp. 7980 - 7989
• Main Authors: Shupei Wang, Ruozhou Hou, Salas Avila, Jorge Ricardo, Yang Tao, Wuliang Yin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.10.2018; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Chemical engineering; Coils; Concentric cylinders; differential electromagnetic inductive sensor; Electric contacts; Field programmable gate arrays; FPGA; Impedance; liquid-liquid separation model; Monitoring; Oil-saline separation; Oils; Organic chemistry; Sensitivity; sensitivity distribution; Sensor arrays; Sensor systems; Separation; Separation processes
• ISSN: 1530-437X; 1558-1748
• DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2018.2864786

Liquid-liquid separation is an important process in many chemical engineering applications. The ability to monitor this process, in particular with a non-contact method, is of high value. This paper proposes and implements a novel sensing system adopting a differential electromagnetic inductive sensor and a field-programmable gate array-based impedance analyzer to monitor the separation processes of an oil-in-saline liquid system. The inductive sensor has a concentric cylinder structure with its coils arranged differentially. It is optimized to achieve a homogeneous sensitivity distribution in the sensing region. Electrical models of the oil-saline separation processes are established. Experiments under different oil and saline fractions, different agitation speeds, and durations are conducted to validate the capability of the system.