Nuclear magnetic resonance temperature equilibration and method for oil in wax determination

• Main Authors: MARTIN, JR.; JAMES M, COE; RICHARD H, HEATON; ROY C
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 19.10.1976
• Subjects: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIRCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; MEASURING; MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES; PHYSICS; TESTING

An apparatus for rapidly conditioning wax samples and a method for determining the oil content of said samples with a nuclear magnetic resonance analyzer are described. A molten wax sample is collected in a sample holder. The holder is then placed in a temperature equilibration chamber where the molten wax is rapidly cooled at a temperature of about 25-33 DEG F with a cold gas stream from a vortex tube. The sample is then heated to a pre-selected equilibration temperature for a preset time at which point the sample is removed from the equilibration chamber. The sample is placed in the analyzer where the nuclear magnetic resonance value of the sample is determined. The sample is removed from the analyzer and weighed. Finally the oil content of the wax sample is obtained from a previously developed correlation between the oil content and the nuclear magnetic resonance value of various wax samples.