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WO2008067615A1 - Procédé et appareil de contrôle non intrusif de matériaux transportés par des canalisations - Google Patents

Procédé et appareil de contrôle non intrusif de matériaux transportés par des canalisations Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2008067615A1
WO2008067615A1 PCT/AU2007/001894 AU2007001894W WO2008067615A1 WO 2008067615 A1 WO2008067615 A1 WO 2008067615A1 AU 2007001894 W AU2007001894 W AU 2007001894W WO 2008067615 A1 WO2008067615 A1 WO 2008067615A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
pipeline
current
resistivity
interior wall
regions
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/AU2007/001894
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Nenad Djordjevic
Emmy Manlapig
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
University of Queensland UQ
Original Assignee
University of Queensland UQ
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from AU2006906831A external-priority patent/AU2006906831A0/en
Application filed by University of Queensland UQ filed Critical University of Queensland UQ
Publication of WO2008067615A1 publication Critical patent/WO2008067615A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
    • F17D—PIPE-LINE SYSTEMS; PIPE-LINES
    • F17D3/00—Arrangements for supervising or controlling working operations
    • F17D3/01—Arrangements for supervising or controlling working operations for controlling, signalling, or supervising the conveyance of a product
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
    • G01F1/00—Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow
    • G01F1/56—Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow by using electric or magnetic effects
    • G01F1/64—Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow by using electric or magnetic effects by measuring electrical currents passing through the fluid flow; measuring electrical potential generated by the fluid flow, e.g. by electrochemical, contact or friction effects
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
    • G01F1/00—Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow
    • G01F1/704—Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow using marked regions or existing inhomogeneities within the fluid stream, e.g. statistically occurring variations in a fluid parameter
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
    • G01F1/00—Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow
    • G01F1/704—Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow using marked regions or existing inhomogeneities within the fluid stream, e.g. statistically occurring variations in a fluid parameter
    • G01F1/708—Measuring the time taken to traverse a fixed distance
    • G01F1/712—Measuring the time taken to traverse a fixed distance using auto-correlation or cross-correlation detection means

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the non-intrusive monitoring of materials that are transported through a pipeline.
  • the invention relates to a continuous, non-intrusive method for monitoring material passing through a pipeline that involves gauging the resistivity of the material immediately adjacent the inner wall of the pipeline at any moment in time.
  • An apparatus is also proposed for use in such a method.
  • the present invention has particular, but not exclusive application in the monitoring of a pipeline transporting oil sand from a mine to a recovery plant. Reference will generally be made to this application of the invention, but it should be realised that the invention is not so limited and may be equally applicable in other fields where a material is being passed through a pipeline.
  • the present invention has particular application in monitoring of oil sand travelling through a pipeline.
  • Effective oil recovery from oil sand deposits is somewhat dependent on the detection of the grade of the oil sand that is being transported from a mine into an oil recovery plant at any one time.
  • Transport of the oil sand from mine to plant is frequently through pipelines.
  • the material that is transported through the pipeline in this case is in the form of slurry. That is, a mixture of oil sand and water.
  • the slurry generally moves though the pipeline with a velocity of more than 1m/s. Treatment of slurry containing no or a low amount of bitumen will have a negative impact on the overall efficiency of bitumen recovery.
  • bitumen-saturated sand Typical electrical resistivity of bitumen-saturated sand is above 200 ohm-m, sometimes above 500 ohm-m, while that of unwanted materials without bitumen is generally in the range of from 20 to 30 ohm-m or less. Therefore, in the case of piping oil sands, there is a significant contrast in the inherent electrical resistivities of the materials that are transported through the pipelines.
  • a method of monitoring material travelling through a pipeline including gauging the resistivity of the material that is immediately adjacent at least one region of an interior wall of the pipeline.
  • the step of gauging the resistivity of the material may comprise measuring the resistivity of the material. For example this may be accomplished by passing a current over an external surface of the pipeline and obtaining a measure of the extent of current leakage from the pipeline into the material immediately adjacent the region of the interior wall of the pipeline.
  • the method involves gauging resistivity of the material that is immediately adjacent at least one region of the interior wall of the pipeline.
  • the method preferably includes gauging the resistivity of the material that is immediately adjacent a plurality of regions of the interior wall of the pipeline.
  • the method may include obtaining a measure of the extent of current leakage from the pipeline into the material immediately adjacent a plurality of regions of the interior wall of the pipeline.
  • the regions may be positioned adjacent to each other and extending around the circumference of the pipeline, for example extending equidistantly around the circumference of the pipeline. That is, the regions may be positioned in turn as one travels around the circumference of the pipeline.
  • the extent of current leakage is measured in at least three regions of the pipeline. For example, there may be 4-8 regions, or 5-7 regions on the pipeline in respect of which current leakage is measured. It will be appreciated that many more regions may be investigated for current leakage into the material passing through the pipeline.
  • the step of obtaining a measure of the extent of current leakage may comprise measuring the voltage difference between spaced points on the external surface of the pipeline.
  • the step may include measuring the voltage difference between two spaced points in each said region on the pipeline.
  • a measured voltage difference between two points on the pipeline indicates leakage of current into the material immediately adjacent the interior wall of the pipeline in that region.
  • the voltage that is applied causes a current to flow across the pipeline between the two electrodes.
  • the pipeline will generally be made of steel which is highly conductive. Consequently, if there is no current leakage there will be very little drop in voltage across the electrodes.
  • the current leakage into the material immediately adjacent the interior wall of the pipeline is greatest in a given region when low resistivity material, such as bitumen/oil depleted materials, clay rich materials and/or water is in contact with the interior wall of the pipeline.
  • low resistivity material such as bitumen/oil depleted materials, clay rich materials and/or water is in contact with the interior wall of the pipeline.
  • the current leakage into the phase immediately adjacent the interior wall of the pipeline is smallest when air is in contact with the interior wall of the pipeline. Further, the current leakage is at an intermediate level when bitumen or oil rich sand is in contact with the interior wall of the pipeline.
  • the method includes a preliminary step of determining the resistivity of the pipeline wall to provide a map of the resistivity of the pipeline itself. This will be dealt with in more detail below.
  • the current applied to the pipeline is preferably in the range of from 0.1 to 2.0 Amps.
  • the current applied may be direct current, it is more preferred that the current be a low frequency alternating current.
  • the frequency is in the range of from 1 to 5 Hz.
  • High frequency AC may result in skin effect that may limit penetration depth.
  • Direct current is preferably avoided if possible due to electrode polarisation associated with DC measurements.
  • the method may further include sending the measured voltage drops between adjacent electrodes to a processor. If so, the voltage readings are preferably sent to the processor in real time.
  • the electrodes may have means for transmitting the sensed voltage reading to the processor by wireless transmission, for example by telemetry equipment.
  • the step of determining the nature of the material that is in contact with the interior wall of the pipeline at any given time may be carried out using the processor.
  • the processor may be a central processing unit, for example a microprocessor, which may be incorporated in a computer.
  • the step of determining the material that is in contact with a particular region of the interior wall of the pipeline at any given point in time may be carried out by comparing the voltage difference between adjacent electrodes with data in the processor. For example, a nil voltage drop may indicate that air is in contact with the interior wall at that point; a voltage drop of at least 10 to 100 microvolt may indicate that water and/or oil depleted sand is in contact with the interior wall at that point; and a voltage drop of an intermediate amount, say 1 to 10 microvolt may indicate that an oil rich sand is in contact with the interior wall at that point.
  • the method may further include using the processor to build up an image of the material passing through the pipeline based on the determination of what material is in contact with the interior wall of the pipeline in the regions being monitored by the electrodes.
  • the method advantageously enables the effective mapping of the material travelling through the pipeline at any one time. Over a period of time with repeated measurements at regular time intervals the method may include producing an image of the movement of the material within the pipeline in real time.
  • a method of determining the composition of a material travelling through a pipeline including: gauging the resistivities of phases of the material that are immediately adjacent regions of an interior wall of the pipeline; and interpreting the resistivities gauged to determine the phases that are immediately adjacent the regions of the interior wall of the pipeline.
  • Figure 1 illustrates a configuration for measurement of voltage leakage for mapping of the pipeline
  • Figure 2 illustrates a configuration for measurement of voltage leakage for gauging the resistivities of material inside the pipeline
  • Figure 3 illustrates a graph of measured voltages between a set of electrodes
  • Figure 4 illustrates a graph of measured voltages between a set of electrodes under different conditions
  • Figure 5A illustrates a configuration for measurement of voltage leakage for the detection of water in a pipeline
  • Figure 5B illustrates a configuration for measurement of voltage leakage for the detection of water and oil in a pipeline.
  • electrical resistivity of different sections or regions around the perimeter of an empty pipeline 10 may vary. As such, it will generally be advantageous to map the resistivity of the pipeline 10 prior to implementing the method of the invention. This may be achieved by locating a number, for example 3, of potential electrodes at points M, N and M' on the outer surface of the pipeline 10 and passing a current between two current electrodes located at points A and B on the outer surface of the pipeline 10. As the distance between the two points A and B, incorporating points M, N and M', is relatively small, the current will flow from point A through points M, N and M' to point B. From the measured current (I) and voltages (V1, V2), resistivity (or conductance) of the pipeline for each section M to N and N to M' can be calculated from Ohm's law:
  • This procedure may be repeated to map the resistivity of the entire circumference of the pipeline 10. From this, subsequent measurements using the method of the invention may be suitably interpreted.
  • the process may be repeated at desired intervals, generally of weeks or months, to record any changes in the resistivity of the pipeline.
  • the step of gauging resistance of a material within the pipeline 10 includes measuring minute amounts of electrical current that leak from the pipeline wall into the material being transported through the pipeline 10, or includes measuring the consequence of such electrical leakage on the effective resistivity of the selected section of the pipeline 10 and the material in the immediate proximity to the tested part of the pipeline wall.
  • potential electrodes are fixed on the exterior of the pipeline 10, in the form of uniformly spaced array.
  • the spacing between the potential electrodes at points M, N, M' and so on will be in the order of 0.05-0.2Om.
  • Measurements from the potential electrodes at points M, N and M' can be transferred to a central processing or recording unit. Based on the measurements of injected current and recorded voltages from the array of potential electrodes, leakage current that travels into the interior of the pipeline, and therefore effective resistivity of the material in the pipeline alone and the collective resistivity of the material in the pipeline and pipeline wall, can be calculated in real time and correlated with other parameters.
  • the composition of the material in the pipeline and possibly the spatial and temporal variation in the composition of the material being transported through the pipeline, can be determined in real time.
  • Pictorial representation of resistivity distribution within the interior of the pipeline can be obtained by applying a suitable tomography reconstruction algorithm.
  • the method of the invention has been validated through the series of measurements, the results of which are provided in the graphical illustrations in Figures 3 and 4.
  • a DC current with an amplitude of 1.5A was injected into a steel cylinder using two supply electrodes, A and B, located on the outer surface of the cylinder.
  • the cylinder contained an amount of salty water.
  • Potential differences (voltage), between potential electrodes (M, N and M') located on the outside of the cylinder were measured as a function of the level of salty water within the steel cylinder. For each level of water three tests were performed with using different positions for the current electrodes. All measurements were performed with constant current of 1.5A.
  • the measured voltages between the potential electrodes confirmed low resistivity, corresponding to the level of the water within the cylinder, at the position of electrodes 5 and 6.
  • the measured voltages between the potential electrodes confirmed low resistivity at the position of electrodes 5 and 6. This is irrespective of the nature of interior surface of the steel pipe above water level (wet or dry).
  • FIG. 5A there is shown a further configuration for determining the composition of a material travelling through a pipeline.
  • the configuration is used to determine the presence of water in a pipeline.
  • Figure 5B illustrates a similar configuration to Figure 5A for determining the composition of a material travelling through a pipeline.
  • the configuration is used for determining the presence of water and oil in a pipeline.
  • a DC current of 1.5A was injected between a first electrode and a second electrode.
  • the first electrode is depicted as X as shown in both Figure 5A and Figure 5B, where the first electrode X is immersed in a liquid and the second electrode is attached to the exterior of the pipeline at position 1. Voltage was measured with three potential electrodes 2, 3, 4. After each measurement, all of the outside electrodes were stepped down the pipe.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Electrochemistry (AREA)
  • Pipeline Systems (AREA)

Abstract

Procédé de contrôle d'un matériau circulant dans une canalisation, consistant à évaluer la résistivité du matériau immédiatement contigu à une zone au moins d'une paroi intérieure de la canalisation.
PCT/AU2007/001894 2006-12-07 2007-12-07 Procédé et appareil de contrôle non intrusif de matériaux transportés par des canalisations Ceased WO2008067615A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU2006906831A AU2006906831A0 (en) 2006-12-07 Method and apparatus for non-intrusive monitoring of materials transported through pipelines
AU2006906831 2006-12-07

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2008067615A1 true WO2008067615A1 (fr) 2008-06-12

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PCT/AU2007/001894 Ceased WO2008067615A1 (fr) 2006-12-07 2007-12-07 Procédé et appareil de contrôle non intrusif de matériaux transportés par des canalisations

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WO (1) WO2008067615A1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US10698427B2 (en) 2016-10-31 2020-06-30 Ge Oil & Gas Pressure Control Lp System and method for assessing sand flow rate

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5103181A (en) * 1988-10-05 1992-04-07 Den Norske Oljeselskap A. S. Composition monitor and monitoring process using impedance measurements
US5750902A (en) * 1996-02-05 1998-05-12 Elsag International N.V. Magnetoinductive flow meter
US5865971A (en) * 1996-03-22 1999-02-02 Faraday Technology, Inc. Sealing ring with electrochemical sensing electrode
WO2001071327A2 (fr) * 2000-03-22 2001-09-27 Schlumberger Technology B.V. Dispositifs de caracterisation d'un fluide a phases multiples possedant une phase conductrice continue
US20020008522A1 (en) * 1997-06-12 2002-01-24 Erhard Schnell Detector for the measurement of electrolytic conductivity
AU2003256141A1 (en) * 2003-08-22 2005-03-10 Instituto Mexicano Del Petroleo Method of viewing multiphase flows using electrical capacitance tomography
EP1422510B1 (fr) * 2002-11-21 2006-05-10 Heraeus Electro-Nite International N.V. Dispositif et méthode améliorés pour la détection et la mesure de particules dans du métal fondu
WO2007124528A1 (fr) * 2006-04-27 2007-11-08 The University Of Queensland Procédé et appareil permettant de surveiller un broyeur

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5103181A (en) * 1988-10-05 1992-04-07 Den Norske Oljeselskap A. S. Composition monitor and monitoring process using impedance measurements
US5750902A (en) * 1996-02-05 1998-05-12 Elsag International N.V. Magnetoinductive flow meter
US5865971A (en) * 1996-03-22 1999-02-02 Faraday Technology, Inc. Sealing ring with electrochemical sensing electrode
US20020008522A1 (en) * 1997-06-12 2002-01-24 Erhard Schnell Detector for the measurement of electrolytic conductivity
WO2001071327A2 (fr) * 2000-03-22 2001-09-27 Schlumberger Technology B.V. Dispositifs de caracterisation d'un fluide a phases multiples possedant une phase conductrice continue
EP1422510B1 (fr) * 2002-11-21 2006-05-10 Heraeus Electro-Nite International N.V. Dispositif et méthode améliorés pour la détection et la mesure de particules dans du métal fondu
AU2003256141A1 (en) * 2003-08-22 2005-03-10 Instituto Mexicano Del Petroleo Method of viewing multiphase flows using electrical capacitance tomography
WO2007124528A1 (fr) * 2006-04-27 2007-11-08 The University Of Queensland Procédé et appareil permettant de surveiller un broyeur

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US10698427B2 (en) 2016-10-31 2020-06-30 Ge Oil & Gas Pressure Control Lp System and method for assessing sand flow rate

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