WO2021242089A1

WO2021242089A1 - System and method for quantification of solid particles in a moving fluid

Info

Publication number: WO2021242089A1
Application number: PCT/MY2021/050018
Authority: WO
Inventors: Suresh A/L MURUGIAH
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-05-28
Filing date: 2021-03-30
Publication date: 2021-12-02
Anticipated expiration: 2022-11-28

Abstract

The present invention discloses a system and method for quantification of solid particles in a moving fluid. The system comprises a device for detection of solid particles in a moving fluid passing therethrough, the device comprising: a light source (1) to illuminate the solid particles flowing across the device; and a sensor (2) spaced from the light source (1) to receive shadow images cast by the illuminated solid particles moving between the light source (1) and the sensor (2), and a computing device (7) for computing the amount of shadow images into a quantitative value.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR QUANTIFICATION OF SOLID PARTICLES

IN A MOVING FLUID

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates to a system for quantification of solid particles in a moving fluid. More particularly, the invention relates to a system for quantifying the solid particles based on image analytics and method thereof. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sand quantification is one of the important studies in the oil and gas industry. In oil and gas industry, sand quantification can be used to identify if the production platforms and associated facilities have experienced erosion in which often times leads to corrosion. There are several methods that can be used to quantify an amount of sand within a pipeline. Some of the common methods include manual optical microscopy, dynamic imaging technology, ultrasonic methods, sieve analysis, acoustics and electrical sensing zone method. However, most of these methods cannot be carried out in a real-time environment as these methods can only measure the sand qualitatively and quantify the amount of sand in an external environment. For example, a sand sample is retrieved from the pipelines for the quantification process at an onshore lab or other nearby safe facilities. One disadvantage from such method is that it takes longer time to quantify the amount of sand as time is a crucial factor to determine whether to continue or stop the production platform. Although current technologies may achieve a real-time quantification by employing an acoustic sensor to measure the amount of sand through collision of sands onto the inner wall of the pipelines, particularly at the bends and joints of the pipelines, these technologies are unable to predict the amount of sand accurately and the inner walls of the joints may be damaged under prolonged or severe exposure to these abrasive materials in the flowing fluid.

There are a few patented technologies over the prior art relating to the device and system. US3906780A discloses a means for detecting the presence of particulate material, e.g., sand, in a fluid stream flowing through a conduit, said detection means comprising an acoustical means which is positioned on the outer surface of a substantial bend in said conduit. The detection means has a housing in which a transducer, e.g., piezoelectric means, is freely suspended. The housing is filled with oil to acoustically couple the transducer to the conduit. Particulate material in the fluid stream gives up kinetic energy upon striking the inner surface of said bend in said conduit which in turn excites the transducer to generate an output signal having a frequency component, e.g., 700 kilohertz, which is representative of the particulate material.

Another device and system is disclosed in US7028538. This US patent discloses a method of detecting particles in a fluid within a conduit. The method comprises the steps of measuring acoustic disturbances within the fluid with at least two pressure sensors that produce pressure signals; converting the pressure signals to provide data indicative of power of the acoustic disturbances; computing a metric indicative of a presence of the particles in the fluid using the data, wherein the metric includes an assessment of the power that is traveling at approximately a speed of sound in the fluid and the power that is not traveling at approximately the speed of sound in the fluid; and determining the presence of particles in the fluid based on the metric.

However, the system as disclosed in US3906780A and US7028538 still causes damages to the pipelines as the system utilises acoustical means to detect presence of sand in the flowing fluid, which the system only detects the presence of sand upon its collision onto the inner walls of the pipelines. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a device that detects solid particles in a moving fluid that is passed therethrough with a light source and a sensor that is spaced therefrom, and a system for quantifying an amount of solid particles that travel along a moving fluid in pipeline system with that device. This invention provides such a device, system and method thereof.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

One object of the invention is to provide a system for quantifying an amount of solid particles that travel along a moving fluid in pipeline system.

Yet another object of the invention is to generate an erosion model from the quantified solid particles.

In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for quantification of solid particles in a moving fluid, in particular the quantification of sand and like particulate matter in a gaseous flow, the system comprising a device for detection of solid particles in a moving fluid passing therethrough, the device comprising a light source to illuminate the solid particles flowing across the device; and a sensor spaced from the light source to receive shadow images cast by the illuminated solid particles moving between the light source and the sensor, and a computing device for computing the amount of shadow images into a quantitative value.

In this aspect of the invention, the device may further comprise a housing having a pair of opposing mounts each for accommodating the light source and the sensor respectively, thereby setting a defined distance between the light source and the sensor. In this aspect of the invention, the defined distance may be within a range of 0.0508 meter to 0.1524 meters.

In this aspect of the invention, each opposing mount may be attached to the housing with a rubber seal provided therebetween.

In this aspect of the invention, the light source may be in the form of a plurality of LED light sources being arranged in series to illuminate a cross section of the housing to the sensor.

In this aspect of the invention, the sensor may be in the form of a high speed photographing device to capture the shadow images.

In this aspect of the invention, the device may be disposed between two adjoining pipelines.

In this aspect of the invention, the computing device may comprise a contrast module to determine whether a contrast level of each shadow image is within a range suitable to define boundaries between the moving fluid and the solid particles; a background module to adjust a background colour of the shadow image to ensure the contrast level is within the range and thereby producing a shadow image with enhanced resolution; and a quantitative module to quantify the amount of solid particles from the enhanced shadow image according to its respective boundary; wherein the boundary represents physical properties of the solid particles.

In this aspect of the invention, the physical properties may include solid bulk density, particle size, geometry of the solid particle, and adhesion or agglomeration of solid particles. In this aspect of the invention, the quantitative module may generate a particle size distribution curve based on the amount and particle size of solid particles.

In this aspect of the invention, the computing device may further comprise a processing module to calculate a particle velocity and erosional rate of the solid particles.

In this aspect of the invention, the processing module may further compute an erosion model through correlation of the particle velocity and erosional rate with a pressure, temperature and flow rate of the moving fluid.

In this aspect of the invention, the system may further comprise a wireless communication module to transmit the physical properties, erosion model, particle size distribution curve, particle velocity and erosional rate to a user device.

In a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for quantification of solid particles in a moving fluid, the method comprises the step of receiving, by a sensor, shadow images cast through illumination of the solid particles by a light source; determining, by a contrast module, whether a contrast level of each shadow image is within a range suitable to define boundaries between the moving fluid and the solid particles; adjusting, by a background module, a background colour of the shadow image to ensure the contrast level is within the range; producing, by the background module, a shadow image with enhanced resolution; and quantifying, by a quantitative module, the amount of solid particles from the enhanced shadow image according to its respective boundary; wherein the boundary represents a physical properties of the solid particles.

In this aspect of the invention, the physical properties may include solid bulk density, particle size, geometry of the solid particle, and adhesion or agglomeration of solid particles.

In this aspect of the invention, the method may further comprise the step of generating, by the quantitative module, a particle size distribution curve based on the amount and particle size of solid particles.

In this aspect of the invention, the method may further comprise the step of calculating, by a processing module, a particle velocity and erosional rate of the solid particles.

In this aspect of the invention, the method may further comprise the step of computing an erosion model through correlation of the particle velocity and erosional rate with a pressure, temperature and flow rate of the moving fluid. In this aspect of the invention, the method may further comprise the step of transmitting, by a wireless communication module, the physical properties, erosion model, particle size distribution curve, particle velocity and erosional rate to a user device. One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. The embodiments described herein are not intended as limitations on the scope of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the invention, there is illustrated in the accompanying drawing the preferred embodiments from an inspection of which when considered in connection with the following description, the invention, its construction and operation and many of its advantages would be readily understood and appreciated.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a top view of the device according to present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a side view of the device according to present invention.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment where the device is permanently attached between two adjoining pipelines.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment where the device is removably attached between two adjoining pipelines.

Fig. 5 is a particle size distribution curve generated by the system according to the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart diagram illustrating a method for quantification of solid particles in a moving fluid.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

For the purpose of description, the term “solid particles” refers to opaque objects that are neither transparent nor translucent. In other words, these solid particles do not allow all light to pass through and these solid particles will cast a shadow upon illumination from a light source. By way of example, the solid particles include gravel, rock, sand, silt, clay, loam and humus. The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings.

Referring to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, there is illustrated a device for detection of solid particles in a moving fluid that is being passed therethrough. In one exemplary embodiment, the device is suitable to be disposed between two adjoining pipelines 6 such that the moving fluid of the pipelines 6 can pass through the device, thereby allowing the device to detect the solid particles in the moving fluid. Preferably, the device is suitable to be used in the pipelines of an oil and natural gas exploration activity or that of a manufacturing plant for the purposes of detecting solid particles in a moving fluid. According to Fig. 3, the device can be disposed permanently between the two adjoining pipelines 6 of a process line for real-time monitoring the quality of the moving fluid. In another embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, the device may be in the form of a portable skid where the device can be dismantled from the two adjoining pipelines 6, such as in between a process line and a blow down or flow line, upon completion of detection.

In one preferred embodiment, the device comprises a housing 3 having a pair of opposing mounts 4, where each for accommodating a light source 1 and the sensor 2 respectively, thereby setting a defined distance between the light source 1 and the sensor 2 for the moving fluid to pass therethrough. Preferably, the housing 3 has a substantially circular cross-sectional area such that the flow of the moving fluid is not obstructed when the moving fluid is passed through the device. In a more preferred embodiment, the housing 3 is configured with a diameter corresponding to a diameter of the two adjoining pipelines 6 to ensure smooth flow of the moving fluid. In this particular embodiment, the defined distance between the pair of opposing mounts 4 corresponds to the diameter of the housing 3 which is within a range of 0.0508 meter to 0.1524 meters. Preferably, the housing 3 is provided with a flange 14 at its lateral opening adapted to anchor the device to a flange 13 of the pipeline 6. The flange 14 may be sized according to a standard size of the flange 13 and is anchored to the flange 13 with fasteners such as bolt and nut. Preferably, the housing 3 is made of non-transparent materials, such as stainless steel or other metals, for preventing external light from entering the device, particularly the external light that is in a direction not parallel to the luminance from the light source 1 in order to prevent light interference occurring in the device.

Preferably, the light source 1 is used to illuminate the solid particles flowing across the device. In a more preferred embodiment, the light source 1 is always on to illuminate the solid particles all the time. The light source 1 may be in the form of a plurality of LED light sources that are being arranged in series to illuminate a cross section of the housing 3 to the sensor 2. By way of example, the plurality of LED light sources are arranged in series perpendicularly to the flow of the moving flow such that the luminance is emitted across the cross section of the housing 3. In another preferred embodiment, the light source 1 is in the form of industry safe laser beam. In one particular embodiment, the light source 1 is disposed on one opposing mount 4, more preferably, the opposing mount 4 that is disposed at a circumferential side of the housing 3.

Preferably, the sensor 2 is spaced from the light source 1 to receive shadow images cast by the illuminated solid particles moving between the light source 1 and the sensor 2. The sensor 2 may be configured to capture the shadow images at a predetermined time interval for further processing. The sensor 1 is in the form of a high speed photographing device to capture the shadow images. For example, the sensor 1 is a global shutter complementary metal oxide semiconductor camera. In one particular embodiment, the sensor 2 is disposed on another opposing mount 4, more preferably, the opposing mount 4 that is disposed at a circumferential side of the housing 3. Preferably, the opposing mounts 4 are made of transparent materials, such as glass, fiberglass, or plastics, to prevent the luminance of the light source 1 being reflected by the opposing mount of the sensor 1. This is because the reflected luminance may be directed to the solid particles and thereby affecting the quality of shadows images cast on the sensor 1. As the pipelines generally have a higher pressure with fast moving fluid, each opposing mount 4 is attached to the housing 3 with a rubber seal 5 provided therebetween for preventing leakage of the moving fluid.

In a further embodiment, the device as illustrated above is utilised as a part of a system for quantification of solid particles in a moving fluid, in particular the quantification of sand and like particulate matter in a gaseous flow. In this particular embodiment, the system comprises the device for detection of solid particles in a moving fluid passing therethrough, the device comprising a light source 1 to illuminate the solid particles flowing across the device; and a sensor 2 spaced from the light source 1 to receive shadow images cast by the illuminated solid particles moving between the light source 1 and the sensor 2, and a computing device 7 for computing the amount of shadow images into a quantitative value.

Preferably, the computing device 7 is any device that handles the intermediate stage of processing the incoming data. For example, the computing device 7 is an ex rated ruggedized edge compute box. In a more preferred embodiment, the computing device 7 further comprises a contrast module 8, a background module 9, a quantitative module 10, processing module 11 and a wireless communication module 12.

Preferably, the contrast module 8 is used to determine whether a contrast level of each shadow image is within a range suitable to define boundaries between the moving fluid and the solid particles. This is because the solid particles are generally small in size and travel at high speed along with the moving fluid, which may affect the shadow images captured by the sensor 2. The contrast module 8 may be configured to detect if the solid particles and the moving fluid have substantially low contrast level and initiates the background module 9 for contrast adjustment. For example, the contrast module 8 detects if both the solid particles and the moving fluid are of a different hues, such as black for solid particles and white for the moving fluid. If both the solid particles and moving fluid are having different hues, this implies that the boundaries between the solid particles and moving fluid are solid boundary lines instead of blurred boundary lines.

Preferably, the background module 9 is configured to adjust a background colour of the shadow image to ensure the contrast level is within the range and thereby producing a shadow image with enhanced resolution. The background module 9 may automatically adjust the contrast level or a user may manually adjust the background colour of the shadow image to a desired level. For example, when the contrast module 8 detects that both the solid particles and moving fluid are having substantially the same hue the, background module 9 can adjust the background colour of the shadow image, which is the colour of the moving fluid, so that both the solid particles and moving fluid have the different hues and the boundaries between the solid particles and moving fluid become obvious and easier for detection by the quantitative module 10

Preferably, the quantitative module 10 quantifies the amount of solid particles from the enhanced shadow image according to its respective boundary. For example, the quantitative module 10 detects the boundary for each solid particle that represents physical properties of the solid particles. In one particular embodiment, the physical properties include solid bulk density, particle size, geometry of the solid particle, and adhesion or agglomeration of solid particles. Referring to Fig. 5, the quantitative module 10 may quantify the amount of solid particles by generating a particle size distribution curve based on the amount and particle size of solid particles. Preferably, the particle size distribution curve can show various classes of solid particles that are grouped according to the particle size, such as gravel, rock, sand, silt, clay, loam and humus. The particle size distribution curve may also display the amount of each class of solid particle from the shadow image.

Preferably, the processing module 11 is configured to calculate a particle velocity and erosional rate of the solid particles. For example, the processing module 11 can calculate the particle velocity based on a distance travelled by the solid particles over a specific time. The processing module 11 may further computes an erosion model through correlation of the particle velocity and erosional rate with a pressure, temperature and flow rate of the moving fluid. In this particular embodiment, the pressure, temperature and flow rate can be obtained by disposing a sensor at the device, for example, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a flow rate sensor of a combination thereof.

Preferably, the wireless communication module 12 is used to transmit the physical properties, erosion model, particle size distribution curve, particle velocity and erosional rate to a user device. The wireless communication module 12 includes radio-frequency identification and Bluetooth communication. Preferably, the user device is an electronic communication device capable of sending and receiving electronic communications through a mobile network e.g., 2G/3G/4G/5G networks using any of CDMA/TDMA/FDMA/OFDMA/SDMA channel access. For example, the user device may be a cellular phone, smartphone, media player, tablet, personal digital assistant, other portable device, or any combination thereof. In addition to being capable of communicating through a mobile network, the user device may also be capable of communicating with a local area network, the internet or other network via a wired or wireless connection. In a further embodiment, the wireless communication module 12 may also transmit the physical properties, erosion model, particle size distribution curve, particle velocity and erosional rate to cloud server. Referring to Fig. 6, a flow chart is provided to illustrate a method for quantification of solid particles in a moving fluid by utilizing the system as described above. At step 101, the sensor 1 receives shadow images cast through illumination of the solid particles by the light source 2. At step 102, the contrast module 8 determines whether a contrast level of each shadow image is within a range suitable to define boundaries between the moving fluid and the solid particles. At step 103 and 104, the background module 9 adjusts a background colour of the shadow image to ensure the contrast level is within the range and produce a shadow image with enhanced resolution. At step 105, the quantitative module 10 quantifies the amount of solid particles from the enhanced shadow image according to its respective boundary. Upon quantification of the solid particles, the system may generate a particle size distribution curve, particle velocity, erosional rate and an erosion model at step 106a, 106b, 106c and 106d respectively. The present disclosure includes as contained in the appended claims, as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangements of parts may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A system for quantification of solid particles in a moving fluid, in particular the quantification of sand and like particulate matter in a gaseous flow, the system comprising: a device for detection of solid particles in a moving fluid passing therethrough, the device comprising: a light source (1) to illuminate the solid particles flowing across the device; and a sensor (2) spaced from the light source (1) to receive shadow images cast by the illuminated solid particles moving between the light source (1) and the sensor (2), and a computing device (7) for computing the amount of shadow images into a quantitative value.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the device further comprises a housing (3) having a pair of opposing mounts (4) each for accommodating the light source (1) and the sensor (2) respectively, thereby setting a defined distance between the light source (1) and the sensor (2).

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the defined distance is within a range of 0.0508 meter to 0.1524 meters.

4. The system according to claim 2, wherein each opposing mount (4) is attached to the housing (3) with a rubber seal (5) provided therebetween.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the light source (1) is in the form of a plurality of LED light sources being arranged in series to illuminate a cross section of the housing (3) to the sensor (2).

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the sensor (2) is in the form of a high speed photographing device to capture the shadow images.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the device is disposed between two adjoining pipelines (6).

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the computing device (7) comprises: a contrast module (8) to determine whether a contrast level of each shadow image is within a range suitable to define boundaries between the moving fluid and the solid particles; a background module (9) to adjust a background colour of the shadow image to ensure the contrast level is within the range and thereby producing a shadow image with enhanced resolution; and a quantitative module (10) to quantify the amount of solid particles from the enhanced shadow image according to its respective boundary; wherein the boundary represents physical properties of the solid particles.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the physical properties include solid bulk density, particle size, geometry of the solid particle, and adhesion or agglomeration of solid particles.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the quantitative module (10) generates a particle size distribution curve based on the amount and particle size of solid particles.

11. The system according to claim 8, wherein the computing device (7) further comprising a processing module (11) to calculate a particle velocity and erosional rate of the solid particles.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the processing module (11) further computes an erosion model through correlation of the particle velocity and erosional rate with a pressure, temperature and flow rate of the moving fluid.

13. The system according to claim 12 further comprising a wireless communication module (12) to transmit the physical properties, erosion model, particle size distribution curve, particle velocity and erosional rate to a user device.

14. A method for quantification of solid particles in a moving fluid, the method comprises the step of: receiving, by a sensor (1), shadow images cast through illumination of the solid particles by a light source (2); determining, by a contrast module (8), whether a contrast level of each shadow image is within a range suitable to define boundaries between the moving fluid and the solid particles; adjusting, by a background module (9), a background colour of the shadow image to ensure the contrast level is within the range; producing, by the background module (9), a shadow image with enhanced resolution; and quantifying, by a quantitative module (10), the amount of solid particles from the enhanced shadow image according to its respective boundary; wherein the boundary represents a physical properties of the solid particles.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the physical properties include solid bulk density, particle size, geometry of the solid particle, and adhesion or agglomeration of solid particles.

16. The method according to claim 15 further comprising the step of generating, by the quantitative module (10), a particle size distribution curve based on the amount and particle size of solid particles.

17. The method according to claim 14 further comprising the step of calculating, by a processing module (11), a particle velocity and erosional rate of the solid particles.

18. The method according to claim 17 further comprising the step of computing an erosion model through correlation of the particle velocity and erosional rate with a pressure, temperature and flow rate of the moving fluid.

19. The method according to claim 18 further comprising the step of transmitting, by a wireless communication module (12), the physical properties, erosion model, particle size distribution curve, particle velocity and erosional rate to a user device.