Multi-Interface Level in Oil Tanks and Applications of Optical Fiber Sensors
LEAL-JUNIOR, A.
; Marques, C.
; Frizera-Neto, A. Frizera-Neto
; Pontes, M. J.
Optical Fiber Technology Vol. 40, Nº C, pp. 82 - 92, January, 2018.
ISSN (print): 1068-5200
ISSN (online):
Scimago Journal Ranking: 0,45 (in 2018)
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1016/j.yofte.2017.11.006
Abstract
On the oil production also involves the production of water, gas and suspended solids, which are separated from the oil on three-phase separators. However, the control strategies of an oil separator are limited due to unavailability of suitable multi-interface level sensors. This paper presents a description of the multi-phase level problem on the oil industry and a review of the current technologies for multi-interface level assessment. Since optical fiber sensors present chemical stability, intrinsic safety, electromagnetic immunity, lightweight and multiplexing capabilities, it can be an alternative for multi-interface level measurement that can overcome some of
the limitations of the current technologies. For this reason, Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) based optical fiber sensor system for multi-interface level assessment is proposed, simulated and experimentally assessed. The results show that the proposed sensor system is capable of measuring interface level with a relative error of only 2.38%. Furthermore, the proposed sensor system is also capable of measuring the oil density with an error of 0.8 kg/m3.