Abstract:
Refinery feedstocks can be characterized based on any of: dissociation of acids in the crude, breakup of naphthenic acid molecular associations, mass changes of samples, and / or dissociation of sulfur compounds in the feedstocks. The characterization is performed as a function of temperature via any of electrical resistivity measurement, crystal microbalance measurements of weight changes, vibrational spectroscopic analysis, voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and combinations thereof. The method can be practiced in any of refinery, terminal, and laboratories. It can be used in conjunction with a system comprising models and hardware to optimize the usage of refinery feedstocks in the blending and valuation of the feedstocks. The system can be employed in any of refinery, terminal, and laboratories. In one embodiment, the characterization of refinery feedstocks is via the use of EIS.
Abstract:
The methods of the invention are aimed toward the determination of corrosivity, ageing, fingerprinting and contaminants, as well as the functional diagnosis, decontamination, depolarisation and detoxification of oils and technical fluids, such as mineral insulating, natural and/or synthetic esters, lubricants, hydraulic fluids, diathermic fluids and technical fluids in general, used in apparatuses and equipment, such as electric transformers, reactors, bushings, switches and turbines, for the generation, transmission, distribution and use of power.
Abstract:
Disclosed herein are an apparatus for measuring the total acid number of oil, an apparatus for measuring the lifetime of oil through the measurement of the total acid number of oil, a method for measuring the total acid number of oil, and a method of making measurements using an oil sensor. According to the disclosed invention, measurement accuracy can be increased through the use of a high-sensitivity conductance measuring sensor, the inventive apparatus can be applied to both lubricant oil and insulating oil, the size of the total acid number-measuring apparatus can be reduced.
Abstract:
The present invention provides a method for measuring a lubricant's total basicity by measuring one or more preselected infrared absorption bands of a lubricant and correlating the measured bands to the basicity. Preferably, the measured bands are due to carbonate or sulfate species in the lubricant.
Abstract:
Method and system for monitoring the quality of fluids The present invention relates to a method and a system using the method for monitoring the quality of fluids, comprising the measurement of different features of a fluid with at least two different methods and deriving a measure for the quality of the fluid and/or identifying a process of the fluid deterioration by comparing the results of the measurements of the at least two different methods. The methods comprise at least one optical absorption measurement and at least one electron paramagnetic resonance measurement (EPR).
Abstract:
An online sensor (1) for monitoring chemical contaminations in hydraulic fluids, having a receiving device (4) for the fluid to be monitored, the device having observations windows (3) disposed on two opposite sides, is characterized in that the online sensor (1) has an IR emitter (2) and an IR detector (5) comprising at least two, preferably four detector fields for IR spectroscopy, wherein the fields are disposed opposite of each other on both observations windows (3). This provides a sensor that is capable of detecting the maintenance-relevant parameters of hydraulic fluids based on phosphate esters online, which is to say without having to withdraw the same from the airplane's hydraulic system and remove the same as a sample.
Abstract:
The invention relates to a sensor system used for the sensory online detection of the corrosive action of the oil during the service life thereof in the oil circuit of a machine. One of the oil replacement criteria for machines using large quantities of oil (i.e. the machine has an oil filling that can be replaced during maintenance) is the acidification (or corrosiveness) of the oil. For internal combustion engines operating with biofuel, this is often the main criterion for carrying out an oil change. The inventive sensor system uses at least two flat elements (2 to 6) consisting of electroconductive materials which can be structured in a plane manner and/or in the cross-section. At least one of said flat elements is used as a corrosion sacrificial element (2) for detecting the corrosion. Said flat elements are switched or connected to the electronic evaluation system (or to each other) in an electrical measuring circuit. The corrosive material loss is measured by the change in the electrical characteristics of the flat elements (e.g. electrical resistance or capacitance) used as corrosion sacrificial elements , preferably detected in a plane manner.
Abstract:
The present invention is a method to determine the TAN and TAN as a function of boiling point for a hydrocarbon feedstream using an electrospray ionization mass spectrometer (ESI-MS). The steps of the method include determining the signal as a function of mass from the ESI-MS while minimizing the formation of oligomers and fragmentation of the molecular species in the feedstream and then determining the TAN from the signals. The TAN is also determined as a function of boiling point.