Measurement of basic sediment and water in crude oil streams

Claim 2

A process for reducing waxing and/or capacitance measurement errors in a basic sediment and water recorder system characterized by the step of controlling temperature variations of fluid streams within the said recorder system.

Claim 3

The process as claimed in claim 1 for measuring the water content of a wet stream which is predominantly non-aqueous, characterized by the steps of removing a sample of the wet stream, extracting a dry stream sample from the wet stream sample, heat exchanging the dry stream sample with the wet stream sample to reduce any temperature difference therebetween, and measuring the dielectric constans of the wet stream sample and the dry stream sample to facilitate determining the water content of the wet stream.

Claim 4

The process as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that the volumetric ratio of the wet stream sample to dry stream sample ranges from about 5 to about 100 or more.

Claim 5

The process as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that the wet stream is pipeline crude oil containing water and sediment and having a varying dielectric constant, the wet stream sample is admitted to an outer chamber containing an inner chamber having a wall formed of a filter, the inner chamber is rotated while pressuring the wet stream sample from the outer chamber into the inner chamber, sediment is filtered from the wet stream sample passing into the inner chamber and centrifugal force in the inner chamber forces water in the wet stream sample back into the outer chamber, and clean dry sample is withdrawn from the inner chamber.

Claim 6

The process as claimed in claim 1 for increasing the temperature of a pumped stream characterized by recycling the stream through the pump.

Claim 7

The process as claimed in claim 1 for increasing the temperature of a stream to a desired range, said stream being delivered by pump from a source to a station and then at least partially returned to the source, characterized by the step of at least temporarily recycling through the pump the part of the stream to be returned to the source until sufficient energy is imparted from the pump to increase the temperature of the stream to the desired range.

Claim 8

The process as claimed in claim 1 for dewaxing the inner surfaces of apparatus receiving waxy oil via a pump at temperatures whereat waxy components of the oil deposit on contacting surfaces, characterized by the step of increasing the temperature of the waxy oil by recycling the oil through the pump until the oil is at a temperature sufficient to dissolve the waxy deposits.

Claim 11

The apparatus as claimed in claim 8 for measuring the water content of a wet stream which is predominantly non-aqueous, characterized by, means for removing a sample of the wet stream, means for extracting a dry stream sample from the wet stream sample, a heat exchanger for reducing any temperature difference between the dry stream sample and the wet stream sample, and means for measuring the dielectric constants of the wet stream sample and the dry stream sample.

Claim 12

The apparatus as claimed in claim 8 for increasing the temperature of a stream to a desired range, characterized in that said stream is delivered by a pump from a source to a station and then at least partially returned to the source, comprising means for at least temporarily recycling through the pump the part of the stream to be returned to the source until sufficient energy is imparted from the pump to increase the temperature of the stream to the desired range.