Oil Flow Rate Measurements Using 198au And Total Count Technique


Autoria(s): GONÇALVES, Eduardo R.; BRANDÃO, Luis Eduardo Barreira; CRISPIM, Verginia Reis
Data(s)

29/06/2016

29/06/2016

01/11/2013

Resumo

In industrial plants, oil and oil compounds are usually transported by closed pipelines with circular cross-section. The use of radiotracers in oil transport and processing industrial facilities allows calibrating flowmeters, measuring mean residence time in cracking columns, locate points of obstruction or leak in underground ducts, as well as investigating flow behavior or industrial processes such as in distillation towers. Inspection techniques using radiotracers are non-destructive, simple, economic and highly accurate. Among them, Total Count, which uses a small amount of radiotracer with known activity, is acknowledged as an absolute technique for flow rate measurement. A viscous fluid transport system, composed by four PVC pipelines with 13m length (12m horizontal and 1m vertical) and ½, ¾, 1 and 2-inch gauges, respectively, interconnected by maneuvering valves was designed and assembled in order to conduct the research. This system was used to simulate different flow conditions of petroleum compounds and for experimental studies of flow profile in the horizontal and upward directions. As 198Au presents a single photopeak (411,8 keV), it was the radioisotope chosen for oil labeling, in small amounts (6 ml) or around 200 kBq activity, and it was injected in the oil transport lines. A NaI scintillation detector 2”x 2”, with well-defined geometry, was used to measure total activity, determine the calibration factor F and, positioned after a homogenization distance and interconnected to a standardized electronic set of nuclear instrumentation modules (NIM), to detect the radioactive cloud.

Identificador

http://carpedien.ien.gov.br:8080/handle/ien/1786

Idioma(s)

eng

Publicador

Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear

Brasil

IEN

Direitos

openAccess

Palavras-Chave #Radiotracers #Oil flow
Tipo

conferenceObject