Method for analyzing a petroleum stream

摘要

Methods are provided for determining a solids to liquids ratio in a flowing petroleum stream having an immiscible solids, oil and water flow. Microwave energy in the 10-12 Gigahertz bond is directed through the petroleum stream and attenuated transmitted and reflected microwave energy are detected. The detected microwave energy is compared to an empirically derived map of attenuated amplitude vs. phase for a set of reference petroleum streams having known solid, oil and water contents to derive a solids to liquids ratio for the unknown stream.