In situ optical computation fluid analysis system and method

A method for determining at least one property of crude petroleum flowing in a moving stream in a pipe system comprising:

• directing light to interact with the moving stream of crude petroleum, and causing the petroleum to produce interacted light from the directed light;
• performing a regression calculation on the interacted light with an optical calculation device responsive to the interacted light incident thereon to produce at least one output light signal manifesting the calculation and the corresponding at least one property;
• and
• determining the at least one property from the at least one output light signal;
• and
• wherein the directing light step includes applying the light to an internal reflectance element and then repetitively interacting the light with the petroleum with the internal reflectance element to provide multiple interactions for producing a total penetration of light into the petroleum in an amount sufficient to manifest the at least one property.

A system for determining at least one property of crude petroleum flowing in a moving stream in a pipe system comprising:

• an apparatus coupled to the pipe system and configured to apply incident light to the flowing petroleum in the pipe system to cause the petroleum to produce interacted light;
• an optical calculation device for performing a regression calculation on the interacted light, the device being responsive to the interacted light incident thereon to produce at least one output light signal manifesting the calculation and the corresponding at least one property;
• and
• a signal processing arrangement for determining the at least one property from the at least one output light signal.

A system for determining at least one property of crude petroleum flowing in a moving stream in a pipe system, comprising:

• an apparatus coupled to the pipe system and configured to apply incident light to the flowing petroleum in the pipe system to cause the petroleum to produce interacted light, wherein the petroleum flowing in the pipe has an interface surface with the pipe, the apparatus comprising,
• a light source for providing the incident light to the petroleum interface surface at one location of the pipe, and
• an internal reflectance element coupled to the pipe at the one location for applying the incident light to the interface surface and then alternatively receiving light from, and reflecting light to the interface surface continuously from the applied incident light to generate the interacted light;
• an optical calculation device for performing a regression calculation on the interacted light, the device being responsive to the interacted light incident thereon to produce at least one output light signal manifesting the calculation and the corresponding at least one property;
• and
• a signal processing arrangement for determining the at least one property from the at least one output light signal.

An apparatus for determining a property of a component of crude petroleum flowing in a pipe, comprising:

• a housing having a cavity and arranged to be attached to the pipe, the pipe having an internal region containing the flow of crude petroleum;
• a light source in the housing;
• an internal reflectance element (IRE) in the housing for transmitting light received from the source via an element input through the element into the attached pipe internal region for applying the light to the petroleum to interact the light with the petroleum and for sequentially receiving the light interacted light at a plurality of element locations, the sequentially received interacted light for being transmitted through an element output;
• a multivariate optical filter element (MOE) in the housing for receiving the interacted light transmitted through the element output for performing a regression calculation on the received light and for producing at least one output signal manifesting the regression calculation;
• and
• at least one detector in the housing responsive to the at least one output signal for generating a further output signal manifesting said property.

A method for determining at least one property of a moving stream of hydrocarbon-containing fluid in a subsurface well, comprising the steps of:

• providing a source of light in the subsurface well and directing the light to interact with the moving stream of hydrocarbon-containing fluid in the subsurface well, and causing the fluid to produce interacted light from the directed light;
• performing a regression calculation on the interacted light with an optical calculation device responsive to the interacted light incident thereon to produce at least one output light signal manifesting the calculation and related to the at least one property;
• and
• determining the at least one property from the at least one output light signal.

An apparatus system to determine a property of a hydrocarbon-containing fluid in a subsurface well, comprising:

• a light emitting device configured to apply incident light to a hydrocarbon-containing fluid in a subsurface well to cause the fluid to produce interacted light;
• an optical calculation device cooperatively arranged to receive at least a portion of the interacted light that performs a regression calculation on the interacted light, the device responsive to the interacted light incident thereon to produce at least one output light signal manifesting the calculation and related to corresponding property;
• and
• a signal processor coupled to receive the at least one output light signal and configured to determine the at least one property from the received output light signal.