Optical method for determination of the total suspended solids in jet fuel

A method for determining the amount of solids in a hydrocarbon liquid that contains solid particles suspended therein, comprising the steps of:

• providing a hydrocarbon liquid sample of known volume, said hydrocarbon liquid sample comprising an unknown quantity of solids suspended therein;
• subjecting the hydrocarbon liquid sample to a light source, such that light from the light source scatters as a result of contacting the solid particles suspended in the hydrocarbon liquid sample;
• detecting the scattered light with a photodetector, said photodetector producing a signal corresponding to the scattered light;
• correlating the signal produced by the photodetector to a volume of solid particles suspended in the hydrocarbon liquid sample;
• and
• subjecting the signal to a correction factor, said correction factor providing a mass for the solid particle suspended in the hydrocarbon liquid.

A system for determining total suspended solids in a hydrocarbon liquid, the system comprising:

• a first computer, a light source, a light detector and a sample holder, the first computer configured to send and receive signals to a light source and light detector, and to display a resultant total measured suspended solids value;
• a computer program associated with the light source and light detector, stored on a tangible computer memory media and operable on a computer, the computer program product comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the operations of:
• receiving, by the computer, an indication that a hydrocarbon liquid sample containing suspended solids therein is positioned in the sample holder and ready to be measured;
• sending a signal from the computer to the light source to illuminate the liquid sample with the light source, responsive to the computer receiving the indication that the hydrocarbon liquid sample is positioned in the sample holder, the light source being positioned such that the light source is capable of illuminating the sample holder, wherein light that contacts solids that are suspended in the sample creates a scattered light pattern;
• receiving, by the computer, a signal from the light detector, wherein the signal is a measure of the collected scattered light, said signal corresponding to a volume of suspended solids in the hydrocarbon liquid sample, said signal resulting from the measurement the scattered light by the light detector, wherein the step of measuring the scattered light is responsive to an indication received by the light detector from the computer that the hydrocarbon liquid sample is being illuminated with the light source, said light detector being proximate to the sample holder and operable to measure the light scattered by the suspended particles;
• correlating the signal from the light detector to a mass of total suspended solids in the hydrocarbon liquid sample by the computer, the step of correlating the signal comprising utilizing a predetermined average density of the suspended solid particles;
• and
• communicating by the computer the mass of total suspended solids in the hydrocarbon liquid sample to an operator.

A computer program product, stored on a tangible computer memory media, operable on a computer, the computer program product comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the operations of:

• receiving by a computer instructions that a liquid sample containing suspended solids therein is positioned in a sample holder and ready to be measured;
• sending a signal from the computer to the light source to illuminate the hydrocarbon liquid sample with the light source responsive to the computer receiving the instructions that the sample is positioned in the sample holder, the light source being positioned such that the light source is capable of illuminating the sample holder, wherein light that contacts solids that are suspended in the sample creates a scattered light pattern;
• receiving, by the computer, a signal from the light detector, wherein the signal is a measure of the collected scattered light, said signal corresponding to a volume of suspended solids in the hydrocarbon liquid sample, said signal resulting from the measurement the scattered light by the light detector, wherein the step of measuring the scattered light is responsive to an indication received by the light detector from the computer that the sample is being illuminated with the light source, said light detector being proximate to the sample holder and operable to measure the light scattered by the suspended particles;
• correlating the signal from the light detector to a mass of total suspended solids in the hydrocarbon liquid sample by the computer, the step of correlating the signal comprising utilizing a predetermined average density of the suspended solid particles;
• and
• communicating by the computer the mass of total suspended solids in the hydrocarbon liquid sample to an operator.