Real-time three dimensional imaging of paramagnetic contaminants in oil-gas pipelines

In this paper, submillimeter three dimensional tomography imaging of paramagnetic contaminants flow rate in multiphase flow pipelines is presented. The device, which is based on Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI), consists of an array of twelve coils and a pair of permanent magnets and is not influenced with the other phases that constitute the crude oil (e.g. oil, water, sand, and gas) and which are mainly diamagnetic materials. The concentration of the paramagnetic particles can be measured in a three dimensional volumetric space with high spatial and temporal sensitivities which are proportional to the strength of the applied magnetic field. This is also influenced by the size and distribution of the particles and the anisotropy of the permanent magnet. To increase the sensitivity and improve the spatio-encoding field, a two dimensional Linear Field Scanning (LFS) technique coupled with a two dimensional excitation field is proposed. The results demonstrate that the technique would constitute a breakthrough in the area of solid flow measurements and imaging.