A method and system for diagnosing a condition of an air-breathing aircraft engine are described. The method comprises obtaining a sample of lubricating fluid from the engine, filtering the sample to obtain a plurality of particles from the lubricating fluid, obtaining chemical composition data for the plurality of particles, determining a quantity of volcanic ash in the lubricating fluid by considering each one of the particles as composed partially of volcanic ash and partially of at least one other material and determining a first percentage of surface area of the particles covered by the volcanic ash and a second percentage of the surface area of the particles covered by the at least one other material, the volcanic ash having associated thereto a predetermined chemical composition, and diagnosing a condition of the engine based on the quantity of volcanic ash found in the lubricating fluid.

The object of the present invention relates to a system for measuring the salinity of hydrocarbons at the bottom of an oil well, using the technique of time domain reflectometry (TDR). The system comprises an electromagnetic pulse generator, an oscilloscope for displaying and measuring the frequency, amplitude and wavelength of the signal, a signal amplifier, a computer for processing and storing the information, and a metal wire that functions as a waveguide To transmit the signal from the signal generator to the hydrocarbon to which its salinity is to be determined at the bottom of the well. The signal returns from the bottom of the well to the oscilloscope where the difference between the sent signal and the return signal is measured. This difference allows us to infer the salinity of the hydrocarbon. The guide wire is attached to the production line by means of a strap or other fastening device from the surface to the bottom of the well, where the tip of the cable is inserted into the pipe to contact the hydrocarbon and in this way detect its salinity. It is possible to use the same pipe as a waveguide to transmit the test signal to the bottom of the well. In addition, the salinity of the hydrocarbon can be determined at different points along the well.

A method is provided for detecting fuel discharge from a lubricant in a housing of an internal combustion engine. A first lambda deviation is measured by a lambda sensor for a first mass air flow supplied in an intake tract of the engine. A second lambda deviation is measured by the lambda sensor for a second mass air flow that differs from the first mass air flow, and is supplied in an intake tract of the engine. An actual comparative value is calculated from the measured first and second lambda deviations. A desired comparative value indicative of the fuel discharge is calculated from a first desired lambda deviation for the first mass air flow, and a second desired lambda deviation is calculated for the second mass air flow. The fuel discharge is detected based on a comparison of the actual comparative value and the desired comparative value.

A method for determining whether a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, contained in a reservoir, comprises no more than a specified maximum permissible amount of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) for the fuel to be accepted as being suitable for use in a specified engine.

A method of evaluating an asphaltene inhibitor includes providing a centrifugal microfluidic system including: a disc mounted to rotate about an axis; a microfluidic device mounted on the disc, the device having sample, solvent, inhibitor, and precipitant reservoirs and an analysis chamber in fluid communication with the sample, solvent, inhibitor, and precipitant reservoirs; and an optical detection system coupled to the analysis chamber and configured to measure the optical transmission of fluid in the analysis chamber. The method includes filling the sample, solvent, inhibitor, and precipitant reservoirs, respectively, with a sample, solvent, inhibitor, and precipitant; rotating the disc to generate centrifugal force to cause the sample, solvent, inhibitor, and precipitant to travel radially outward to the analysis chamber; and measuring the optical transmission of a mixture of the sample, solvent, inhibitor, and precipitant in the analysis chamber as a function of radial distance of the analysis chamber.

A method can include transmitting, from a light source, light through a fuel tank ullage, and determining, by a processing device, an amount of absorption of at least one wavelength of the transmitted light. The method can further include determining, by the processing device based on the amount of absorption of the at least one wavelength of the transmitted light, a chemical composition of the fuel tank ullage.

The impact of a stabilizing additive for treating oil-based fluids having destabilized solids, such as asphaltenes and polynuclear aromatics, may be quantitatively assessed, by determining the settling rate of flocculated destabilized solids in samples of untreated oil-based fluids and oil-based fluids treated with the stabilizing additive through the use of a turbidity meter or nephelometer while the field and quantifying the difference between the two settling rates to determine if a change in the amount of stabilizing additive applied to the oil-based fluid is necessary.

Density measurement of mixtures of heavy and light crudes using the vibrating tube densitometer technique determine incompatibility in the crudes mixture containing asphaltenes by determining the incipient point of asphaltenes incompatibility threshold in the mixtures of crudes.

Method for characterizing a heavily biodegraded oil sand ore sample by microwave-assisted bitumen extraction. Vacuum-filtration of solvent-extracted bitumen and sediments provides a means to recover sediment fines down to a particle size of 0.8 μm, which is the analytical requirement for accurate mineralogical analysis of the clay mineral fraction. The method may be completed in hours, making it suitable for “just-in-time” analyzes at the mine site. The recovered sediment and sediment fines are suitable for characterization using traditional analytical techniques to understand mineralogy, petrology, and reservoir properties.

A sensor system for detecting particles within a fluid, the sensor system comprising: i) a gauge body having a working surface for receiving a particle containing fluid; ii) an impactor spaced apart from the working surface of the gauge body defining a spacing between the impactor and the working surface of the gauge body through which particle containing fluid can pass, wherein the sensor system is configured such that as the particle containing fluid passes through the spacing between the impactor and the working surface of the gauge body, particles disposed over the working surface are impacted by the impactor generating a signal which is dependent on one or both of the size and concentration of particles in the fluid; and iii) a sensor configured to detect the signal generated by the particles impacting the impactor and provide an output signal.