Automated Fluid-Solid Characterization With Closed-Loop Pressure Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing apparatus for studying fluid-solid interactions are manually operated, leading to idle periods and suboptimal data generation, limiting their full potential and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An automated apparatus with a core holder, pressure sensor, mass comparator, and a processor-controlled pressure and flow control system, enabling automated temperature and pressure adjustments, data logging, and stationarity analysis for fluid-solid systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual operation is used for pressure control, then operational simplicity is maintained, but productivity and data collection efficiency deteriorate due to idle periods and extended experiment times
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses automated pressure valves controlled by a processor to self-regulate pressure changes based on predetermined sets, eliminating the need for continuous manual intervention. The apparatus automatically logs data from sensors and controls the experiment progression, allowing the system to serve itself without operator involvement during data collection phases.
Solution Approach 2:
Manual mechanical pressure control is replaced with an automated electronic control system comprising a processor, automated pressure valves, and sensors. This substitution enables continuous operation without idle periods while maintaining precise pressure control through electronic actuation rather than manual mechanical adjustment.
2Measurement precision
If automated pressure control is implemented, then productivity and measurement precision improve, but device complexity increases due to additional control systems
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates pressure sensors that continuously monitor pressure within the core holder and provide feedback to the processor. The processor uses this feedback to automatically adjust the automated pressure valves, creating a closed-loop control system that maintains precise pressure control while adapting to real-time conditions without requiring complex manual adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated control system serves multiple functions: it controls pressure changes according to predetermined sets, monitors sensor data, logs experimental results, and manages the overall experiment progression. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require separate systems into a single integrated control platform, reducing overall complexity while improving measurement precision.
3Loss of time
If manual operation is used, then device complexity is lower, but loss of time increases due to extended experiment durations and idle periods
Solution Approach 1:
The automated system eliminates idle periods by continuously collecting data and adjusting pressure without interruption. The processor coordinates pressure valve actuation and data logging in a continuous sequence, ensuring that the apparatus operates at full capacity throughout the experiment duration, thereby reducing total experiment time while increasing the extent of automation.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to apparatus, systems, and methods for characterizing fluid-solid systems. In an embodiment, a method includes placing a porous rock sample in a core holder, contacting the porous rock sample with a fluid to create a fluid-solid system inside the core holder, automatically adjusting a temperature and/or pressure of the fluid-solid system to a preselected value via a processor and at least one automated valve, monitoring the fluid-solid system for equilibrium, recording a value for temperature, pressure, and/or mass of the fluid-solid system, performing an action based on the recorded data, and repeating the adjusting, monitoring, recording, and performing operations to produce a thermodynamic data characteristic of the fluid-solid system. In one example, the performing operation includes analyzing a pressure signal for stationarity by performing an Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and/or a Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin (KPSS) test.