EP0305090A2
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EP
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Method for the direct determination of physical properties of hydrocarbon products
Assignee: ABB Eutech Ltd
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Filing: 1988-08-11
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-08-11
Abstract
Abstract The properties of a liquid hydrocarbon blend are determined from the NIR (Near Infra Red) spectrum of the components of the blend by a method which comprises the following steps: (a) determining with an IR spectrometer, the absorbance at a certain number of frequencies in the spectral range 16667 to 3840 cm⁻¹, preferably 12500 to 3840 cm⁻¹ most preferably 4760 to 4000 cm⁻¹ for the components or arbitrary mixtures, starting from a defined base line, preferably corresponding to zero absorbance, (b) determining for each component I and each property J, a spectral mixture index SMI J I by applying a correlation with the measured absorbance values, this correlation with the measured absorbance values, this correlation being determined experimentally by multivariate regression, depending on the type of spectrometer used, the property desired, and the frequencies used. (c) calculating the desired property sought, by applying a linear expression, J = f a S m I J a + f b SMI J c ... + f o SMI J o each term of which is the product of the spectral mixture index of a component of the desired property and the fraction by volume of the component in the final blend.
Inventors
- 👤 Alain C/O Bp France S.A. Espinosa
- 👤 André c/o BP France S.A. Martens
- 👤 Gilbert C/O Bp France S.A. Ventron
- 👤 Didier Charles c/o BP France S.A. Lambert
- 👤 Antoine Pasquier
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 13:32
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01N; G01N33/00; G01N33/26; G01N33/28; G01N33/2829; G01N21/00; G01N21/17; G01N21/25; G01N21/31; G01N21/35; G01N21/3577; G01N21/359; F; F02; F02B; F02B3/00; F02B3/06
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
189 words
A method for the determination of one or more physical properties of a liquid hydrocarbon blend characterised by the fact that the method comprises the following steps: (a) determining with an IR spectrometer, the absorbance at a certain number of frequencies in the spectral range 16667 to 3840 cm⁻¹ for the components of the blend or arbitrary mixtures, starting from a defined base line, (b) determining for each component I and each property J, a spectral mixture index (SMI) J I by applying a correlation with the measured absorbance values, this correlation being determined experimentally by multivariate regression, depending on the type of spectrometer used, the property required and the frequencies used, and (c) calculating the required property J of the product by applying a linear expression: J = f a .SMI J a + f b .SMI J b + f c SMI J c ... + f o .SMI J o (1) each term of which is the product of the spectral mixture index (SMI a ...) of the property J for an ingredient (A ...) and the fraction by volume (f a ...) of this component.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
189 words
A method for the determination of one or more physical properties of a liquid hydrocarbon blend characterised by the fact that the method comprises the following steps: (a) determining with an IR spectrometer, the absorbance at a certain number of frequencies in the spectral range 16667 to 3840 cm⁻¹ for the components of the blend or arbitrary mixtures, starting from a defined base line, (b) determining for each component I and each property J, a spectral mixture index (SMI) J I by applying a correlation with the measured absorbance values, this correlation being determined experimentally by multivariate regression, depending on the type of spectrometer used, the property required and the frequencies used, and (c) calculating the required property J of the product by applying a linear expression: J = f a .SMI J a + f b .SMI J b + f c SMI J c ... + f o .SMI J o (1) each term of which is the product of the spectral mixture index (SMI a ...) of the property J for an ingredient (A ...) and the fraction by volume (f a ...) of this component.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method according to claim 1 wherein the blending equipment is computer controlled by a feedback control system for altering blending conditions in response to variations in the property of the product from the desired value, from the determination of the NIR spectra of the components.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
22 words
A method according to either of claims 1 or 2 wherein the frequencies are in the spectral range 12500 to 3840 cm⁻¹.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method according to claim 3 wherein the frequencies are in the spectral range 4760 to 4000 cm⁻¹.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
52 words
A method according to claim 4 characterised by the fact that the frequencies used are selected from the following list: 4670 cm⁻¹ 4640 cm⁻¹ 4615 cm⁻¹ 4585 cm⁻¹ 4485 cm⁻¹ 4405 cm⁻¹ 4385 cm⁻¹ 4332 cm⁻¹ 4305 cm⁻¹ 4260 cm⁻¹ 4210 cm⁻¹ 4170 cm⁻¹ 4135 cm⁻¹ 4100 cm⁻¹ 4060 cm⁻¹ 4040 cm⁻¹
Claim 7
Independent Claim
22 words
A method according to any of the preceding claims characterised by the fact that the base line is taken as 4780 cm⁻¹.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
26 words
A method according to any of the preceding claims wherein the spectrometer is linked to a signal processing device to permit numerical treatment of the spectrum.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
13 words
A method according to claim 7 wherein the treatment is by Fourier transformation.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
18 words
A method according to any of the preceding claims wherein the method is on-line and in real time.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
41 words
A method according to any of the preceding claims characterised by the fact that the spectral mixture index of a property of a component is determined directly from absorbances (D i ) obtained for this component alone by applying Equation (2).
Claim 12
Independent Claim
86 words
A method according to any of claims 1 to 9 characterised by the fact that the spectral mixture index of a property of a component is determined by preparing an arbitrary mixture with a fraction (f) of this component (A) in a matrix S by determining the NIR spectra for the matrix (D is ) and the mixture (D im ) respectively, calculating a theoretical absorbance (D ia ) for each frequency (F i ) by Equation (3) and applying these theoretical absorbances in Equation (2).
Claim 13
Independent Claim
23 words
A method according to any of the previous claims characterised by the fact that the properties calculated are non-additive properties of the components.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
20 words
A method according to any of the preceeding claims wherein the liquid hydrocarbon blend additionally contains a liquid organic additive.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
42 words
A method according to any of the preceding claims wherein the product is a motor spirit and the property determined is selected from the following: research and motor octane numbers (clear and leaded), the density, the vapour pressure and the distillation characteristics.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method according to claim 14 wherein the frequencies are selected from the following: 4670 cm⁻¹ 4485 4332 4305 4210 4100 4060
Claim 17
Independent Claim
39 words
A method according to any of claims 1 to 13 wherein the product is a diesel oil and the property determined is selected from the following: cloud point, pour point, filterability, cetane index, distillation characteristics, flash point and viscosity.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
35 words
A method according to any of claims 1 to 13 wherein the product is a fuel oil and the property determined is selected from the following: density, viscosity, thermal stability, distillation characteristics and flash point.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
51 words
Apparatus for carrying out a method according to any of the preceding claims comprising an infra red spectrometer and a computer characterised by the fact that the spectrometer is linked to the computer programmed in such manner that the property of the product may be determined continuously and in real time.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
47 words
Apparatus according to claim 18 characterised by the fact that it comprises a feedback control system for computer control of the blending equipment in response to variations of the property from the desired value, from the determination of the NIR spectrum of the components of the blend.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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