Real-Time Detection of Solid and Liquid Contaminants in Natural Gas Streams Using Microwave Sensing Technology

Abstract The production and transportation of high-quality natural gas, that is free of liquid/solid contaminants, is critical to fulfilling the increasing global demand of this commodity. Despite several mitigation strategies from natural gas producers and distributors, liquid and solid contaminants are still commonly found within natural gas pipelines. As such, a need exists for real-time detection of these contaminants, within natural gas pipelines, in order to determine contaminant sources and reduce contaminant quantities. In this study, an in-line, non-perturbing, real-time, microwave-based contaminants sensing technology was developed and tested at a natural gas test facility located in Alberta, Canada. The contaminants detector was installed on DN150 pipe and tested over a gas velocity range of 1.3–13.2 m/s. First, glass oxide particles were intermittently injected into the gas stream immediately upstream of the detector. Two different glass oxide particles were tested with particle diameter ranges of 44–88 μm and 88–149μm. Second, liquid contaminant, in the form of compressor lubrication oil, was atomized into the gas stream immediately upstream of the detector. Three types of atomizing nozzles were used in conjunction with liquid injection pumps to test liquid injection rates in the range of 0.07–0.7 L/min. Liquid and solid contaminants were successfully detected using the standard deviation of in-phase and quadrature baseband voltage measurements from the contaminants detector. This paper quantitatively evaluates the solid/liquid contaminants detection performance of this detector in the context of natural gas pipeline applications.