Abstract

The identification of oil and water layers is an important process on oil production. For this reason, it is necessary a sensor capable of detect water and oil layers. Since crude oil tanks present high inflammable gases that can cause explosions, a technique for determining liquids interface level that is intrinsically safe is desired. This paper presents the development and characterization of an interface level sensor based on a FBG-embedded multi-diaphragm sensors system for the detection of water and oil layers. The responses of the two diaphragms with respect to water and oil layers were characterized and a reduction of the sensitivity of the diaphragms when the water is substituted by oil was obtained due to the lower density of the oil when compared with water. Tests varying the interface of both water and oil are also presented and the sensors show a variation of its responses when the water and oil layers are changed, which proves the feasibility of the optical sensor system proposed to measure water-oil interface.

© 2018 The Author(s)