Grant: Idea to Innovation

This project will develop a field prototype of a new ultrasonic based device with built in intelligence based on appropriate hardware and software to provide reliable and accurate measurement of oil-water interface position and oil layer thickness under dynamic conditions of operations. Such conditions are encountered in a number of operations such as grease traps in restaurants and crude oil desalter in petroleum refinery. The proposed new device provides automatic correction and compensation for variations of composition and temperature in the measured systems. Our industry partner Monteco Inc. has worked closely with us to identify and incorporate features to develop a differentiated device that would be able to compete in the existing market. The focus has been on developing a self-calibrating system with advanced data processing algorithms for recognizing the signal created by the oil-water interface. In addition the device will transmit wirelessly from the sensor location to a tablet computer display. The display will have an advanced graphic user interface (GUI) with a touch screen for monitoring and managing alarms and for data transmission onto a network. All of the elements of the device have been developed to the proof of concept stage and prototypes and draft codes have been produced. Prototypes have been tested in lab conditions. The purpose of this final stage of development is to complete the productization of the device and to prepare it for introduction into the market. The work to be done includes final testing under field conditions, design to stand harsh and corrosive environments of closed vessels and manufacturing and completion of the data processing code.