Patent · US Expired

Method and device for determining the low-temperature stability of a hydrocarbon mixture

US6076961A · kind A · utility

1Cited by
10References
9Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 16, 1999
Grant dateJun 20, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 16, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01N5/00
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for determining the temperature stability of a hydrocarbon mixture capable of phase separation by monitoring the weight variations of a gravimetric sensor part of which is immersed in said mixture. The method consists in: a first step of accelerated cooling of said mixture to a predetermined temperature; and a second step during which said mixture is maintained at this temperature, the time-dependent variation curve of said weight enabling the determination of the resulting solid mass and the separation speed of the two phases by determining the slope of this curve, the stability of said mixture being obtained by comparison with hydrocarbon mixtures of which the stability in time at low temperature between 0 and -30.degree. C. has been controlled.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.