Patent ID: 8847608

Claim:
A non-destructive on-line system for detecting a presence of a material a substance comprising: an MRI device comprising a tunable RF coil and a signal detector, said signal detector is configured for detecting frequency-dependent output signals as a function of a frequency variation of the RF tunable coil within a frequency range of an RF resonant frequency of a standard sample of said substance; a flow conduit encompassed by said tunable RF coil and having an input duct and an output duct to allow a flow of said substance therethrough; and a processing unit, wherein said processing unit is configured to: receive said frequency-dependent output signals from said detector; determine an impedance frequency variation from said frequency-dependent output signals and at least one operational parameter of the MRI device; determine RF frequency variation of inductance and RF variation of reactance from said impedance frequency variation; and compare at least one of the RF frequency variation of the inductance and the RF frequency variation of the electrical reactance with an RF frequency variation of a corresponding inductance or reactance of said standard sample of said substance such that said comparison determines said material content of said substance.