Patent ID: 8532943

Claim:
An apparatus for measuring the mass fractions of water and oil in a flowing mixture of oil and water through a pipe comprising: a sensor portion that measures sound velocity and temperature of the flowing oil water mixture at a first time and at a second time; a temperature changer in thermal communication with the flowing fluid which changes the temperature of the flowing oil water mixture by a measurable amount between the first time and the second time, the sensor portion includes a first sensor portion that measures the sound velocity and temperature of the flowing oil water mixture upstream of the temperature changer, and a second sensor portion that measures the sound velocity and temperature of the flowing mixture downstream of the temperature changer, the first sensor portion includes a sound velocity transducer and a reflecting plug, the sound velocity C of the mixture determined from the transit time t of a pulse of ultrasound from the transducer that travels to the reflecting plug of the first sensor portion and back along axial flow with the flowing fluid to the transducer, the sound velocity transducer producing pulses of ultrasound at frequencies up to 1 MHz, the sound velocity transducer and the reflecting plug being a fixed distance; and a pump in fluid communication with the mixture to ensure the flowing mixture is moving at a velocity sufficient to achieve emulsification with no slip, wherein the oil water mixture is emulsified so that droplets of a dispersed phase, which is either oil or water, are distributed throughout a continuous phase, which is either water or oil, said dispersal achieved by the flowing mixture moving at a velocity sufficient to achieve emulsification with no slip.