Patent ID: 8857245

Claim:
A method for monitoring a dispersed phase in a flowing immiscible fluid mixture, comprising: measuring a flow rate of the flowing immiscible fluid mixture; contacting a wettable sensing surface with a flowing portion of the fluid mixture, wherein the wettable sensing surface is configured to be preferentially wettable by the dispersed phase; oscillating the wettable sensing surface in the flowing portion of the fluid mixture at a resonant frequency; measuring a rate of change of frequency of oscillation of the wettable sensing surface in the flowing portion of the fluid mixture; using the rate of change of frequency of oscillation of the wettable sensing surface to determine a rate of change of the amount of the dispersed phase wetting the wettable sensing surface; and using the rate of change of the amount of the dispersed phase wetting the wettable sensing surface and the flow rate to determine a concentration of the dispersed phase in the flowing portion of the fluid mixture.