A nuclear on-line sensor for continuous control of vanadium content in oil pipelines

Trace amounts of vanadium in crude oil and in heavy distillate fuels are very harmful due to their corrosive action. Thus the necessity arises for continuous control of the vanadium content in oil pipelines. Moreover, the development of a nuclear on-line sensor that can continuously analyze the vanadium content in oil pipelines may lead to a better control of processing operations. In this paper a feasibility study for on-line analysis of vanadium in crude oil by means of neutron activation analysis is presented. (author)