Dual Active Resonator for Dispersion Coefficient Measurement of Asphaltene Nano-Particles

Dispersion and diffusion of Asphaltene particles in n-Heptane is measured to investigate the solution characteristics of different concentrations in wide range of 0.000625-0.625 (%wt). Planar split ring resonator (SRR) is armed with active circuitry (active resonator) to enhance the quality factor over 3 K to achieve ultra-high resolution sensing and track minute variations in microfluidic tube. Parallel SRRs as dual active resonator are performing independently, both in sensing and resolution, at 1.03 GHz (f
_L
) and 1.149 GHz (f
_H
) as the sensing tool in non-contact mode to monitor the spread of model oil (short pulse) in n-Heptane (continuous flow). With the frequency shifts (Δf
_L
, Δf
_H
), average flow rate, and the inner diameter of the tube, the molecular diffusion coefficient, and then the dispersion coefficient can be rapidly derived according to two-window solution of Taylor-Aris dispersion analysis. Samples with higher concentration of Asphaltene are shown to have faster spread and larger dispersion in the flow. Dispersion coefficients of the samples cover the range of 5.2-7 × 10
^-4
mm
²
/s in great agreement with conventional methods.