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oa Performance of digitally modulated RFID energy detector for moisture sensing applications for oil and gas quality monitoring in Qatar
- Publisher: Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press)
- Source: Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Proceedings, Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Volume 2012 Issue 1, Oct 2012, Volume 2012, CSPS4
Abstract
Background & Objectives: Advances in the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology have made it ubiquitously present. Due to the recently emerging applications, RFIDs have been used in a plethora of different scenarios. Oil and gas industry is no exception; developments in the RFID technology enabled it to be used in oil and gas quality and pipeline infrastructure monitoring through low frequency RFID tags. The presence of moisture in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) / liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipes can create two main problems. It can degrade the heating ability of the fuel and it can also react with the refrigerant of the liquefied gas to create hydrates, which further lower the quality of the gas. A wireless monitoring system using low frequency RFIDs as moisture sensors can prevent such hazards by detecting the received energy of the transmitted signal to determine the presence of moisture. Method: A simple energy detector concept was utilized to exploit the well-known behavior of the RFID's signal reception and energy absorption with varying environments. A decision for the presence of moisture was made using the threshold values of the energy detector. Results: The experimental results show that the energy detector approach detects the presence of moisture in the oil and gas system. As another remark, when we decrease the distance between the receiver and transmitter antennas of RFID sensors, one can easily notice the increase on the energy detection performance. Different power levels, modulation schemes and frequency ranges have been analyzed to better understand the energy detection output of RFID system. An optimized solution can be looked at for using the best frequency and input power to maximize the distance between the two antennas. Conclusion: In this study, one can see that the RFID system can be used to send information regarding the presence of moisture for quality monitoring of liquefied gas pipes in Qatar. By using this information, we can detect and make decisions on the basis of the energy detection output from the RFID antenna system. This study can be used in a wireless cyber-physical moisture detection system targeted at Qatar's needs.