ANALYSIS OF CURRENT STATE AND MAIN TENDENCIES IN DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS FOR MEASURING OIL VISCOSITY DURING PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION

There are factors that cause the necessity of viscosity measurement on the main oil pipelines. The article presents the principles of various existing viscometers and the latest research in this area. The authors consider the characteristics of oil flow, trunk pipelines and trends in the oil industry. They analyse viscometric methods from the point of view of the control of trunk oil flows. The authors evaluate the methods, on the basis of which they make recommendations for their modernisation for the control of main oil streams. The research showed the absence of a method that meets all the requirements of the main oil flow and the trends of development of the oil industry. According to the authors it is necessary to make further research of measuring methods based on piezoelectric elements and capacitive sensors and possibly implement them in new oil pipelines. Authors believe that the greatest potential for the oil industry has a radical modernization of the bubble pneumatic method to suit the specific features of the control object (main oil flow).