Moveable Assembly for Simultaneous Detection of Analytic and Compensation Signals in Optical Computing

Abstract

An optical computing device uses a moveable assembly to simultaneously analytic and compensation signals to determine sample characteristics in real-time. In one embodiment, the moveable assembly is a rotating carousel including at least one optical element pair positioned thereon, where one of the optical elements forms an analytic channel, and the other forms the compensation channel. Alternatively, two carousels may be utilized, where one includes the analytic channel and the other includes the compensation channel. In another embodiment, a linear array having compensation and analytic channels may be utilized. During operation, electromagnetic radiation optically interacts with the sample to form sample-interacted light, which is directed toward the optical elements on the moveable assembly. The optical elements are positioned on the moveable assemblies such that the sample-interacted light optically interacts with both simultaneously, thereby providing compensation in parallel with the sample characteristic measurement.

1 . An optical computing device, comprising:
 electromagnetic radiation that optically interacts with a sample to produce sample-interacted light;   a moveable assembly, comprising:
 a first optical element that optically interacts with the sample-interacted light to produce first optically-interacted light which corresponds to a characteristic of the sample, thereby forming an analytic channel; and 
 a second optical element that optically interacts with the sample-interacted light to produce second optically-interacted light utilized to compensate the analytic channel, thereby forming a compensation channel, 
 wherein the first and second optical elements are positioned along the moveable assembly to simultaneously interact with the sample-interacted light; 
   a first detector positioned to measure the first optically-interacted light and generate a first signal; and   a second detector positioned to measure the second optically-interacted light and generate a second signal,   wherein the first and second signals are utilized to determine the characteristics of the sample.   
     
     
         2 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a beam splitter positioned to split the sample-interacted light into a first and second portion, the first portion being directed to the analytic channel; and   an optical element positioned to direct the second portion toward the compensation channel.   
     
     
         3 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first optical element is an Integrated Computational Element (“ICE”) and the second optical element is a neutral density element; or   the first and second optical elements are ICEs.   
     
     
         4 . (canceled) 
     
     
         5 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the moveable assembly comprises:
 a plurality of analytic channels; and   a plurality of compensation channels which correspond to the analytic channels.   
     
     
         6 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 5 , wherein:
 the moveable assembly is a carousel rotatably disposed about a center axis;   the analytic channels are positioned along an outer row of the carousel in relation to the center axis;   the compensation channels are positioned along an inner row of the carousel in relation to the center axis; and   corresponding analytic and compensation channels are positioned beside each other in a column-fashion, thus forming an optical pair.   
     
     
         7 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 5 , wherein:
 the moveable assembly is a linear array;   the analytic channels are positioned along a first row of the linear array;   the compensation channels are positioned along a second row of the linear array; and   corresponding analytic and compensation channels are positioned beside each other in a column-fashion, thus forming an optical pair,   wherein the linear array is moveable in a single dimension to sequence the optical pairs to interact with the sample-interacted light.   
     
     
         8 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 5 , wherein:
 the moveable assembly is a carousel; and   the analytic and compensation channels are positioned in an alternating row-like fashion along the carousel such that corresponding analytic and compensation channels are positioned beside each other, thus forming an optical pair.   
     
     
         9 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 5 , wherein:
 the moveable assembly is a carousel rotatably disposed about a center axis;   the compensation channels are positioned along an outer row of the carousel in relation to the center axis;   the analytic channels are positioned along an inner row of the carousel in relation to the center axis; and   corresponding analytic and compensation channels are positioned beside each other in a column-fashion, thus forming an optical pair.   
     
     
         10 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the moveable assembly comprises:
 a first rotating carousel comprising the first optical element; and   a second rotating carousel comprising the second optical element.   
     
     
         11 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 10 , further comprising:
 at least one motor coupled to the first and second rotating carousels in order to synchronously rotate the first and second rotating carousels; or   a beam splitter positioned to split the sample-interacted light into a first and second portion, the first portion being directed to the analytic channel and an optical element positioned to direct the second portion toward the compensation channel.   
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 10 , wherein:
 the first rotating carousel further comprises a plurality of analytic channels; and the second rotating carousel further comprises a plurality of compensation channels which correspond to the analytic channels.   
     
     
         14 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an electromagnetic radiation source that generates the electromagnetic radiation; or   a signal processor communicably coupled to the first and second detector to computationally determine the characteristics of the sample.   
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . An optical computing device as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the optical computing device comprises part of a downhole reservoir interrogation system. 
     
     
         17 . An optical computing method, comprising:
 optically interacting electromagnetic radiation with a sample to produce sample-interacted light;   actuating a moveable assembly comprising a first and second optical element;   optically interacting the sample-interacted light with the first optical element to produce first optically-interacted light which corresponds to a characteristic of the sample, thereby forming an analytic channel;   optically interacting the sample-interacted light with the second optical element to produce second optically-interacted light utilized to compensate the analytic channel, thereby forming a compensation channel,   wherein the sample-interacted light is simultaneously optically interacted with the first and second optical elements;   generating a first signal that corresponds to the analytic channel;   generating a second signal that corresponds to the compensation channel; and   determining the characteristics of the sample using the first and second signals.   
     
     
         18 . An optical computing method as defined in  claim 17 , wherein optically interacting the sample-interacted light with the first and second optical elements comprises:
 optically interacting the sample-interacted light with a beam splitter;   splitting the sample-interacted light into a first and second portion;   directing the first portion to the analytic channel; and   directing the second portion toward the compensation channel.   
     
     
         19 . An optical computing method as defined in  claim 17 , wherein:
 optically interacting the sample-interacted light with the first optical element comprises optically interacting the sample-interacted light with an Integrated Computational Element (“ICE”); and   optically interacting the sample-interacted light with the second optical element comprises optically interacting the sample-interacted light with a neutral density element.   
     
     
         20 . An optical computing method as defined in  claim 17 , wherein optically interacting the sample-interacted light with the first and second optical elements comprises optically interacting the sample-interacted light with Integrated Computational Elements (“ICEs”). 
     
     
         21 . An optical computing method as defined in  claim 17 , wherein:
 the moveable assembly further comprises a plurality of analytic channels and a plurality of compensation channels which correspond to the analytic channels, thus forming optical pairs;   the moveable assembly is a rotating carousel, and actuating the moveable assembly comprises rotating the carousel;   the moveable assembly is a linear array, and actuating the moveable assembly comprises moving the linear array along a single dimension, thereby sequencing the optical pairs to interact with the sample-interacted light; or   the moveable assembly comprises a first carousel having a plurality of first optical elements and a second carousel having a plurality of second optical elements which correspond to the first optical elements, thus forming optical pairs, the method further comprising actuating the moveable assembly comprises rotating the first and second carousels.   
     
     
         22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . An optical computing method as defined in  claim 21 , wherein:
 the first and second carousels are synchronously rotated such that the optical pairs interact with the sample-interacted light in sequence; or   optically interacting the sample-interacted light with the first and second optical elements comprises:
 optically interacting the sample-interacted light with a beam splitter; 
 splitting the sample-interacted light into a first and second portion; 
 directing the first portion to the analytic channel; and 
 directing the second portion toward the compensation channel. 
   
     
     
         27 . (canceled) 
     
     
         28 . An optical computing method as defined in  claim 21 , wherein:
 optically interacting the sample-interacted light with the first optical element comprises optically interacting the sample-interacted light with an Integrated Computational Element (“ICE”) and optically interacting the sample-interacted light with the second optical element comprises optically interacting the sample-interacted light with a neutral density element;   optically interacting the sample-interacted light with the first and second optical elements comprises optically interacting the sample-interacted light with ICEs; or   the method further comprises utilizing the optical computing device as part of a downhole reservoir interrogation system.   
     
     
         29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . (canceled)