Los Alamos National Security, LLC

Chevron U.s.a. Inc.

Gregory Russ Goddard

Gregory Kaduchak

Steven W Graves

James Hubert Jett

Benjamin Ames Leonard

Gerard Simon

Dipen N Sinha

Naveen N Sinha

Apparatus and methods for using acoustic radiation forces to order particles suspended in a host liquid are described. The particles may range in size from nanometers to millimeters, and may have any shape. The suspension is placed in an acoustic resonator cavity, and acoustical energy is supplied thereto using acoustic transducers. The resulting pattern may be fixed by using a solidifiable host liquid, forming thereby a solid material. Patterns may be quickly generated; typical times ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes. In a one-dimensional arrangement, parallel layers of particles are formed. With two and three dimensional transducer arrangements, more complex particle configurations are possible since different standing-wave patterns may be generated in the resonator. Fabrication of periodic structures, such as metamaterials, having periods tunable by varying the frequency of the acoustic waves, on surfaces or in bulk volume using acoustic radiation forces, provides great flexibility in the creation of new materials. Periodicities may range from millimeters to sub-micron distances, covering a large portion of the range for optical and acoustical metamaterials.

Material fabrication using acoustic radiation forces

Method and system for uniformly spacing particles in a flowing system comprising suspending particles in an elongated fluid filled cavity; exposing said cavity to an axial acoustic standing wave field, wherein said axial acoustic standing wave field drives said particles to nodal and anti-nodal positions along the center axis of said cavity to result in uniformly spaced particles; and focusing said particles to the center axis of said cavity.

Method for non-contact particle manipulation and control of particle spacing along an axis

The level of hydrogen sulfide in drilling fluid within a well formed in the Earth is assessed in an ongoing and/or in situ manner. The well may be constructed for the removal of hydrocarbons from the Earth. The assessment of hydrogen sulfide level may be provided in an ongoing manner such that real time, or near real time, fluctuations in hydrogen sulfide levels in the drilling fluid within the well may be conveyed to users. This may provide various advantages over systems in which drilling fluid must be extracted and separately tested for hydrogen sulfide content, and/or in which assessments of hydrogen sulfide level require time for performance.

System and method for assessing hydrogen sulfide in a hydrocarbon extraction well in situ in an ongoing manner

One or more of the embodiments of the present invention provide for a method of non-contact particle manipulation and control of particle spacing along an axis which includes axial and radial acoustic standing wave fields. Particles are suspended in an aqueous solution, and this solution then flows into the cylindrical flow channel. While the solution flows through the flow channel, the outer structure of the flow channel is vibrated at a resonant frequency, causing a radial acoustic standing wave field to form inside the flow channel in the solution. These radial acoustic standing waves focus the particles suspended in the solution to the center axis of the cylindrical flow channel. At the same time, a transducer is used to create an axial acoustic standing wave field in the flow channel parallel to the axis of the flow channel. This drives the particles, which are already being focused to the center axis of the flow channel, to nodes or anti-nodes of the axial standing wave at half-wavelength intervals, depending on whether the particles are more or less dense and more or less compressible than the surrounding fluid.

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Los Alamos, NM, United States of America

Gregory Russ Goddard