Capacitance meter

• US 20030020493A1
• Filed: 08/30/2002
• Published: 01/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shell Oil Company (Shell Plc)
• Original Assignee: Shell Oil Company (Shell Plc)
• Inventors: Haase, Mark Christopher, Van Der Spek, Alexander Michael
• Granted Patent: US 6,915,703 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/664
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/64 by measuring electrical currents passing through the fluid flow; measuring electrical potential generated by the fluid flow, e.g. by electrochemical, contact or friction effects G01F1/58 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/712 using auto-correlation or cross-correlation detection means

Abstract

A method for determining a flow property of a fluid flowing through a conduit (1) provided with a capacitance meter comprising an upstream and a downstream annular capacitance sensor (2a, 2b), wherein each annular capacitance sensor comprises at least three sensor electrodes (11a-13a, 11b-13b), which sensor electrodes are arranged around the circumference of the conduit, the method comprising selecting, for each annular capacitance sensor, a set of measurement capacitors, wherein a measurement capacitor is formed by two measurement electrodes, and wherein a measurement electrode consists either of a single sensor electrode or of at least two interconnected sensor electrodes; measuring at several moments during a time interval a capacitance of each measurement capacitor of each annular capacitance sensor (2a, 2b); determining cross correlations between capacitances measured during the time interval at the upstream annular capacitance sensor (2a) and capacitances measured during the time interval at the downstream annular capacitance sensor (2b); and determining the flow property from the cross correlations.

Claims

1. A method for determining a flow property of a fluid flowing through a conduit provided with a capacitance meter comprising an annular capacitance sensor, wherein the annular capacitance sensor comprises at least three sensor electrodes, which sensor electrodes are arranged around the circumference of the conduit, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting, for the annular capacitance sensor, a set of measurement capacitors, wherein a measurement capacitor is formed by two measurement electrodes, and wherein a measurement electrode consists either of a single sensor electrode or of at least two interconnected sensor electrodes;

(b) measuring a capacitance of each measurement capacitor,

characterized in that the annular capacitance sensor forms an upstream annular capacitance sensor, and in that the capacitance meter further comprises a downstream annular capacitance sensor provided with at least three sensor electrodes, which sensor electrodes are arranged around the circumference of the conduit, wherein the method further comprises the steps of

(c) selecting, for the downstream annular capacitance sensor, a set of measurement capacitors;

(d) measuring at several moments during a time interval a capacitance of each measurement capacitor of each annular capacitance sensor;

(e) determining cross correlations between capacitances measured during the time interval at the upstream annular capacitance sensor and capacitances measured during the time interval at the downstream annular capacitance sensor; and

(f) determining the flow property from the cross correlations.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the fluid comprises at least two fluid components, and wherein a fluid property of a fluid component is determined.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow property is one of a flow velocity profile over a cross-section of the conduit, a volumetric flow rate, or a mass flow rate.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the fluid comprises at least two components selected from the group of hydrocarbon oil, water, and natural gas.

5. A capacitance meter for determining a flow property of a fluid flowing through a conduit, the capacitance meter comprising an upstream and a downstream annular capacitance sensor arranged around the conduit, wherein each annular capacitance sensor comprises at least three sensor electrodes, which sensor electrodes are arranged around the circumference of the conduit, and wherein the capacitance meter is operated according to the method of any one of claims 1-4.

6. A capacitance meter according to claim 5, which capacitance meter is suitable for usage subsea or in a wellbore in the earth in that it further comprises means for remote operation.

7. A capacitance meter according to claim 6, wherein the means for remote operation comprises means for telemetry or means for remote power supply.

13. A method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the fluid is a test fluid, wherein each annular capacitance sensor comprises at least four sensor electrodes, and wherein the capacitances determined in step (b) are capacitances that have been corrected according to the method of any one of claims 8-11.

14. A capacitance meter for determining a flow property of a fluid flowing through a conduit, the capacitance meter comprising an upstream and a downstream annular capacitance sensor arranged around the conduit, wherein each annular capacitance sensor comprises at least four sensor electrodes, which sensor electrodes are arranged around the circumference of the conduit, and wherein the capacitance meter is operated according to the method of claim 13.

8. A method for providing corrected capacitances using an annular capacitance sensor for determining a dielectric property of a test fluid in a conduit, which capacitance sensor comprises at least four sensor electrodes arranged around the circumference of the conduit, the method comprising the steps of:

filling the conduit with the test fluid;

selecting a set of measurement capacitors, wherein a measurement capacitor is formed by two measurement electrodes, and wherein a measurement electrode consists either of a single sensor electrode or of at least two interconnected sensor electrodes;

measuring a test capacitance of each measurement capacitor;

wherein the method further comprises the steps of

interrupting the measurement at certain moments in time;

filling the conduit with a calibration fluid having a known dielectric property;

selecting a set of calibration capacitors, wherein a calibration capacitor is formed by two calibration electrodes, and wherein a calibration electrode consists either of a single sensor electrode or of at least two interconnected sensor electrodes;

measuring a calibration capacitance of each calibration capacitor; and

determining corrected capacitances from the test capacitances and the calibration capacitances by using a relationship between the calibration capacitances and the known electric property of the calibration fluid.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the step of selecting a set of calibration capacitors comprises the following steps

selecting four calibration electrodes by subdividing the sensor electrodes around the circumference into four consecutive sections, wherein each section comprises either a single sensor electrode or at least two interconnected sensor electrodes and wherein each section forms a calibration electrode;

and

selecting a first and a second calibration capacitor, wherein the first calibration capacitor is formed by two non-neighbouring of the four calibration electrodes, and wherein the second calibration capacitor is formed by the remaining two calibration electrodes.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein in the step of determining corrected capacitances a relationship between the calibration capacitance of the first calibration capacitor, the calibration capacitance of the second calibration capacitor, and the known dielectric property is used.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the relationship is the Thompson-Lampard theorem, or is based on a modification of the Thompson-Lampard theorem.

12. A capacitance meter for determining a dielectric property of a test fluid in a conduit, the capacitance meter comprising an annular capacitance sensor, which annular capacitance sensor comprises at least four sensor electrodes arranged around the circumference of the conduit, wherein the capacitance meter is calibrated according to the method of any one of claims 8-11.