Distributed sound speed measurements for multiphase flow measurement
First Claim
1. A system for determining at least one flow rate of a phase of an N-phase fluid mixture flowing in a conduit, comprising:
- a speed of sound meter along the conduit for determining the speed of sound in the mixture;
at least N−
1 additional sensors along the conduit for providing at least N−
1 first parameters indicative of the mixture; and
a computer containing a multiphase flow model which receives the speed of sound and the at least N−
1 first parameters to compute a flow rate of a phase of the fluid mixture.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multiphase flow meter distributed system is disclosed that is capable of measuring phase flow rates of a multiphase fluid. The distributed system includes at least one flow meter disposed along the pipe, an additional sensor disposed along the pipe spatially removed from the flow meter, and a multiphase flow model that receives flow related parameters from the flow meter and the additional sensor to calculate the phase flow rates. The flow meter provides parameters such as pressure, temperature, fluid sound speed and/or velocity of the fluid, and the additional sensor provides a parameter indicative of pressure and or temperature of the fluid. Depending on production needs and the reservoir dimensions, the distributed system may utilize a plurality of flow meters disposed at several locations along the pipe and may further include a plurality of additional sensors as well. The distributed system preferably uses fiber optic sensors with bragg gratings. This enables the system to have a high tolerance for long term exposure to harsh temperature environments and also provides the advantage of multiplexing the flow meters and/or sensors together.
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Citations
87 Claims
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1. A system for determining at least one flow rate of a phase of an N-phase fluid mixture flowing in a conduit, comprising:
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a speed of sound meter along the conduit for determining the speed of sound in the mixture;
at least N−
1 additional sensors along the conduit for providing at least N−
1 first parameters indicative of the mixture; and
a computer containing a multiphase flow model which receives the speed of sound and the at least N−
1 first parameters to compute a flow rate of a phase of the fluid mixture. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for determining at least one flow rate of a phase of a multiphase fluid mixture flowing in a conduit, comprising:
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a speed of sound meter along the conduit for determining a parameter indicative of the speed of sound in the mixture;
at least one first additional sensor along the conduit for providing at least one first parameter indicative of the mixture, wherein at least one of the first additional sensors is spatially removed from the speed of sound meter; and
a computer containing a multiphase flow model which receives the speed of sound parameter and the at least one first parameter to compute a flow rate of a phase in the mixture. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A system for determining at least one flow rate of a phase of a multiphase fluid mixture flowing in a conduit, comprising:
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at a first axial location along the conduit, a velocity sensor for providing a parameter indicative of the velocity of the fluid;
a sound speed sensor for providing a parameter indicative of the fluid sound speed in the fluid;
a pressure sensor for providing a parameter indicative of the pressure of the fluid;
a temperature sensor for providing a parameter indicative of the temperature of the fluid;
at a second axial location along the conduit different from the first axial location, at least one additional sensor for providing at least one further parameter indicative of the fluid; and
a multiphase flow model for receiving the parameter indicative of the velocity, the parameter indicative of the fluid sound speed, the parameter indicative of the pressure, the parameter indicative of temperature, and the further parameter to compute a flow rate of a phase in the mixture. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A method for determining at least one flow rate of a phase of a multiphase fluid mixture flowing in a conduit using a computer containing a multiphase flow model, comprising:
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receiving a speed of sound signal indicative of the speed of sound in the mixture into the multiphase flow model;
receiving at least one first additional signal indicative of the mixture into the multiphase flow model; and
processing the speed of sound signal and the at least one first additional signal to compute a flow rate of a phase in the mixture. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51)
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52. A method for determining at least one flow rate of a phase of an N-phase fluid mixture flowing in a conduit using a computer containing a multiphase flow model, comprising:
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receiving a speed of sound signal indicative of the speed of sound in the mixture into the multiphase flow model using a speed of sound meter along the conduit;
receiving at least N−
1 signals indicative of the mixture into the multiphase flow model using at least N−
1 additional sensors along the conduit; and
processing the speed of sound signal and the at least N−
1 signals to compute a flow rate of a phase in the mixture. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. A method for determining at least one flow rate of a phase of a multiphase fluid mixture flowing in a conduit, comprising:
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placing a speed of sound meter along the conduit for determining a parameter indicative of the speed of sound in the mixture;
placing at least one first additional sensor along the conduit for providing at least one first parameter indicative of the mixture, wherein at least one of the first additional sensors is spatially removed from the speed of sound meter; and
sending the speed of sound parameter and the at least one first parameter to a computer containing a multiphase flow model and computing a flow rate of a phase in the mixture. - View Dependent Claims (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87)
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Specification