Flow Meter System and Method for Measuring An Amount of Liquid in A Largely Gaseous Multiphase Flow
First Claim
1. A system for accurately measuring the percentage amounts of liquid and gas phases in a multiphase fluid flowing through a conduit when one of the phases constitutes a minority of the multiphase flow, comprising:
- a flow meter positioned on said conduit that measures the percentage amounts of liquid and gas phases in said multiphase fluid flowing through said conduit, anda pump connected to said conduit upstream of said flow meter that introduces at least one pulse of a known quantity of a fluid having the same or substantially the same composition as the minority phase which temporarily increases the amount of the minority phase by an amount that is detectable by the flow meter.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Both a flow meter system and method are provided for accurately measuring the percentage amounts of liquid and gas phases in a multiphase flow through a conduit when the liquid phase constitutes a small minority portion (e.g., less than about 20%) of the multiphase flow. The system includes a flow meter that includes a differential pressure sensor connected across a Venturi in the conduit, and a dual energy fraction meter, each of which is operably connected to a digital processor. The system further includes a pump connected to the conduit upstream of the flow meter that introduces at least one pulse of a known quantity of liquid, the pulse being sufficient in volume to temporarily increase the liquid phase by a detectable amount. After the liquid pulse is introduced into the multi-phase flow, the digital processor computes the changes in the percentage amounts of the liquid and gas phases which should have occurred as a result of the pulse, and compares the computed changes with the actual changes measured by the flow meter in order to calibrate the flow meter. The measured increase in the liquid flow is then subtracted from the total measured liquid flow to determine the actual percentage of liquid flow.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for accurately measuring the percentage amounts of liquid and gas phases in a multiphase fluid flowing through a conduit when one of the phases constitutes a minority of the multiphase flow, comprising:
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a flow meter positioned on said conduit that measures the percentage amounts of liquid and gas phases in said multiphase fluid flowing through said conduit, and a pump connected to said conduit upstream of said flow meter that introduces at least one pulse of a known quantity of a fluid having the same or substantially the same composition as the minority phase which temporarily increases the amount of the minority phase by an amount that is detectable by the flow meter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for accurately measuring the percentage amounts of liquid and gas phases in a multiphase fluid flowing through a conduit when one of the phases is a minority phase constituting less than about 20% of the multiphase fluid, comprising:
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a flow meter positioned on said conduit that measures the percentage amounts of liquid and gas phases in said multiphase fluid flowing through said conduit; a pump connected to said conduit upstream of said flow meter that introduces at least one pulse of a known quantity of a fluid having the same or substantially the same composition as the minority phase, said pulse having a volume sufficient to temporarily increase the amount of the minority phase by an amount that is detectable by the flow meter, and a digital processor that computes the changes in the percentage amounts of the liquid and gas phases which should have occurred as a result of the introduction of said pulse of minority phase, and subtracts the computed changes from the changes measured by the flow meter in order to calibrate the flow meter and determine the actual percentage amounts of liquid and gas phases in said multiphase fluid flowing through said conduit. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method of accurately measuring the percentage amounts of liquid and gas phases in a multiphase fluid flowing through a flow meter that includes a dual energy fraction meter and a differential pressure sensor when one of the phases constitutes a small portion of the multiphase fluid, comprising:
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introducing at least one pulse of a known amount of a fluid having the same or substantially the same composition as the small portion upstream of the flow meter to temporarily increase amount of the small portion of the multiphase fluid to about half of the flow of the multiphase fluid, and measuring via said flow meter the changes in the percentage amounts of liquid and gas phases at the time said small portion is increased by said pulse. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification