Offshore staff
EAST KILBRIDE, UK – Flow measurement R&D specialist NEL claims to be the world’s first oil and gas laboratory to invest in 2D flow visualization technology.
This involves use of 2D x-ray tomography to produce high definition images of complex multiphase flows that cannot be captured with conventional instruments, NEL said.
The resultant, more precise reproduction of flow patterns should help the laboratory optimize meter design against specific operating conditions. This, NEL added, should lead to greater measurement accuracy, reducing uncertainty and minimizing operators’ financial exposure.
Dr. Bruno Pinguet, multiphase domain senior advisor at NEL, said the new technology “will allow us to look in unprecedented detail at meter performance versus flow dynamic structures. This will help us to advance our understanding of how complex multiphase fluids behave, so that the quality of factory acceptance testing for multiphase meters will improve significantly.”
NEL’s system is designed primarily for measuring multiphase flows in horizontal and vertical pipes, and will be capable of determining 2D phase fractions within a multiphase pipe flow in real-time.
It will also offer high-frequency data capture – over 150 frames per second –delivering detailed tomographic reproduction of the cross-sectional phase distribution (oil, gas, water) within the flow regime.
2D X-ray tomography is said to eliminate many of the current limitations of flow measurement, such as poor image resolution and high-sensitivity to errors caused by the addition of process fluids.
1/30/2018
