Abstract
Oil–water two-phase flows widely exist in industrial production, especially in the petroleum industry. The liquid holdup is significant for understanding reservoir production characteristics and improving oil recovery. This paper focuses on the helical capacitance sensor for the measurement of water holdup of oil–water two-phase flows. A new double helix capacitance sensor with an electrode rotation angle of 360° is designed. The sensitivity field distribution of the sensor with different parameters is simulated by the finite element analysis method, and the optimal geometric size of the sensor is obtained. The measurement characteristics of the sensor under different flow conditions are investigated by dynamical experiments of vertical oil–water flows. By analyzing the response signal of the helical capacitance sensor, the flow pattern can be identified, and the apparent water holdup can be calculated. The results show that the proposed sensor is suitable to measure the water holdup in a wide range of water cuts. Even in flow conditions of a high water cut, the sensor still retains good resolution in the D O/W flow pattern. This study expands the water holdup measurement of a capacitance sensor in the case of an oil–water two-phase flow with a high water cut.
Highlights
Oil–water two-phase flow is very common in natural and industrial processing
It is very difficult to detect the parameters of oil–water two-phase flow due to the difference of inherent properties between phases, such as the fluid density and viscosity
After long-term exploitation, many traditional oilfields will enter the stage of high water cut exploitation
Summary
Oil–water two-phase flow is very common in natural and industrial processing. It is very difficult to detect the parameters of oil–water two-phase flow due to the difference of inherent properties between phases, such as the fluid density and viscosity. Emerson dos Reis et al [27] conducted a detailed analysis of a parallel plate capacitance sensor, concave plate capacitance sensor, double ring capacitance sensor and double helix capacitance sensor, and compared these sensors through experiments They installed the above sensors in the same horizontal pipe section and matched the horizontal gas–liquid two-phase laminar flow under different flow conditions. Zhao An et al [28] optimized the structure of a wall capacitance sensor through simulation, studied its holdup measurement characteristics for oil–water two-phase flow in horizontal pipeline. Zhai Lusheng et al [29] designed a capacitance sensor based on a 180◦ double helix electrode for oil–water two-phase flow under the conditions of a horizontal pipeline and measured the response of the sensor.
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