On the development of integrated sensor for multiphase measurements

Abstract

The need for multiphase flow measurement in the oil and gas production and petrochemical industries has been significantly increased over the last few years. Reliable measurements of the multiphase flow parameters such as void fraction, phase concentration, phase velocity and flow pattern identification are important for accurate modelling and/or in the operation of multiphase systems. Although many multiphase flow meters were recently developed, challenges in measuring multiphase flow components remain unresolved. Therefore, extensive research efforts were spent in designing accurate multiphase flow meters and several meters are currently under development worldwide. However, due to the complexity of the multiphase flow mixture and in some cases when three or more phases co-exist, it is impossible to adopt only one technique to develop a multiphase flow meter. Consequently, the integration of multiple sensors, based on several measurement techniques, found to be the optimum solution for accurate multiphase flow metering. The main objective of this study is to evaluate existing multiphase flow measurement techniques for the potential integration in a multiphase flow metering device.