technology: meter measures oil flow at the bottom of the sea - measuring devices distance

One of the biggest problems that Jeff CRUK oil faces in mining remote areas
Ocean reserves are measuring the amount of oil in the blistering mixture of hydrocarbon gas, oil, water and sand.
The petroleum industry is working to develop measuring devices for this goalcalledmulti-
Phase fluid that can be placed on the bottom of the sea and operated by remote control.
Later this month, the National Engineering Laboratory (NEL)
In eastkilbride, Scotland, it will open what it considers to be the first laboratory in the world to test and calibrate multi-phase petroleum production equipment.
There are already 640 remote wells under the sea all over the world.
The fluid in these wells flows to the surface of the platform in multi-phase form at a distance of up to 20 kilometers.
Before the product is sent ashore, oil, water and natural gas are separated on the platform.
Building the well under the sea has greatly reduced the cost of developing small oil fields close to existing platforms.
But new technology is needed to further operate the well from the platform.
It is necessary to measure the composition when the multi-phase fluid flows out of the well, as the fluid from different wells in the field is usually combined into an ordinary pipe and pumped to the platform.
When technical problems are solved, oil companies can extract oil wells 50 kilometers from the platform.
NEL's multi-phase laboratory includes a recycling loop where water, air and nitrogen are mixed in the pipeline before passing through the instrument under test.
The system is designed to simulate very irregular flows found in multi-phase pipelines.
The consistency of the fluid can range from a homogeneous mixture with small bubbles to a large number of liquid plugs accompanied by large bubbles.
After passing the instrument under test, the gas, oil and water are separated.
The flow rate of each flow is measured and compared with the multi-phase meter reading.
Oil engineers have studied a variety of measurement techniques.
Includes the phase fluid that homogenizes the fluid or detects the fluid with radiation, sound or microwave.
Perhaps the oil company Texaco is doing state-of-the-art research.
Prototype of Texaco submarine metering L system (SMS)
Installed on the company's grid platform in the summer of 1989.
The production of different wells using different flow rates was carried out more than 150 trial runs.
The test was completed after the bubble problem was overcome earlier this year.
SMS is expected to be installed on the Highlander submarine well this fall for testing on the seabed.
The SMS consists of a separator container, which is a pipe with an angle of inclination.
Under the action of gravity, the fluid flows down the pipeline on a series of baffles.
The Stop flow on the baffle helps to separate the bubbles, which then rise to the top surface of the tube and flow out through the outlet.
A small amount of liquid is delivered out to measure how much water is in the liquid.
This part of the instrument detects the liquid with microwave.
Texaco will not reveal how this part of the instrument works.
After separation, various measurements of the flow of gas and liquid are carried out.
Data from various sensors in the meter is sent to the computer on the platform, and then the computer estimates the flow rate of different parts of the fluid.
Finally, recombine the flow of liquid and gas on the outside of the meter and pump it to the platform.
Texaco's goal is to get 5 cents accuracy by text message.
This is enough for managing the well, but commercial use needs to be close to 1 cent accuracy.