Multiphase Flow Metering: An Overview

Manoj Kumar KM, Senior Scientist, Non-destructive Evaluation Lab, GE Global Research,
Bangalore

1 Abstract
One of the challenging problems that the Oil & Gas industry has been dealing with for several years is
accurate and reliable multiphase flow rate measurement in a three-phase flow. This type of flow is
common while producing oil and gas wells. The wide range of operating conditions over the period of
the oil well combined with a dynamic flow cross section in a three-phase flow make it hard for one
single technology to solve this problem. A multi-technology solution combined with smart data
analytics is an option being explored for providing reliable three-phase flow rates to the operator.
This article gives a brief introduction to the potential sensing methods used in GE multiphase meter
to meet the requirements of the industry.

2 Introduction
A flow meter is a device used for measuring or monitoring volumetric or mass flow rates of liquid s
and/or gas while they are transported through a pipe. Various flow meters exist in the commercial
market today for both single phase and multiphase flow applic ations. A single phase meter is used
when the transport pipe is known to carry only one phase, either liquid or gas, whereas a multiphase
flow meter is used when multiple phases, like liquid and gas are simultaneously transported through
the pipe. The liquid could be a single liquid or a mixture of liquids (say, oil and water). The complexity
of a flow meter and the
technologies it uses change as we
move from single phase flow
(example - meters used in petrol
stations) to multiphase flow [1]
(example - meters used at a
wellhead). The main requirements
for a flow meter are reliable
measurement
accuracy
with
minimal human intervention and
robust design for operating in harsh
environments. These requirements
make the system design for
multiphase
flow
metering
challenging for technologists.
A cartoonist view of a subsea field; multiphase flow meters are
GE Measurement & Control is a
used in Christmas tree shown as red blocks at sea bed
global business that provides
sensing
elements,
devices,
instruments, and systems that enable end customers to monitor, protect, control, and validate their

critical processes and applications. With operations around the world, GE develops technologies and
solutions for flow metering among various other measurement, control and monitoring systems. It
offers a variety of accurate, maintenance-free ultrasonic and vortex single phase flow meters and
Coriolis mass flow meters that can measure quite reliably over a very wide range of pipe sizes and
flow conditions. For example, the custody transfer single phase meter based on ultrasound
technology can provide measurements with uncertainty as low as 0.1%.
There is a huge demand in the oil and gas market for a high accuracy multiphase flow meter to meet
the needs at sub-sea, top-side (platform/land) and refineries (where processing happens). Typically
individual phase flow rates of oil, water and gas that flow together are sought after with a very
reliable accuracy. Researchers have been working on developing a multiphase flow meter from the
early 1980s and active research is still ongoing to design sensors and techniques that meet all
industry requirements. In addition to the demand for highly reliable accuracy, a multiphase flow
meter is expected to be able to measure oil, water and gas flow rates under a variety of conditions,
such as
a) 0% GVF (gas-volume fraction) to 100% GVF,
b) 0% WLR (water in liquid rate) to 100% WLR,
c) Operating pressure condition upto 700 bar
d) Temperatures upto 250 0C
e) Over a wide range of flow speed (upto 30m/s)
Variation in these parameters combined with orientation of the pipe may result in different flow types
such as bubbly flow, slug flow, churn flow etc. [2]. In a bubbly flow the gas is dispersed as small
bubbles in the liquid whereas in slug flow both dispersed small bubbles as well as bigger chunks of
gas occur in a periodic manner. Churn flow is an even more comp lex regime, which is almost like a
churning device creating a disturbed flow. Flow type poses challenges for sensors; some sensors
may be more sensitive in a bubbly regime compared to a slug regime. An additional challenge is the
potential change in fluid properties over the life of the well making the factory calibration of the
meter invalid and thus compromising measurement accuracy. One single technology/ sensor in a
flow meter cannot cover this wide operational range with varying flow types and meet per formance
requirements set by the industry. Thus, the proposed flow meter solution that can ensure
performance reliability over 20 years involves multiple sensors/ technologies capable of measuring
redundant and orthogonal parameters, whose outputs are optimally integrated with an intelligent
algorithm.

3 GE Multiphase flow meter

GE is working on developing technology architecture for a multiphase flow meter to meet the
required performance set by industry. When a mixture of fluids such as oil, water and gas are
transported through the pipe, it is extremely challenging to make accurate volumetric flow rate
measurement of individual phases without separating them. The basic requirement is to measure the

phase fraction at any instant of time in the pipe cross section and the velocity of liquid and gas
phases. When the pipe is oriented vertically it is known that the liquid and gas travel at diffe rent
velocities as there is slip between the phases predominantly due to density differences. Phase
fraction is a measure of the fraction of area occupied by the gas against the total area of the pipe
cross section. The liquid phase is usually a mixture of oil and water. Hence an additional
measurement needs to be made to ascertain the amount of water and oil in the liquid. With the
measured phase fraction and the phase velocities, the volume flow rates for each of the phases can
be quantified. Where necessary, the mass flow rates of the phases can be computed by measuring
component densities. The measurements made through individual technologies/ sensors such as
impedance or microwave needs to be related to the parameters of interests such as gas velocity o r
liquid velocity. In order to find such a relationship and establish a reliable model for this conversion, in
depth domain knowledge is a critical requirement along with extensive experimentation. Depending
on which phase (oil, water or gas) dominates the flow, the performance of individual technologies
can vary significantly. Thus, it is critical to identify the flow state in order to choose sensors that
perform the best and are reliable under a given condition. Additionally over a period of time, the salt
levels in the water and the composition of oil can change. It is critical for the sensors to estimate
these fluid properties real time. The GE multiphase meter addresses these issues in challenging
operating environments/conditions through multiple differentiators compared to other meters in the
market. Some of the differentiating elements are the following:
Phase fraction estimate immune to property variation: The impedance sensor system can estimate
liquid property real time using novel excitation metho dologies. Furthermore, models used for
estimating liquid to gas ratio are constantly updated whenever there is change in liquid properties.
This eliminates the need for frequent sampling of liquid/fluid .
Impedance hardware that can seamlessly operate across the oil and water continuous flows: In
multiphase flow, the liquid either exists in what are called oil continuous or water continuous
regimes. When in an oil continuous regime, the dielectric properties dominate whereas in a water
continuous regime, the conductive properties dominate. The conventional approach to solving this
problem is to use two different instruments for making measurements in the two types of flows. GE,
on the other hand has built custom hardware which has been proven to have a bandwidth that is
wide enough for it to operate seamlessly between changes in flow conditions. This ensures that for a
given application, a wide operating range can be covered using only one instrument.
Microwave sensors that operate at varying salinity whi le estimating water-cut reliably:
Microwave sensors used in multiphase meters currently available in the market cannot operate in
liquids with high salinity. A novel antenna system designed by GE offers high reliability through a
protective radome flushed with the inner diameter of the pipe. While this sensor can be used for
estimating water-cut and gas fraction, another microwave sensor can track and estimate the
varying salinity in absolute terms.
Ultrasound Doppler to profile liquid velocity: A direct measure of the liquid velocity is one of the
hardest measurements for a multiphase meter to make. Using Ultrasound Doppler technique on
multiphase flow, we can provide information that is not obtained from other technologies. One of the
complications in a vertical multiphase flow is that when a large enough gas slug moves upward, it

can push the liquid along the wall to move backwards momentarily. It has been shown with the
Doppler technique that these directional changes in the liquid can be detected and quantified. With
the richness of information that GEs Doppler method can provide, the measurement accuracy and
reliability can be considerably improved.
Dual venturi & differential pressure sensor design for reliable viscosity independent
measurements: With water-cut variation over life of the well, viscosity of the liquid mixture is an
unknown. The discharge coefficient of the venturi (which is a critical parameter for estimating the
total mass flow rate) is strongly related to the viscosity of the liquid. Using a dual venturi design with
multiple differential pressure measurements and using smart estimation methods, the viscosity
dependency can be eliminated from the total mass flow rate estimation.
Novel data analytics for reliable flow rate estimation: Data handling is critical in a multiphase flow
meter. A smart algorithm can automatically figure out which data is useful and reliable, a fact that is
of utmost importance in a system with multiple sensors with significantly d ifferent measurement
capabilities. The multiple measurements from different sensors have to be optimally combined based
on the flow physics as well as the physics of the sensor measurements. Combining the power of
multiple redundant measurements with a deep understanding of the flow itself, sensor bias and drift
can be addressed and corrected, thus significantly improving measurement reliability [3]. Using an
algorithm that adapts dynamically to both flow variations as well as changes in sensor performance,
the total uncertainty in the flow rate estimation can be reduced. Redundant measurements ensure
that there is more than one way to estimate the individual phase flow rates. In the event that a
sensor starts to malfunction, the algorithm can always utilize an alternate approach to obtain the
missing data and still solve the problem. With this type of over-determined system, several different
parallel routes can be developed to get to the answer. Of all the different failure modes for sensors,
the one that is particularly deceptive and yet notoriously hard to detect is sensor drift. Over the life
time of the well, this can result in an unknown error and increase the uncertainty significantly. An
algorithm that can address this issue as well as other factors that compromise measurement
reliability in the field and improve confidence in flow rate estimation will be a key differentiator for
GEs multiphase meter [4].

2D contour plot on left shows the error in liquid flow rate estimate with a single sensor data while the one
on right shows the error with fused data from multiple sensors

4 Summary
Multiphase flow metering is a complex problem that requires multiple technologies, sensors and
algorithms to be combined to provide a reliable and effective solution . Accuracy of measurement,
ability to measure under all possible flow conditions, placement in a harsh environment and reliability
requirement from the system demands innovations at various levels. A unique combination of
sensors, flow mechanics, materials, deployment technologies, packaging and miniaturization and
overall smart algorithms are critical to meet the requirements. The multiphase flow meter prototyped
by GE has been rigorously tested at the in-house multiphase flow loop facility, National Engineering
Lab in the UK and Southwest Research Institute in the US multiple times from 2010. These labs
provide a subset of the wide operating conditions that the meter is likely to encounter in a real oil
field. Nevertheless, the learning experiences from such tests have gone a long way in helping the
team develop intelligent algorithms and make smart and efficient sensors. With close interaction
with the end-users (oil companies) and having oil companies as development partners, GE
multiphase meters are all set to redefine the multiphase measurement world.

5 References
1. Multiphase Flow Metering Principles and Applications, Gioia Falcone, Geoffrey F. Hewitt and
Claudio Alimonti, Vol. 54 Developments in Petroleum Science, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2010.
2. Multiphase Flow Handbook, edited by Clayton T. Crowe, Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton,
2006.

3. Detailed Review of Existing Empirical and Analytical Estimation Models for Multiphase Flow,
Anusha Rammohan, Abhinav Dixit, Vinay Natrajan and Manoj Kumar KM, 30th Internation al
North Sea Flow Measurement Workshop, Fairmont St Andrews, UK, 23 26 October 2012.
4. Flow swirl and flow profile measurement in multiphase flow, Anusha Rammohan, Aditya
Bhakta, Vinay Natrajan, John Ward, and Manoj Kumar KM, 31st International North Sea Flow
Measurement Workshop, Tonsberg, Norway, 22 25 October 2013.