Multi-phase flow meter and methods for use thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10012072-B2
Application number	US-201314375101-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 17, 2013
Priority date	Mar 22, 2012
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

A flow meter for measuring multi-phase flow and method of use comprising an impeller assembly having a one or more blades in an asymmetric blade configuration on a rotational shaft and one or more sensors to measure partial rotations of the blades. Sensors may obtain impeller rotational information associated with various portions of the flow stream. With this multi-phase fluid flow may be determined from the determined local velocity information, the operation of a fluid-flow system may be enhanced.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flow meter for measuring multi-phase flow comprising:
an impeller assembly comprising;
(i) a shaft;
(ii) a single impeller blade fixedly engaged with the shaft, the impeller blade configured to impart rotation of the shaft from forces caused by contact by the impeller blade with a flowing fluid; and
one or more sensors associated with the impeller assembly and configured to obtain measurement data associated with fluid flow, the obtained measurement data from the sensors including for each of a plurality of angular positions around a circumference of rotation of the single blade, each of the plurality of angular positions representing a position of the blade within a rotational tolerance range, and for each of the angular positions the obtained measurement data including at least one of a partial torsion, and a partial velocity.

2. The flow meter of claim 1 , wherein the measurement data comprises one or more of a force applied to the impeller blade for each partial rotation of the portions of the shaft where the impeller blade is fastened and the rotational speed of the portions of the shaft where the impeller blade is fastened.

3. The flow meter of claim 1 , wherein the shaft assembly comprises a collar coupled to the impeller blade of the impeller assembly, wherein the collar is engaged with the shaft.

4. The flow meter of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more of a speedometer, a strain gauge sensor and a torsional sensor.

5. The flow meter of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors are configured to obtain measurement data for five or more time intervals per rotation of the impeller blade.

6. The flow meter of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors are configured to obtain measurement data for ten or more time intervals per rotation of the impeller blade.

7. A hydrocarbon production system comprising:
a wellbore accessing one or more intervals within a subsurface formation;
a measurement device disposed within the wellbore, the measurement device comprising a flow meter having a single blade impeller and configured to impart rotation of a shaft from forces caused by contact with a fluid, wherein the flow meter is configured to obtain measurement data associated with the fluid flow through the flow meter, the obtained measurement data from the sensors including for each of a plurality of angular positions around a circumference of rotation of the single blade, each of the plurality of angular positions representing a rotation position of the blade within a rotational tolerance range, and for each of the angular positions the obtained measurement data including at least one of a partial torsion and a partial velocity of the impeller blade; and
a central processing unit in communication with the measurement device and configured to:
receive data, wherein the data comprises one or more of (i) an indication of the measurement data, and (ii) the measurement data;
process the received data to determine the fluid flow within the wellbore.

8. The production system of claim 7 , wherein the flow meter comprises:
an impeller assembly having a shaft assembly, wherein the shaft assembly comprises a shaft and the impeller assembly comprises:
one or more sensors associated with the impeller blade and each of the one or more sensors configured to obtain the measurement data.

9. The production system of claim 7 , wherein the impeller blade consists essentially of a single blade and a counter weight.

10. The production system of claim 7 , wherein the fluid flow within the wellbore is multi-phase fluid flow.

11. A method of managing fluid flow within a passage comprising:
traversing a flow meter through a fluid flow within a passage, wherein the flow meter comprises a single impeller blade fixedly engaged with a shaft and configured to rotate based on the fluid flow within the passage adjacent to the flow meter, wherein the flow meter is configured to obtain measurement data associated with the fluid flow for a partial rotation of the impeller blade, the obtained measurement data from the sensors including for each of a plurality of angular positions around a circumference of rotation of the single blade, each of the plurality of angular positions representing a rotation position of the blade within a rotational tolerance range, and for each rotation position the obtained measurement data including at least one of a partial torsion and a partial velocity of the impeller blade; and
calculating fluid flow within the wellbore based on the measurement data.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the fluid flow within the passage is multiple phase fluid flow.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the passage is a wellbore.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the flow meter measures one or more of a force applied to the impeller blade for each partial rotation of the impeller blade and a rotational speed of the impeller blade for each partial rotation of the impeller blade.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the flow meter comprises one or more sensors configured to collect the measurement data and the one or more sensors comprise one or more of a speedometer, a strain gauge sensor and a torsional sensor.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the flow meter is configured to obtain measurement data for five or more time intervals per rotation of the impeller blade.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the flow meter is configured to obtain measurement data for ten or more time intervals per rotation of the impeller blade.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the impeller blade consists essentially of a single blade and a counter weight.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising calculating the velocity of each phase of the fluid flow using the measurement data from the flow meter.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising calculating the volume fraction of each phase of the fluid flow relative to the total volume of the fluid flow within the passage.

Assignees

• Valsecchi Pietro
• Exxonmobil Upstream Res Co

Inventors

• Valsecchi Pietro

Classifications

• E21B47/10 Primary

  Locating fluid leaks, intrusions or movements · CPC title

• G01F1/10

  using rotating vanes with axial admission · CPC title

• G01F1/74

  Devices for measuring flow of a fluid or flow of a fluent solid material in suspension in another fluid · CPC title