System and method for monitoring a bi-phase fluid

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9441995-B2
Application number	US-64138009-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2009
Priority date	Dec 18, 2009
Publication date	Sep 13, 2016
Grant date	Sep 13, 2016

Abstract

A measurement system and method of use include a fluid conduit for routing a base fluid therethrough, a gas conduit in fluid communication with the fluid conduit for mixing a gas into the base fluid to form a foamed bi-phase fluid, a foam conduit in fluid communication with the fluid conduit and the gas conduit to receive the bi-phase fluid therein, a first sensor disposed to measure a characteristic of the base fluid in the fluid conduit, a second sensor disposed to measure a characteristic of the gas in the gas conduit, a third sensor disposed to measure a characteristic of the bi-phase fluid in the foam conduit, and a processor for receiving data representing the measurement from at least one of the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor, analyzing the data, and calculating a parameter of the bi-phase fluid based upon the data.

First claim

We claim:

1. A measurement system, comprising:
a plurality of nonlinear fluid conduits connected upstream to a common fluid conduit for routing a base fluid therethrough;
a gas conduit in direct fluid communication with each of the nonlinear fluid conduits for mixing a gas into the base fluid to form a foamed bi-phase fluid;
a foam conduit in fluid communication with the nonlinear fluid conduits and the gas conduit to receive the bi-phase fluid therein;
a first sensor disposed to measure a characteristic of the base fluid in the common and nonlinear fluid conduits;
a second sensor disposed to measure a characteristic of the gas in the gas conduit;
a third sensor disposed to measure at least one of a pressure and a temperature of the bi-phase fluid in the foam conduit; and
a processor in communication with at least one of the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor, for determining a quality of the bi-phase fluid.

2. The measurement system according to claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is a coriolis flow meter.

3. The measurement system according to claim 1 , wherein the second sensor is a turbine flow meter.

4. The measurement system according to claim 1 , wherein the third sensor is a pressure transducer.

5. The measurement system according to claim 4 , further comprising a fourth sensor disposed to measure the temperature of the bi-phase fluid in the foam conduit, wherein the fourth sensor is a temperature sensor.

6. The measurement system according to claim 1 , wherein the third sensor is a temperature sensor.

7. The measurement system according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of a density, a flow rate, and a velocity of the bi-phase fluid is determined by the processor.

8. The measurement system according to claim 1 , wherein the determining by the processor is based upon an instruction set.

9. The measurement system according to claim 1 , further comprising a storage device connected to the processor for storing the quality of the bi-phase fluid determined by the processor.

10. The measurement system according to claim 1 , further comprising a display connected to the processor for visually presenting the quality of the bi-phase fluid determined by the processor to a user.

11. A measurement system for monitoring a bi-phase fluid in an oil well servicing application, comprising:
a plurality of nonlinear fluid conduits connected upstream to a common fluid conduit for routing a base fluid therethrough;
a gas conduit in direct fluid communication with each of the nonlinear fluid conduits for injecting a gas into the base fluid to form the bi-phase fluid;
a foam conduit in fluid communication with the nonlinear fluid conduits and the gas conduit to receive the bi-phase fluid therein;
a first sensor disposed to measure at least one of a density and a flow rate of the base fluid in the common and nonlinear fluid conduit;
a second sensor disposed to measure a flow rate of the gas in the gas conduit;
a third sensor disposed to measure at least one of a pressure and a temperature of the bi-phase fluid in the foam conduit; and
a processor in communication with at least one of the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor, for determining a quality of the bi-phase fluid based upon the data.

12. The measurement system according to claim 11 , wherein the first sensor is a coriolis flow meter.

13. The measurement system according to claim 11 , wherein the second sensor is a turbine flow meter.

14. The measurement system according to claim 11 , wherein the third sensor is a pressure transducer.

15. The measurement system according to claim 11 , wherein the third sensor is a temperature sensor.

16. The measurement system according to claim 11 , wherein at least one of a density, a quality, a rate, and a velocity of the bi-phase fluid is determined by the processor.

17. A method for monitoring a bi-phase fluid, comprising:
providing a base fluid through plurality of nonlinear fluid conduits connected upstream to a common fluid conduit;
providing a gas through a gas conduit in direct fluid communication with each of the nonlinear fluid conduits;
mixing a gas into the base fluid to form a bi-phase fluid;
providing a first sensor to measure a characteristic of the base fluid;
providing a second sensor to measure a characteristic of the gas;
providing a third sensor to measure at least one of a pressure and a temperature of the bi-phase fluid; and
providing a processor to determined an unknown parameter of the bi-phase fluid based upon at least one of the characteristic of the base fluid, the characteristic of the gas, and the characteristic of the bi-phase fluid;
wherein the parameter is a quality of the bi-phase fluid.

18. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the characteristic of the base fluid measured by the first sensor is at least one of a density and a flow rate of the base fluid.

19. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the characteristic of the gas measured by the second sensor is a flow rate of the gas.

20. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the parameter determined by the processor is at least one of a density, a flow rate, and a velocity of the bi-phase fluid.

Assignees

• Goddard Brian
• Carter Wakova
• Eldredge Brian
• Schlumberger Technology Corp

Inventors

• Goddard Brian
• Carter Wakova
• Eldredge Brian

Classifications

• G01F1/84

  Coriolis or gyroscopic mass flowmeters · CPC title

• G01F1/74 Primary

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

• G01F1/05

  by using mechanical effects · CPC title

• G01F15/024

  involving digital counting · CPC title