Pattern recognition techniques for horizontal and vertically upward multiphase flow measurement

The oil and gas industry need for high performing and low cost multiphase meters is ever more justified given the rapid depletion of conventional oil reserves that has led oil companies to develop smaller and marginal fields and reservoirs in remote locations and deep offshore, thereby placing great demands for compact and more cost effective solutions of on-line continuous multiphase flow measurement for well testing, production monitoring, production optimisation, process control and automation. The pattern recognition approach for clamp-on multiphase measurement employed in this study provides one means for meeting this need. High speed caesium-137 radioisotope-based densitometers were installed vertically at the top of a 50.8mm and 101.6mm riser as well as horizontally at the riser base in the Cranfield University multiphase flow test facility. A comprehensive experimental campaign comprising flow conditions typical of operating conditions found in the Petroleum Industry was conducted. The application of a single gamma densitometer unit, in conjunction with pattern recognition techniques to determine both the phase volume fractions and velocities to yield the individual phase flow rates of horizontal and vertically upward multiphase flows was investigated. The pattern recognition systems were trained to map the temporal fluctuations in the multiphase mixture density with the individual phase flow rates using statistical features extracted from the gamma counts signals as their inputs. Initial results yielded individual phase flow rate predictions to within ±5% relative error for the two phase airwater flows and ±10% for three phase air-oil-water flows data.