Granted Patent B2

US 12,455,181 · App. 18/306,013 · Granted Oct 28, 2025

Inventors: Vijay Ramakrishnan (Houston, TX); Alejandro Vera (Houston, TX); Muhammad Arsalan (Dhahran, SA); Sakethraman Mahalingam (Aberdeen, GB)

Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY

G01F1/74G01F1/7082G01N29/024G01N2291/02836

Abstract

Claims (69)

1. A method, comprising the steps:

obtaining a plurality of pressure signals from a plurality of pressure sensors that are helically disposed about a pipe that conveys a multi-phase fluid, the plurality of pressure sensors having both a non-zero angular and a non-zero axial spacing, wherein each pressure sensor in the plurality of pressure sensors comprises a diaphragm for sensing pressure, wherein the diaphragm of each pressure sensor is aligned with an inner wall of the pipe such that each pressure sensor is flush-mounted on the inner wall of the pipe;

classifying, using the plurality of pressure signals, a first pressure event as a flow eddie and classifying, using the plurality of pressure signals, a second pressure event as a sound wave, wherein a time scale of the sound wave is shorter than a time scale of the flow eddie;

determining, using the plurality of pressure signals, a first time-of-flight corresponding to the first pressure event;

determining, using the plurality of pressure signals, a second time-of-flight corresponding to the second pressure event;

determining, using the first time-of-flight, a bulk velocity of the multi-phase fluid;

determining, using the second time-of-flight, a velocity of the sound wave;

determining, a direction of the second pressure event relative to the first pressure event;

determining, using the bulk velocity and the second time-of-flight, a mixture speed of sound of the multi-phase fluid by biasing the velocity of the sound wave with the bulk velocity based on the direction;

obtaining, with a temperature sensor disposed on the pipe, a temperature of the multi-phase fluid;

obtaining, with a salinity sensor disposed on the pipe, a salinity of the multi-phase fluid;

obtaining, with a water-liquid ratio sensor disposed on the pipe, a water-liquid ratio of the multi-phase fluid;

determining, using a pressure and the temperature of the multi-phase fluid, the mixture speed of sound, and the water-liquid ratio, an apparent mixture density of the multiphase fluid;

determining, using the salinity, the pressure, and the temperature, phase densities for oil, water, and gas in the multi-phase fluid; and

determining the flow rate of oil, water, and gas in the multi-phase fluid based on the apparent mixture density, the phase densities for oil, water, and gas, and the bulk velocity.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a derived measurement based, at least in part, on the bulk velocity, the mixture speed of sound, and the water-liquid ratio measurement.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the derived measurement is one of: total flow rate, gas-liquid slip, gas phase fraction, liquid phase fraction.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the axial spacing has a first spacing and the angular spacing has a second spacing.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first time-of-flight and the second time-of-flight are determined using a two-dimensional cross-correlation scheme operating on the plurality of pressure signals.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the two-dimensional cross-correlation scheme uses a two-dimensional Fourier transform.

7. A system, comprising:

a pipe in a pipeline that conveys a multi-phase fluid;

a plurality of pressure sensors helically disposed on the pipe having both a non-zero angular and a non-zero axial spacing;

a pressure control system, comprising:

one or more processors, and

a non-transitory computer-readable memory comprising computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the processor to perform:

obtaining a plurality of pressure signals from the plurality of pressure sensors;

classifying, using the plurality of pressure signals, a first pressure event as a flow eddie and classifying, using the plurality of pressure signals, a second pressure event as a sound wave, wherein a time scale of the sound wave is shorter than a time scale of the flow eddie;

determining, using the plurality of pressure signals, a first time-of-flight corresponding to the first pressure event;

determining, using the plurality of pressure signals, a second time-of-flight corresponding to the second pressure event;

determining, using the first time-of-flight, a bulk velocity of the multi-phase fluid;

determining, using the second time-of-flight, a velocity of the sound wave;

determining, a direction of the second pressure event relative to the first pressure event; and

determining, using the bulk velocity and the second time-of-flight, a speed of sound of the multi-phase fluid by biasing the velocity of the sound wave with the bulk velocity based on the direction;

obtaining, with a temperature sensor disposed on the pipe, a temperature of the multi-phase fluid;

obtaining, with a salinity sensor disposed on the pipe, a salinity of the multi-phase fluid;

obtaining, with a water-liquid ratio sensor disposed on the pipe, a water-liquid ratio of the multi-phase fluid;

determining, using a pressure and the temperature of the multi-phase fluid, the mixture speed of sound, and the water-liquid ratio, an apparent mixture density of the multiphase fluid using Wood's relationship;

determining, using the salinity, the pressure, and the temperature, phase densities for oil, water, and gas in the multi-phase fluid; and

determining the flow rate of oil, water, and gas in the multi-phase fluid based on the apparent mixture density, the phase densities for oil, water, and gas, and the bulk velocity;

wherein each pressure sensor in the plurality of pressure sensors comprises a diaphragm for sensing pressure; and

wherein the diaphragm of each pressure sensor is aligned with an inner wall of the pipe such that each pressure sensor is flush-mounted on the inner wall of the pipe.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the angular spacing of the plurality of pressure sensors is uniform.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the axial spacing of the plurality of pressure sensors is uniform.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein each pressure sensor in the plurality of pressure sensors is a dynamic pressure sensor.

11. The system of claim 7 , further comprising:

a bluff-body vortex generator disposed on the pipe, wherein the bluff-body vortex generator is located upstream from the plurality of pressure sensors.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable memory comprising computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform:

obtaining a plurality of pressure signals from a plurality of pressure sensors that are helically disposed about a pipe having both a non-zero angular and a non-zero axial spacing;

classifying, using the plurality of pressure signals, a first pressure event as a flow eddie and classifying, using the plurality of pressure signals, a second pressure event as a sound wave, wherein a time scale of the sound wave is shorter than a time scale of the flow eddie;

determining, using the plurality of pressure signals, a first time-of-flight corresponding to the first pressure event;

determining, using the plurality of pressure signals, a second time-of-flight corresponding to the second pressure event;

determining, using the first time-of-flight, a bulk velocity of a multi-phase fluid flowing in a pipe in a pipeline;

determining, using the second time-of-flight, a velocity of the sound wave;

determining, a direction of the second pressure event relative to the first pressure event;

determining, using the bulk flow velocity and the second time-of-flight, a speed of sound of the multi-phase fluid by biasing the velocity of the sound wave with the bulk velocity based on the direction;

obtaining, with a temperature sensor disposed on the pipe, a temperature of the multi-phase fluid;

obtaining, with a salinity sensor disposed on the pipe, a salinity of the multi-phase fluid;

obtaining, with a water-liquid ratio sensor disposed on the pipe, a water-liquid ratio of the multi-phase fluid;

determining, using a pressure and the temperature of the multi-phase fluid, the mixture speed of sound, and the water-liquid ratio, an apparent mixture density of the multiphase fluid using Wood's relationship;

determining, using the salinity, the pressure, and the temperature, phase densities for oil, water, and gas in the multi-phase fluid; and

determining the flow rate of oil, water, and gas in the multi-phase fluid based on the apparent mixture density, the phase densities for oil, water, and gas, and the bulk velocity.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 12 , further comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed on the processor cause the processor to perform:

determining a derived measurement based, at least in part, on the bulk velocity, the speed of sound, and the water-liquid ratio measurement.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 13 , wherein the derived measurement is one of: total flow rate, gas-liquid slip, gas phase fraction, liquid phase fraction.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 12 , wherein a spatial location of each pressure sensor in the plurality of pressure sensors is known.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 15 , wherein the first time-of-flight and the second time-of-flight are determined using a two-dimensional cross-correlation scheme operating on the plurality of pressure signals.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 12 , wherein the one or more sound wave originates from one or more flow-induced acoustic sources in the pipeline.

Assignments (6)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (77)