Next Generation Visualisation & Metering Technology for Multi-phase Flows
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Inst of Particle Science & Engineering
Abstract
The principal aim of the research proposal is to develop a next generation multi-phase flow instrument to non-invasively measure the phase flow rates, and rapidly image the flow-field distributions, of complex, unsteady two- or three-phase flows. The proposed research is multi-disciplinary covering aspects of fluid mechanics modelling, sensor material selection and flow metering, process tomography and multi-variable data fusion. The new instrument will be based on the novel concepts of 3D vector Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) and the Electromagnetic Velocity Profiler (EVP). These will be used in conjunction with auxiliary differential-pressure measurements for flow density and total flow rate. It is our intention to be able to measure the volumetric flow rate, image time-dependent distributions of the local axial velocity and volume fraction of the dispersed and continuous phases, visualise flow patterns and provide an alternative measurement of volumetric flow rates in two and three phase flows. The project draws upon several recent advances in EIT technology made by the proposers' research teams. Together these potentially enable the development of an advanced flow meter intended to address some limitations of current multiphase flow meters, leading to improvements of the management of productivity in many industrial sectors such as petroleum, petrochemical, food, nuclear and mineral processing. Within the scope of this research, only flows with a conductive continuous liquid phase will be targeted. We will make use of advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) protocols for independent non-invasive validation of both the phase volume fraction and velocity distribution measurements. It is intended that the project will pave the way for the manufacturing of a next generation of advanced multi-phase flow measurement and rapid visualisation technologies.
Planned Impact
The flow consortium of the project consists of three industries and the three academic partners. Schlumberger is both a manufacturer and an end user of multiphase flow meters for oil-gas well testing and production monitoring, and ITS is a manufacturer for electrical impedance tomography systems. This will ensure that a successful outcome of the project will be effectively transferred to instrumentation industries, then further developed and deployed to best serve the UK's oil-gas industry and enhance its competitiveness. NEL seeks to advance the industry knowledge on multiphase flow, as a precursor to developing future business from consultancy, joint industry projects and facility based research. The funding will thus bring six partners with complementary skills in the UK together to carry out this innovative R&D project in advanced multiphase flow metering. The funding will also enable the universities' staff members to carry out conceptal and/or applied research with access to necessary expertise, facilities and equipment at SCR, NEL and ITS, to advance their research on the science of multiphase flow dynamics, flow instrumentation and tomographic imaging, as well as to disseminate the R&D results. The benefits to the academic partners of the project will be immediate, with funding for several talented postdoctoral researchers and PhD students working on the new multidisciplinary concepts of 3D vector Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), Electromagnetic Velocity Profiler (EVP) and Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for the proposed new multiphase metering instrument - work which will also enrich science and extend the boundaries of engineering. The output of the research, a new generation of multiphase flow visualisation and metering technologies, will provide a new research platform and methodology to both academics and industries for solving known and new challenges in the discipline of multiphase flow which may evoke many new findings and novel solutions. A successful project completion will improve university partners' reputations and track records and the breadth of their research portfolios, and hence will enable them to attract further funding and recruit good research students and research fellows in the future. Following the successful outcome of the project, significant economic and sustainability benefits are expected to those outside the consortium. After commercialisation of the potential new multiphase flowmeter, oil-gas operators in the UK North Sea and elsewhere will benefit from the services and flowmeter sales in oil-gas well exploration and production testing, production monitoring, artificial lift optimisation, fiscal allocation, flow assurance and reservoir management. The project will be managed by the project consortium, chaired by Professor M Wang at University of Leeds (UL), and comprising the University of Huddersfield (UH), the University of Cambridge (UC), Schlumberger Cambridge Research (SCR), National Engineering laboratory (NEL) and Industrial Tomography Systems (ITS). The members of the consortium have a history of successful collaborations, which resulted in a successful commercialisation via knowledge transfer, e.g. The Z8000 Fast EIT System commercialised by ITS in 2009 was based on outcomes of a joint EPSRC project conducted by the consortium members. All parties of the consortium have already signed a confidentiality agreement in advance of the submission. Arrangements on IP protection and management will be made at the start of the project. Knowledge transfer and commercialisation will be addressed on a case-by-case basis but is likely to involve the drawing down of venture capital to fund growth of the participating instrumentation companies and establishment of appropriate linkages with industry participants to access specific application areas and export markets, which include oil-gas and nuclear industrial sectors.
Publications
Wang M
(2013)
A feasible process tomography and spectroscopy measurement system to determine carbon dioxide absorption
in Flow Measurement and Instrumentation
Wang M
(2015)
A new visualisation and measurement technology for water continuous multiphase flows
in Flow Measurement and Instrumentation
Jia J
(2010)
A novel tomographic sensing system for high electrically conductive multiphase flow measurement
in Flow Measurement and Instrumentation
Wang M
(2016)
Arts of electrical impedance tomographic sensing.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Faraj Y
(2015)
Automated Horizontal Slurry Flow Regime Recognition Using Statistical Analysis of the ERT Signal
in Procedia Engineering
Ramskill N
(2011)
Boolean logic analysis for flow regime recognition of gas-liquid horizontal flow
in Measurement Science and Technology
Wang Q
(2019)
Bubble mapping: three-dimensional visualisation of gas-liquid flow regimes using electrical tomography
in Measurement Science and Technology
Okonkwo A
(2013)
Characterisation of a high concentration ionic bubble column using electrical resistance tomography
in Flow Measurement and Instrumentation
Description | A new and green method for visualisation and measurement for complex multiphase flow (VMMF) in industries has been developed. VMMF is a new multiphase flow instrument designed to non-invasively measure the phase flow rates and rapidly image the flow distributions of two- and three-phase flows. The research prototype is based on the novel concepts of combining vector Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) sensor with an electromagnetic flow meter and a gradiomanometer flow-mixture density meter (FDM), in addition to on-line water conductivity, temperature and absolute pressure measurements. EIT-EMF-FDM data fusion embedded in the research prototype includes online calibration of reference conductivity and online compensation of conductivity change due to the change of fluids' temperature or ionic concentration. The performance of VMMF covers all vertical flows with a conductive continuous liquid phase. It is expected that the technology can be widely applied to many industrial for 2-phase flow metering and 3-phase flow management. |
Exploitation Route | to establish a Joint venue to explore IPs, dissemination via publication and workshop |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Chemicals Energy Environment Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
URL | http://www.leeds.ac.uk/olil/ |
Description | publications, books and presentation/lecture to other institutions. The licences of patents are currently under signing-off for coccercialisation. |
First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | ENG58-REG2 |
Amount | £110,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ENG58-REG2 |
Organisation | European Metrology Research Program (EMRP) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2014 |
End | 01/2016 |
Description | ENG58-REG3 |
Amount | £120,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ENG58-REG3 |
Organisation | European Metrology Research Program (EMRP) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2014 |
End | 11/2015 |
Description | EPSRC |
Amount | £164,636 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/I006095/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2010 |
End | 11/2011 |
Description | Flow facility grant |
Amount | £15,400 (GBP) |
Organisation | ITS United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2012 |
End | 09/2013 |
Description | IAA |
Amount | £95,297 (GBP) |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2013 |
End | 10/2014 |
Description | IAA proof of concept: multiphase flow meter |
Amount | £50,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 13006A/B |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2016 |
End | 03/2017 |
Description | KTP |
Amount | £140,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Knowledge Transfer Partnerships |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2015 |
End | 02/2017 |
Description | LEEDS/EPSRC |
Amount | £40,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Department | Knowledge Transfer Secondments (KTS) |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2011 |
End | 05/2012 |
Description | Open Research Grant |
Amount | £10,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | China |
Start | 11/2012 |
End | 11/2015 |
Description | Space |
Amount | £60,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Airbus Group |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | France |
Start | 02/2014 |
End | 09/2014 |
Title | EIT DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD |
Description | Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) data processing system, for acquiring and processing data from two-phase flows, comprising a dual-plane sensor, a plurality of digital signal processing modules configured in a data pipeline processing arrangement and a plurality of data acquisition subsystems in communication with a first one of said digital signal processing modules. |
IP Reference | WO2005022138 |
Protection | Patent granted |
Year Protection Granted | 2005 |
Licensed | Yes |
Impact | To handle industrial multiphase flows. The advantages are not only at the flow visualisation with high temporal resolution but provide the velocity distribution/profile for rapid flow |
Title | ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE TOMOGRAPHY |
Description | Method and apparatus for obtaining a representation of the distribution of electrical impedance within material (20) contained within a containing wall (21A), comprising providing a plurality of mutually spaced electrodes (22) mounted at spaced locations of the wall (21A), electrically insulated from one another and arranged to be in electrical contact with material (20) contained within the wall, applying between an electrical reference ground and each electrode (22), separately, an input electrical signal which, while applied to any one of the electrodes (22), causes respective output electrical signals to be generated between the reference ground and each other one of the electrodes (22), measuring the output electrical signals and processing the resulting measured data to provide a representation of the distribution, within the said material (20), of its electrical impedance. |
IP Reference | WO9524155 |
Protection | Patent granted |
Year Protection Granted | 1995 |
Licensed | Yes |
Impact | Conventional electrical tomography is only applicable for non-conductive walled vessel due to the shutting effect on electric current. The invention is make the electrical tomography working on metal walled vessel and practically extend the boundary of technology to wide industrial applications. |
Title | ELECTRICAL TOMOGRAPHY APPARATUS AND METHOD AND CURRENT DRIVER |
Description | Electrical tomography apparatus comprises: a first electrode; a second electrode; and current driving means for driving an electrical current between the first electrode and the second electrode through a medium, wherein the current driving means comprises: a first transformer having a first winding and a second winding, the second winding having a first terminal and a second terminal; and means for generating an alternating current through the first winding so as to generate an alternating voltage between said first terminal and said second terminal. The apparatus further comprises connecting means arranged to connect the first terminal to the first electrode and the second terminal to the second electrode. Generation of the alternating current in the first winding results in generation of an alternating voltage between the first and second electrodes. In certain embodiments, a current sensing transformer provides an indication of current driven through the medium. |
IP Reference | WO2010150009 |
Protection | Patent granted |
Year Protection Granted | 2010 |
Licensed | Yes |
Impact | New capability to process tomography form handling multiphase flow with high conductive liquid, e.g. sea water |
Title | MULTI PHASE FLOW MEASUREMENT SYSTEM |
Description | A method of measuring flow rate, comprising measuring a first flow rate of a disperse phase using a first flow measurement system; measuring a second flow rate of a continuous phase using a second flow measurement system,- and combining the first and second flow rates to obtain a total flow rate. |
IP Reference | WO2009030870 |
Protection | Patent application published |
Year Protection Granted | 2009 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | Oil and gas sector in industrial |
Title | Tomography Apparatus and Method |
Description | New concepts and methods |
IP Reference | GB1416280.4 |
Protection | Patent application published |
Year Protection Granted | 2014 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | greatly enhance imaging speed |
Title | Tomography Apparatus, Multi-Phase Flow Monitoring System, and corresponding Methods |
Description | A "green" technology for multiphase flow measurement and visualisation |
IP Reference | GB1416287.9 |
Protection | Patent application published |
Year Protection Granted | 2014 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | A "green" technology for multiphase flow measurement and visualisation |
Title | 4. BM3DET Software for 3D visualisation of 2 phase flows in pipelines with bubble mapping |
Description | A novel, user friendly software package that provides a platform for any industry interested in three dimensional visualisation of multiphase flows based on tomographic or CFD simulated flow. |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | An new dimensional visualisation |
Title | GOWET Software for visualisation of 3 phase flows in pipelines |
Description | - A novel, user friendly software package that provides a platform for any industry interested in multiphase flows to quickly, accurately and easily interpret data for downstream process optim |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | New dimensional visualisation |
Title | V5r tomography |
Description | to provide the interface to operate the relevant tomography system developed at Leeds |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2010 |
Impact | User's interface and graphic interface |
Title | Z8000 tomography |
Description | To operate the fast system developed at Leeds and provide user's interface to acquired date, reconstructed and process tomographic images |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2008 |
Impact | To operate the fast system developed at Leeds and provide user's interface to acquired date, reconstructed and process tomographic images |