Arora_subbed.qxp 1/4/09 12:49 Page 89
Production Well Testing Using Non-radioactive Multiphase Flow Meters
operation and maintenance of non-radioactive MPFMs are also much
Figure 4: Mobile Well Testing at Test Station (A) and at Well Heads (B)
lower, making them economical for marginal field operations.
Subsea Installations – Cost Savings
Subsea MPFMs can be installed on subsea test manifolds if wells are
in close proximity to each other, or on each well head if the wells are
AB
distributed over a greater area. As a rule of thumb, 1km of subsea
pipeline installation means more than US1 million of capital money,
Figure 5: ESMER Non-radioactive System Installed on the
but with subsea MPFM installations millions can be saved by doing
Test Production Line
away with these test lines.
Performance Benefits – Fast Decision-making and
Reduced Downtime
MPFMs allow faster well tests with no abandonment of production,
which allows higher-frequency testing and thus more representative
information of changing conditions and fast detection of
abnormalities, including early water breakthrough, gas coning, etc.
This allows fast remedial action to be taken, leading to reduced
downtime and higher revenues.
Minimal Maintenance and Calibration
There is a strong notion in the industry that MPFMs are very
maintenance-intensive and require frequent on-site calibration to conventional test separators, which require separation before
maintain accuracy. However, another way to look at MPFMs is that individual phases can be metered, thus delaying the downstream
they are intelligent systems that are able to detect abnormalities and process and reducing production throughput.
strike alarms for corrective action. What would you prefer – a • Non-radioactive MPFMs are able to find the sources of
no-maintenance system with low accuracy requiring minimum production failures much more quickly, thus avoiding product
calibration, or a minimal-maintenance system at the right time with deliverable losses.
high accuracy with up-to-date calibrations? The latter approach • It is possible to maintain efficient performance of facilities, as
leads towards production excellence. non-radioactive MPFMs do not require any stringent operating
procedures.
Non-radioactive Multiphase Flow Meters – • There is a proactive mode of problem-solving: predictive
Breaking Traditional Barriers maintenance planning.
Non-radioactive MPFMs are being used for mobile well testing • Realtime monitoring of pressure, temperature, flow rates, on/off
services (see Figures 4A and 4B) with the following factors in mind status, etc. is possible.
in order to meet production excellence in oilfields: • Interactive and intelligent systems are able to provide options for
operators/engineers to support fast decision-making.
• There is little or no CAPEX cost associated with such services, • Non-radioactive MPFMs are robust systems that are resilient to
making the oil company ‘burden-free’ from high-value theft and vandalism.
investment costs. Specialised service providers provide complete
operations, including: Conclusion
• skid-mounted non-radioactive MPMFs installed on a truck (for Non-radioactive multiphase flow metering is a revolution: most oil and
onshore operations) or on a client’s barge (for offshore gas field operators worldwide are in the process of implementing such
operations) for well testing; systems because of their distinct advantages, as described above.
• skilled operators;
• maintenance team; and A recent test on an ESMER non-radioactive MPFM system (see Figure
• quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) team for 5) at TUV NEL in Glasgow, Scotland, which was supplied to an Indian
data interpretation. operator, revealed the following performance data (errors) for the
• The oil company pays for well test data per day only, with full range of 0–100% GVF and 0–100% water cut:
minimum compulsory well tests per day, per week or per
month under a minimum duration of the contract, subject to • liquid flow rate: ±4.25%;
terms and conditions. • gas flow rate: ±6.76%; and
• ‘Accurate operations’ are provided through use of non- • water cut: ±2.92%.
radioactive MPFMs for well testing, providing realtime oil, gas
and water flow rates, GVF (0–100%), water cut (0–100%), line The above performance data were well within the required range of
pressure, line temperature and even sand rate. uncertainty defined by the Indian operator. This is the first time that
• Mobile well testing using non-radioactive MPFMs overcomes the an Indian operator has used a non-radioactive system for its
‘residence time’ and abandonment of production associated with operations in India. ■
EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION – VOLUME 7 ISSUE 1
89
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156