Characterization of flow homogeneity downstream of a slotted orifice plate in a two-phase flow using electrical resistance tomography

Two-phase flows are complex and unpredictable in nature, commonly encountered in a majority of fluid transport systems. The accurate measurement of two-phase flow is critical for a wide range of applications from wet stream to multiphase flows. There are different methods to meter two-phase flow in various industries. One approach is to produce a flow meter that does not require the individual flow components to be separated and measured separately. This goal can be met if a homogenized mixture is produced which can be measured by a standard single phase flow meter. The slotted orifice plate was invented as a flow meter for single phase flows, it is independent upon upstream flow conditions. Slotted orifice plate flow meter's utilization in two-phase flow revealed that it is highly capable of working as a flow conditioner transforming most of the multiphase flow regimes into a fairly uniform mixture. This study measures how the relative homogeneity of an air/water mixture varies downstream of the slotted plate in a horizontal pipe for various upstream conditions including elongated bubble and slug flow regimes using electrical resistance tomography (ERT). According to this study, the optimal location with a maximum homogeneity was determined to be between 1.5 and 2.5 pipe diameters downstream of the slotted orifice plate. This indicates that placing a slotted orifice plate at the obtained distance upstream of another flow meter such as a venturi coupled with a density measuring device like a radiation based densitometer or an electrical impedance device will help in obtaining accurate multiphase flow rate measurement.     

A study of a pressure differential flow meter that is insensitive to inlet conditions

Orifice meters are a type of differential pressure flow meter widely used in industry and their behaviour is very well understood. The standard discharge coefficient can only be used if the flow approaching the meter is perfectly settled and fully developed. Thus the installation of these meters is subject to many constraints. Normally the required flow regime is established by the use of a combination of a flow conditioner and a settling length.

This paper describes the initial work carried out to show the concept of an orifice meter whose performance is independent of the inlet conditions by the introduction of a standard swirl before the meter. These results show that a swirler renders the measurements independent of the influence of upstream disturbance. This is for both a partial blockage in the pipe and also upstream swirl, and is likely to be universal.

A proposal for a new calibration equation is also made for the particular swirler employed. However, more data need to be acquired over a wide range of geometries, flow and operating conditions.     

Pressure drop of wet gas flow with ultra-low liquid loading through DP meters

The most common method to predict the gas and liquid flow rates in a wet gas flow simultaneously is to use dual pressure drops (dual-DPs) from two or even one single DP meter. In this paper, the metering mechanism of applying dual-DPs were overviewed. To fully understand the response of DP meters to wet gas flows, the pressure drops of wet gas flow with ultra-low liquid loading through three typical DP meters were experimentally investigated, including an orifice plate meter, a cone meter and a Venturi meter. The equivalent diameter ratio is 0.45. The experimental fluids are air and tap water. The pressure is in the range of 0.1–0.3 MPa and the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter (X_LM) is less than approximately 0.02. The results show that the upstream-throat pressure drop, the downstream-throat pressure drop and the permanent pressure loss of individual DP meters have unique response to liquid loading. The upstream-throat pressure drop of the orifice plate meter decreases at first and then increases as the liquid loading increases, while that of the cone meter and the Venturi meter increase monotonically. The non-monotonicity of the pressure drop for the orifice plate meter can be attributed to the flow modulation of trace liquid. The downstream-throat pressure drops of all the three test sections decrease at first and then increase. The reason is that the liquid presence in a gas flow increases the downstream friction and vortex dissipation. The permanent pressure loss of the orifice plate meter also shows non-monotonicity. To avoid non-monotonicity, the pressure loss ratio is introduced, which is defined as the ratio of the permanent pressure loss to the upstream-throat pressure drop. Results show that the pressure loss ratio of the Venturi meter has the highest sensitivity to the liquid loading.     

Influence of flow disturbances on the performance of industry-standard LNG flow meters

In the last decade significant progress has been achieved in the development of measurement traceability for LNG inline metering technologies such as Coriolis and ultrasonic flow meters. In 2019, the world's first LNG research and calibration facility has been realised thus enabling calibration and performance testing of small and mid-scale LNG flow meters under realistic cryogenic conditions at a maximum flow rate of 200 m³/h and provisional mass flow measurement uncertainty of 0.30% (k = 2) using liquid nitrogen as the calibration fluid. This facility enabled, for the first time, an extensive test programme of LNG flow meters under cryogenic conditions to be carried out to achieve three main objectives; the first is to reduce the onsite flow measurement uncertainty for small and mid-scale LNG applications to meet a target measurement uncertainty of 0.50% (k = 2), the second is to systematically assess the impact of upstream flow disturbances and meter insulation on meter performance and the third is to assess transferability of meter calibrations with water at ambient conditions to cryogenic conditions. SI-traceable flow calibration results from testing six LNG flow meters (four Coriolis and two ultrasonic, see acknowledgment section) with water in a water calibration facility and liquid nitrogen (LIN) in the LNG research and calibration facility under various test conditions are fully described in this paper. Water and LIN calibration data were compared and it was observed that the influence of removing the meter insulation on mass flow rate measurement accuracy can be more significant (meter error > ±0.50%) than the influence of many typical upstream disturbances when the meter is preceded by a straight piping length equal to twenty pipe diameters (20D) with no additional flow conditioning devices, in particular for ultrasonic meters. The results indicate that the correction models used to transfer the water calibration to cryogenic conditions (using LIN) can potentially result in mass flow rate measurement errors below ±0.5%, however, the correction models are specific to the meter type and manufacturer. This work shows that the target measurement uncertainty of 0.50% can be achieved if the expanded standard error of the mean value measured by the meter is smaller than 0.40% (k = 2). It is planned to repeat these tests with LNG in order to compare the results with the LIN tests presented in this paper. This may reveal that testing with an explosion safe and environmentally friendly fluid such as LIN produces representative results for testing LNG flow meters.     

Examination of disturbed pipe flow and its effects on flow measurement using orifice plates

In a great number of measurements the influence of a disturbed flow on the flow coefficient of a standard orifice plate was investigated. Single bends and double bends out of plane with and without spacer tubes were used as typical disturbances. Experiments were also performed using a combination with a star-shaped flow straightener. The necessary correction factors of the flow coefficient were determined for upstream straight length shorter than detailed in ISO 5167. The flow velocity profiles produced by the disturbances were examined and on this basis profile numbers were calculated. The examinations presented here show that the existing standard should be revised as regards the definition of the fully developed turbulent flow profile and the selection of the required upstream straight lengths.     

Multiphase flow measurements using coupled slotted orifice plate and swirl flow meter

Multiphase flow metering is a major focus for oil and gas industries. The performance of a modified version of a close coupled slotted orifice plate and swirl flow meter for multiphase flow was evaluated to provide further development of a new type of multiphase flow meter. The slotted orifice provides well homogenized flow for several pipe diameters downstream of the plate. This characteristic provides a homogeneous mixture at the inlet of the swirl meter for a wide range of gas volume fractions (GVF) and flow rates. In order to evaluate the performance of the designed flow-meter, its response was investigated for varying pressures and water flow rates. The proper correlations were established to provide high accurate two-phase flow measurements. The new proposed approach provides the GVF measurement with less than ±0.63% uncertainty for GVF range from 60% to 95%.     

Orifice plate meter wet gas flow performance

Orifice plate meters are often used to measure wet gas flows. Research into the wet gas response of the horizontally installed orifice plate meter is discussed in this paper. Consideration is given to the significant influence of the wet gas flow pattern, as this has previously been found to be relevant to the wet gas response of other differential pressure type flow meters. A wet gas flow correlation for 2″ to 4″ orifice plate meters has been developed from multiple data sets from four wet gas flow test facilities. This corrects the liquid induced gas flow rate error for a known liquid flow rate to ±2% at a 95% confidence level.     

A flow control device for incompressible fluids

This paper introduces a constant flow method for incompressible fluids using a mechanical choked orifice plate (MCOP), even when changes in differential pressure occur between the upstream and downstream. The MCOP is constructed by inserting a float-spring blockage into an ordinary orifice plate to imitate the function of a critical cavitating flow in a cavitating Venturi. A model MCOP is established and verified by numerical simulation, and a prototype MCOP is designed and tested by experiments. The results show that the numerical simulation is a good guide for the MCOP design. The designed MCOP can keep a constant flow with an error in the flow control of ±4% within the range of the differential pressure between the upstream and downstream of 6–70 kPa. Because the constant flow is obtained without fluid vapourization, the pressure loss is greatly reduced and the noise and erosion are avoided. Additionally, due to the action of the float-spring blockage being based on the differential pressure between upstream and downstream, it is simultaneously insensitive to both upstream and downstream pressure fluctuations. The design idea and the conclusions can be used as a reference in the design of a constant flow control device for incompressible fluids.     

The smart-orifice meter: a mini head meter for volume flow measurement

Differential pressure based flow meters generally consist of a flow restriction element which generates a differential pressure and a pressure transducer, externally piped to the restriction, which measures the flow related differential pressure. The smart-orifice mini head meter presented takes advantage of silicon technology by incorporating a differential pressure microsensor. In contrast to conventional head meters, it represents a single compact and economic device for general flow meter applications, in particular where small size is of concern. Computational fluid dynamics analyses were applied to develop a non-standard orifice design and prototypes of the smart-orifice were fabricated. The performance of the mini head meter in water flow measurement was determined in a computer supported test bench facility. It was compared to the results predicted by the simulation, as well as to a conventional head meter arrangement with externally mounted pressure transducer, including measurements with water at elevated temperature and different absolute line pressures. The results are very promising and verify the competitiveness of the smart-orifice as a mini head meter.     

Numerical simulations for multi-hole orifice flow meter

The measurement of flow rate is important in many industrial applications including rocket propellant stages. The orifice flow meter has the advantages of compact size and weight. However, the conventional single-hole orifice flow meter suffers from higher pressure drop due to lower discharge coefficient (Cd). This can be overcome by the use of multi-hole orifice flow meter. Flow characteristics of multi-hole orifice flow meters are determined both numerically and experimentally over a wide range of Reynolds numbers. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to simulate the flow in the single- and multi-hole orifice flow meters. Experiments are carried out to validate the CFD predictions. The discharge coefficients for the different orifice configurations are determined from the CFD simulations. It is observed that the pressure loss in the multi-hole orifice flow meter is significantly lower than that of single-hole orifice flow meter of identical flow area due to the early reattachment of flow in the case of the multi-hole orifice meter. The influence of different geometrical and flow parameters on discharge coefficient is also determined.     

Effect of the convergence flow conditioner on rectifying eccentric jet flow induced by a ball valve

Installing a flow conditioner is an important method for rectifying irregular and unstable flow to stable flow state within a short flow distance in fluid transportation and control industrial applications. However, classical flow conditioners (such as Laws and Zanker flow conditioners in ISO 5167) with parallel pipeline axial orifices ineffectively rectify the distinct eccentric jet flow caused by valve regulation. The convergence flow conditioner with convergent orifices was innovatively designed for rectifying the eccentric jet flow caused by a ball valve in this study. Three convergent orifice angles (8°, 10°, and 12°) defined as angles between orifice and pipeline axes were considered to compare their effect on eccentric jet flow rectification as well as with the classical Laws flow conditioner (characterized by the convergent orifice angle of 0°) under different valve openings with an experimental setup for monitoring downstream pressures that develop along the pipeline and corresponding numerical simulation used. Pressure loss and throttling effect of installing convergence flow conditioners downstream the ball valve was assessed. Analysis of distributions of the pressure, velocity, and streamline for convergent flow conditioners showed that the flow conditioner with a large convergent orifice angle can effectively improve violent eccentric jet flows, especially under a small valve opening. The axial velocity on various downstream cross sections was extracted to evaluate the velocity uniformity. A dimensionless parameter of velocity eccentric ratio was used to quantify the rectification effect of eccentric jet flow evolving in the downstream pipeline. Results showed that a short pipeline length is needed to obtain additional symmetry and uniform flow field downstream of the flow conditioner with a high convergent orifice angle, that is, the convergence flow conditioner with a high convergent orifice angle demonstrated a strong effect of flow rectification on the valve-induced eccentric jet flow. This work can help understand characteristics of flow rectification on valve-induced eccentric jet flow in scientific research, and provide guidance for the flow conditioner design in fluid engineering.     

A study of signal noise reduction of the mass air flow sensor using the flow conditioner on the air induction system of heavy-duty truck

The mass air flow meter is a critical sensor that works based on thermal hot wire technology, used to determine the fuel to be injected into the cylinder and calculate the fuel-air ratio. In order to measure the airflow rate accurately, the flow should be uniform and smooth upstream of the sensor. The flow disturbance with a short straight length upstream of the flow meter results in the noise of the sensor signal. This noise causes unstable mass flow measurement on the system. Flow conditioners can be used to smooth the velocity profile of the flow. In this study, experimental and numerical methods were used to characterize the performance and operating accuracy of the mass flow meter used in heavy-duty truck applications. The flow conditioners were implemented to smooth the velocity profile around the mass flow meter that was disrupted by bends. The flow structures with and without flow conditioner were examined using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to measure the time-averaged velocity. As well as the validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model provides data to understand the flow uniformity effect of the conditioner on the mass airflow (MAF) sensor. The optimization study was performed using a full factorial design of experiment (DOE) for flow conditioner design. A robust methodology was developed for the flow conditioner characteristics and mass airflow sensor implementation on the air induction system.     

Response of a slotted orifice flow meter to an air/water mixture

The ability of a flow meter to respond predictably to the presence of liquid and gas is important to the natural gas industry and to users of steam. In both cases, the gas can become saturated and some liquids can condense in the line. The response of orifice flow meters to the presence of liquids is erratic and produces considerable uncertainty. Turbine flow meters can sustain severe damage when subjected to two phase flow. The slotted orifice flow meter has been developed to address the problem of upstream flow conditioning. This device has been shown to be insensitive to the upstream velocity profile. To further evaluate the flow meter for use by the natural gas industry, the effects of adding liquid to a gas flow upon the meter performance has been investigated by subjecting a slotted orifice flow meter with an equivalent β ratio of 0.50 to a two phase flow consisting of air and water.     

Correction of flow metering coefficients by using multi-dimensional non-linear curve fitting

Flow disturbances can significantly affect flow metering because the downstream flow of flow disturbances can become unstable and asymmetric, thus resulting in measurement errors in the flow meter. A clamp-on type ultrasonic flow meter is an example of a flow meter that is susceptible to flow disturbances given its diametrical configuration of ultrasonic paths. Several flow rate correction formulas have been suggested to mitigate the effect of flow disturbance for improved flow metering. As a novel method, a multi-dimensional non-linear correction formula is suggested to overcome limitations in flow metering that are attributed to the non-linearity of flow disturbances. The non-linear correction formula comprises n-th order polynomials with multiple variables. To validate the usefulness of the non-linear correction formula, the standard error of estimate (SEE) is introduced. Four types of flow configurations, namely, downstream of a contraction pipe, an expansion pipe, a single elbow joint, and a tee joint, are used to show the effect of the non-linear correction formula. The expanded uncertainty based on the SEE indicates estimated values of 1.29%, 11.14%, 1.07%, and 6.31% for the four upstream flow configurations, respectively. Thus, the effect of the non-linear correction formula is limited according to the upstream flow conditions. In the downstream flow of the contraction pipe and of the single elbow joint, the non-linear correction formula not only harmonizes the distribution of the flow rate deviations but also removes the biases of flow rate deviations with respect to the flow velocity, the installation location, and the diameter ratio.     

Study on wet gas online flow rate measurement based on dual slotted orifice plate

According to the current technical problems existing in gas and liquid flow measurement for wet gas production, the slotted orifice-couple flow meter was developed and the basic measurement principles for gas and liquid flow was presented. A new wet gas flow meter was developed based on the dual slotted orifice transducer. The flow characteristics of liquid flow through dual slotted orifice plate, the relationship of differential pressure between the dual slotted orifice plate, pressure, temperature, and flow rate of gas/liquid of different aperture ratio were studied. A mathematical measurement model was established to be applied in the flow meter measurement system with dual slotted orifice plate. The model was tested and calibrated by on-site field experiments in the China National Center of Metrology at Daqing Oil field. The results showed that the maximum measurement error of the gas and liquid flow was less than 10% and 15% respectively, when the Gas Volume Fraction (GVF) was greater than 90 vol%. The measurement accuracy of this industrial prototype can meet the requirements of well fluids.     

Approach for Acoustic Transit Time flow measurement in sections of varying shape: Theoretical fundamentals and implementation in practice

This paper focuses on the generalization of the Acoustic Transit Time (ATT) flow measurement method currently embodied in ultrasonic flow meters. First, the existing theoretical fundamentals that cover flow measurement in regular conduits are presented and relevant design features of typical ultrasonic flow meters are described. A detailed derivation of a measurement method for the generalized theoretical fundamentals of multipath ATT flow is then presented. This generalization consists of extending the existing theoretical background in the case of an irregular section, which is defined as a section that has a non-standard shape and/or a varying shape and size, e.g. one that has transition from a rectangular to a circular section. On the basis of the derived generalized theory, the approach for flow measurement in such irregular sections is developed. This approach is then tested numerically using an example of a converging measurement section that represents the water intake of the Kaplan unit. During the test of the new approach, the flow rate and flow profile at the inlet were varied to investigate the effect of such variations on the accuracy of flow rate determination. Results for a significant flow profile and flow rate variations show that the overall error dispersion of the flow rate evaluation is of the order of 0.5%.     

Generation,validation and application of dynamic load profiles in flow measurement using cavitating Herschel–Venturi nozzles

Today, utility meters for water are tested for measurement behavior at stable operating conditions at specified flow rates as part of the approval process. The measurement error that occurs during start and stop or when changing between flow rates may not be taken into account. In addition, there are new technologies whose measuring behavior under real-world conditions is only known to a limited extend. To take these facts into account, a new method has been developed and tested to determine the measurement behavior of water meters under dynamic load profiles as they occur in the real application. For this purpose, a test rig for flow rate measurement was extended by a cavitation nozzle apparatus and the generation of dynamic load profiles was validated. For the cavitation nozzles used, possible factors influencing the flow rate, such as temperature and purity of the water as well as the upstream pressure were investigated. Using different types of domestic water meters, the applicability of the dynamic test procedure was demonstrated and the measurement behavior of the meters was characterised.     

A unique test facility for calibration of domestic flow meters under dynamic flow conditions

In the early nineties a hot water test facility was planned and constructed for calibration and testing of volume and flow meters at the National Volume Measurement Laboratory at RISE (formerly SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden). The main feature of the test facility is the capability to measure flow in a wide temperature and flow range with very high accuracy. The objective of the project, which was initiated in 1989, was to design equipment for calibration of flow meters with stable flow and temperature conditions.After many years of international debate whether static testing is adequate to represent the later more dynamic application of domestic water meters, the EMPIR project 17IND13 Metrology for real-world domestic water metering (“Metrowamet”) was launched in 2018. The project investigates the influence of dynamic flow testing on the measurement accuracy of different types of domestic flow meters. One of the main objectives of the project is the development of infrastructure to carry out dynamic flow measurements. The existing test facility at RISE was at the time of construction one of the best hot and cold-water test facilities in the world. Due to the Metrowamet project the test facility has been upgraded to meet the needs of an infrastructure for dynamic flow investigations. The first findings from dynamic consumption profile measurements are reported in this paper.     

Study on application of wet gas metering technology in shale gas measurement

The application of wet gas flow meter at shale gas wellhead is of great significance to reduce the investment and operation cost of shale gas extraction. In this paper, the flow conditions at the wellhead of shale gas and the principles of the current wet gas flow meters are briefly analyzed. A wet gas flow meter was tested on the wet gas flow test facility, and its performance of flow rates evaluation is studied, which is helpful to optimize the wet gas metering process design of shale gas wellhead and to improve the wet gas metering technology. This study shows that the measurement principles of the current wet gas flow meters are feasible, however, the calibration by using the wet natural gas at working conditions can help to enhance the meter's measure performance.     

Experimental research of single-hole and multi-hole orifice gas flow meters

As energy efficiency is becoming more important today due to limited energy resources as well as their rising prices and environment issues, it is crucial to have reliable measurement data of different fluids in production processes. Because of its simplicity, affordability and reliability, orifice flow meters are again becoming subject of numerous researches. Conventional single-hole orifice (SHO) flow meter has many advantages but also some disadvantages like higher pressure drop, slower pressure recovery, lower discharge coefficient etc. Some of these disadvantages can be overcame by multi-hole orifice (MHO) flow meter while still maintaining advantages of conventional SHO meter. Both SHO and MHO flow meters with same β ratios were experimentally tested and compared. Results showed better (lower) singular pressure loss coefficient and lower pressure drop in favour of the MHO flow meter. Experimental data indicates that MHO flow meter is superior to the conventional orifice flow meter, but further research is necessary to make the MHO a drop-in replacement for a SHO flow meter.