The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 01, 2011
Filed:
Jun. 01, 2006
Espen S. Johansen, Houston, TX (US);
Espen S. Johansen, Houston, TX (US);
Weatherford/Lamb, Inc., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
Method and apparatus enable direct measurement of at least one flow velocity for one or more phases within a multiphase fluid mixture flowing in a conduit. Some embodiments provide determination of actual individual phase flow rates for three phases (e.g., oil, water and gas) that are distinct from one another within the fluid mixture. A multiphase flowmeter according to embodiments of the invention includes at least two optical sensors spatially distributed along a length of the conduit and designed to detect light interactions with the fluid mixture unique to the phases such that detected time-varying signals can be processed via cross-correlation or an array processing algorithm to provide desired individual phase flow velocity for oil, water and/or gas phases. This flow velocity can be applied to phase fraction measurements, which can be obtained utilizing the same flowmeter or another separate device, to calculate the flow rates for the phases.