Characterizing fluid flow at field conditions

A method comprising:

• receiving data associated with fluid flow of a first immiscible fluid injected into a respective vessel and a second immiscible fluid injected into the respective vessel, the first immiscible fluid and the second immiscible fluid thereby forming a fluid-fluid interface between the first immiscible fluid and the second immiscible fluid, wherein the received data comprises direct measurements of local pressure of the first immiscible fluid and second immiscible fluid injected into the respective vessel at different locations along a length of the respective vessel using a plurality of piezoelectric devices embedded within the respective vessel;
• indirectly determining a speed of motion of the fluid-fluid interface between the first immiscible fluid and the second immiscible fluid by detecting, via electrical current jump, when the fluid-fluid interface between the first immiscible fluid and the second immiscible fluid passes each of the plurality of piezoelectric devices embedded at the different locations along the lengths of the one or more vessels;
• and
• calculating a model based at least in part on the received data and the indirectly determined speed of motion of the fluid-fluid interface between the first immiscible fluid and the second immiscible fluid;
• wherein calculating the model comprises:
• determining an initial set of fitting parameters as a set of fitting parameters;
• solving a characteristic model using the set of fitting parameters;
• locating errors between the characteristic model and the measured data;
• validating the characteristic model in response to determining that the set of fitting parameters meet one or more error requirements;
• and
• in response to the set of fitting parameters not meeting one or more error requirements, (i) obtaining a new set of fitting parameters as the set of fitting parameters;
• and (ii) re-solving the characteristic model using the new set of fitting parameters set until a set of fitting parameters is determined to meet the one or more error requirements;
• and
• wherein the steps of the method are implemented via at least one processor operatively coupled to a memory.

An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable storage medium having encoded therein executable code of one or more software programs, wherein the one or more software programs when executed by one or more processors implement the steps of:

• receiving data associated with fluid flow of a first immiscible fluid injected into a respective vessel and a second immiscible fluid injected into the respective vessel, the first immiscible fluid and the second immiscible fluid thereby forming a fluid-fluid interface between the first immiscible fluid and the second immiscible fluid, wherein the received data comprises, direct measurements of local pressure of the first immiscible fluid and second immiscible fluid injected into the respective vessel at different locations along a length of the respective vessel using a plurality of piezoelectric devices embedded within the respective vessel;
• and indirectly determining a speed of motion of the fluid-fluid interface between the first immiscible fluid and the second immiscible fluid by detecting, via electrical current jump, when the fluid-fluid interface between the first immiscible fluid and the second immiscible fluid passes each of the plurality of piezoelectric devices embedded at the different locations along the lengths of the one or more vessels;
• and calculating a model based at least in part on the received data and the indirectly determined speed of motion of the fluid-fluid interface between the first immiscible fluid and the second immiscible fluid;
• wherein calculating the model comprises:
• determining an initial set of fitting parameters as a set of fitting parameters;
• solving a characteristic model using the set of fitting parameters;
• locating errors between the characteristic model and the measured data;
• validating the characteristic model in response to determining that the set of fitting parameters meet one or more error requirements;
• and in response to the set of fitting parameters not meeting one or more error requirements, (i) obtaining a new set of fitting parameters as the set of fitting parameters;
• and (ii) re-solving the characteristic model using the new set of fitting parameters set until a set of fitting parameters is determined to meet the one or more error requirements.