US 2013/0211746 A1Published application

Multiphase flow measurement system and method

AssigneeKing Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

InventorsMOUSTAFA ELSHAFEI, FOUAD AL-SUNNI, SAMI EL-FERIK

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Abstract

The multiphase flow measurement system and method includes video sensors and illumination along a pipe upstream, and a similar arrangement of sensors and illumination downstream displaced from the first location by a known distance utilized for velocity calculation between images at both locations. Image capturing and processing is done from video data at both locations. Objects corresponding to each flow phase in the video images are characterized and sorted by size, color, spectral properties, shapes, and pattern features using automatic pattern recognition. Image cross-correlation and pattern recognition are applied to each group of objects corresponding to one or more flow phases to estimate the velocity of each phase based on the delay calculation. Flow velocity is calculated from the weighted average of the phase velocities. Overall flow type is estimated using the estimated phase velocities and the areas occupied by the objects corresponding to each phase in the images.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A multiphase flow measurement system, comprising:

a first video head assembly having at least one video head disposed at a first location along a conduit;
a second video head assembly having at least one video head disposed at a second location along the conduit, the first location and the second location being separated by a known distance, the first location and the second location having a transparent portion allowing the first video head assembly and the second video head assembly to video record contents of the conduit flowing through the first and the second locations;
a first adjustable illumination source illuminating contents of the conduit flowing through the first location;
a second adjustable illumination source illuminating contents of the conduit flowing through the second location;
a processor operably connected to the first and second video head assemblies, the processor receiving and processing video frames from the first and second video head assemblies, respectively, the processor having:
means for isolating image objects related to a variety of phases of a fluid flowing in the conduit captured in image frames taken by the video head assemblies;
means for separating image objects by phase into object classes;
means for cross-correlating the object classes from the first location with the corresponding object classes from the second location;
means for detecting delay time between the object classes in the image frames;
means for calculating flow speed of the object classes through the conduit based on the delay time;
means for calculating an aggregate speed of each of the phases based on the object classes associated with the phases;
and
means for determining the flow speed and the flow type of the phases by aggregation of the aggregate speeds of the phases.

10 more elements

In a system having a first video head assembly disposed at a first location along a conduit, a second video head assembly disposed at a second location along the conduit spaced apart from the first location by a known distance, the first location and the second location having a transparent portion allowing the first video head assembly and the second video head assembly to video record a fluid flowing through the first and second locations, a first adjustable illumination source illuminating the fluid flowing through the first location, a second adjustable illumination source illuminating the fluid flowing through the second location, a computer-implemented fluid flow measurement method, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining a color image frame of the fluid flowing in the conduit at each of the first and second locations;
converting the color image to a gray scale image;
performing a contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization on the gray scale image;
adjusting image intensity values of the gray scale image;
performing a segmentation operation on the gray scale image using a gradient magnitude as a function of the segmentation operation;
marking foreground objects of the gray scale image using opening and closing by reconstruction morphological operations;
filling in holes in the gray scale image;
labeling objects in the gray scale image, thereby classifying the objects into classes;
computing areas of the objects in the gray scale image;
removing objects less than a predetermined object size representative of the classes of the objects in the gray scale image;
calculating a total number of black pixels/total number of pixels in the gray scale image;
performing a cross-correlation between similar objects corresponding to at least one phase of the fluid flowing in the conduit processed in the images taken at the first and second locations;
calculating flow speed of the phases based on results from the cross-correlation and the distance between the first and second locations;
and
saving the flow speed to a database connected to a computer.

12 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/396,417Filed 14 Feb 2012
Published: 15 Aug 2013
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

G01F 1/74
Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow: devices…
G01F 1/7086
Measuring the time taken to traverse a fixed distance: using optical detecting arrangements
G01F 1/712
Measuring the time taken to traverse a fixed distance: using auto-correlation or cross-correlation detection means
G01F
Measuring volume, volume flow, mass flow or liquid level