US 4,788,852 A · Metering choke

Abstract

The gas and water content of crude oil flowing through a pipeline is measured using a flow restriction in the pipeline, a radioactive source for providing separate radiation energies for each component to be measured, a detector for detecting the radiation transmitted by the various components to generate a first set of signals, pressure gauges upstream of and in the flow restriction for providing a second set of signals, and a signal processor for correlating the signals to provide mass flowrate values indicative of the relative proportions of the components of the mixture. The temperature of the mixture in the flow restriction can also be measured and fed to the signal processor for ensuring that accurate values of flowrate are obtained when temperatures vary.

Claims8

Dependent claims

A method of measuring the proportions of various components in a crude oil mixture flowing through a pipeline comprising the steps of irradiating said mixtures with gamma rays or x-rays of at least three distinct energy levels;

detecting the gamma rays or x-rays of at least three distinct energy levels passing through a known volume of the mixture to generate at least three signals proportional to said components in the mixture;
processing said signals to obtain a mass ratio of the components;
measuring the temperature of the mixture;
measuring the pressure drop of the mixture through a flow restriction;
and correlating the mass ratio, temperature and pressure drop values and standard calibration correlations previously prepared to obtain a mass flow rate of each of the components present in the mixture.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Metering choke

Life of this patent

Metering choke

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims8