Field-Proven Performance Verified on the CEESI Wet-Flow Test Rig

FLEXIM (Germany) is aware of the challenges its customers are facing, especially in terms of wet gas.

With its recent tests at CEESI’s Wet Gas Testing and Research Facility (WGTF) in Colorado, USA, FLEXIM’s intention was to determine the maximum liquid load tolerated by the ultrasonic meter and to specify the measurement error related to it. FLEXIM’s FLUXUS® G gas flow meters work according to the transit-time difference principle (time of flight). As the transducers are clamped onto the outside of the pipe, they do not come into contact with the medium flowing inside and therefore, remain dry. Compared to DP devices, the acoustic method offers accurate and reliable measurement over an almost unlimited flow range, regardless of the flow direction.

The FLUXUS® G ultrasonic flowmeter was capable of measuring throughout the whole test range up to a liquid volume fraction (LVF) of 5%, corresponding to the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter XLM=0.3. The gas is called wet gas up to XLM=0.3 and it is considered to be a two-phase flow above XLM=0.3.

Almost all academic experiments are one thing, but the often harsh conditions in the field are another. As FLUXUS® G stands its ground in the industrial world and FLEXIM enjoys a good reputation as a reliable partner, major gas companies are going one step further by conducting their own wet gas tests in the field. In such test measurements on a production platform in the North Sea, it was shown that non-invasive ultrasonic flow measurement is practically unaffected by the noise of valves or compressors.