Investment in Glasgow-Based High Capacity Wet Gas Test Facility Creates UK's Only Independent Commercial Testing Facility

NEL (UK) has invested in excess of £0.5 million in the development of its Glasgow-based Wet Gas Facility. The investment has created the UK’s only independent commercial test facility that can test meters to such high flowrates for wet gas conditions, and which is also capable of using oil and water components simultaneously.

For the first time, UK-based operators and meter manufacturers will no longer be forced to assess equipment overseas as NEL can test meters at a wider operating range, and more accurately replicate the liquid phases experienced in operational conditions.

Phase 1 of the upgrade programme has been completed and, as a result, the gas flowrates now exceed 2,000 cubic metres per hour, and liquid volume fractions in excess of 10 per cent are possible. The second phase of NEL’s investment will see the simultaneous injection of water and oil to better simulate field conditions.

The move to subsea production and processing has necessitated the introduction of higher capacity flow meters. Along with the drive to reduce the cost of production through the use of shared facilities, this has generated increased demand for more accurate wet gas metering to reduce uncertainty and minimise financial exposure. NEL’s Wet Gas Facility has been designed to more accurately replicate such increased flowrates, to meet both operator and equipment vendors’ demands for an independent facility for development, verification and validation purposes. 

Dr Phil Mark, Director of Sales & Marketing at NEL, said: “The message coming back to us loud and clear from our customers was to increase the total gas flow rate in our test facilities, and to introduce simultaneous oil/water flow into the gas stream. The first phase of our investment has seen us deliver a 50 per cent increase in dry gas and an even greater expansion of wet gas rates. NEL’s Flow Measurement Facilities are recognised as one of the best in the world and we maintain that reputation by consistently innovating to meet the evolving needs of the industry as demonstrated here.”

The Wet Gas Facility forms part of NEL’s strategic development programme to make it the facility of choice for both vendors and operators for the development and verification of instruments for multiphase and wet gas flows. NEL’s Flow Measurement Facilities in Glasgow are the primary flow measurement standard for the UK, under the UK’s National Measurement System (NMS).