Multiphase flow measurement by electrical capacitance tomography

Currently, almost all gas-oil-water multiphase flow meters used in the oil industry, for production monitoring and/or well testing, rely on radioactive source emitting gamma rays. These meters are, however, expensive and sometimes have logistic issues in deployment. A team of researchers from The University of Manchester and Schlumberger Cambridge Research have developed a research prototype flow meter based on non-radioactive, multi-modality measurements, including electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) sensors for sensing oil-continuous flow conditions. The prototype has been tested at NEL Multiphase Flow Facility. In this paper the principle of the ECT part of the research prototype and initial test results are presented.