Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 17 (2006) 163–170

www.elsevier.com/locate/flowmeasinst

The Norsk Hydro Multi Phase Flow Loop. A high pressure flow loop for real
three-phase hydrocarbon systems
Berit Robøle a , Harald Knut Kvandal a,∗ , Reidar Barfod Schüller b
a Norsk Hydro Oil and Energy Research Centre, Porsgrunn, Norway
b Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

Abstract

In order to achieve better understanding and better predictive models for three-phase systems, Norsk Hydro ASA has designed and built a
unique industrial-scale test facility for investigations of such systems.
The test facility includes a 200 m long 3 diameter flow loop where a section can be tilted upwards or downwards. The fluids can be any
combination of real hydrocarbon oil, gas and water (with salts included) as long as the partial pressures of CO2 and H2 S are below 20 bar and
0.05 bar, respectively. The maximum operating temperature and pressure are 140 ◦ C and 110 bar absolute, respectively.
The test facility is designed to implement total control of both flow conditions and system chemistry. This makes it possible to undertake
investigations on the phenomena that occur in multiphase flow. It is optional to add production chemicals to the process fluid.
The test facility is presented in detail with descriptions of the chosen solutions, the instrumentation and the range of possible applications. It
has successfully undertaken tests with a large range of well fluids from the North Sea, and a listing of these tests is included.
c 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd

Keywords: Test facility; Three phase flow loop; Real hydrocarbon system; Multiphase flow; High pressure

1. Introduction • More viscous oil, containing more surface active compo-

nents.
Since the start-up of oil and gas production on the • Sub-sea field development, tied in to existing platforms or to
Norwegian Continental Shelf in the late 1970s, the size of the shore.
oil and gas reserves for each new operating license has been • Tail-end production.
decreasing. As a consequence, the focus on cost-effective field
development has become stronger. In order to qualify process Several of these challenges need to be investigated in order
designs and models, it is essential to have valid data for real to optimise the oil and gas production. Transportation of the
fluid systems. In order to obtain these data sets, a flow loop is well stream over long distances meets challenges in respect of
the only option. production capacity, wax, hydrates, corrosion, flow regimes, the
Norsk Hydro ASA is one of the major oil and gas operators effects of varying gas/liquid ratio, and water cut. More viscous
in the North Sea. Based in Norway, the main activities are fluids challenge the separation technology and, together with
on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, although the company sub-sea development, the qualification of technology becomes
is expanding internationally. The ageing of the Norwegian crucial. The increase in water cuts in tail-end production units
Continental Shelf and the expansion to other areas of the world need models that can predict the influence of the increased
exposes Norsk Hydro to new challenges in order to exploit our water cut on production capacity.
operating licences cost effectively. The new challenges include:
• Transportation of multiphase fluids over long distances and 2. Background
at large depths.
Norsk Hydro ASA decided in 1984 to construct their first
∗ Corresponding author. experimental test rig for the investigation of the process and
E-mail address: [email protected] (H.K. Kvandal). transport behaviour of live and recombined crude oil systems.

0955-5986/$ - see front matter 

c 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd
doi:10.1016/j.flowmeasinst.2006.01.003
164 B. Robøle et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 17 (2006) 163–170

Table 1
Technical specifications of the Multi Phase Flow Loop

Number of phases Three (gas, oil, water)

Capacity water Range 0.002–40 m3 /h (Us = 0.0001–2.3 m/s)
Capacity oil Range 0.002–40 m3 /h (Us = 0.0001–2.3 m/s)
Capacity liquid 0.002–60 m3 /h (Us = 0.0001–3.4 m/s)
Capacity gas Range 0.3–205 A m3 /h (Us = 0.02–11.6 m/s)
Maximum pressure 110 bar
Maximum pressure drop 40 bar
Temperature range −5–140 ◦ C
Inner tube diameter 3 (77.9 mm)
Flow loop length 200 m
Tilt −6◦ to +10◦
Material Duplex steel
Water phase Water with optional content of salt, MeOH or Glycol
Oil phase Crude oil
Gas phase Hydrocarbon gas

The background for building up the multiphase laboratory

was to establish an in-house modelling and experimental
environment for multiphase flow and gas/oil/water separation.
Norsk Hydro wanted to have experimental facilities where the
effects of water and the peculiarity of hydrocarbon systems
compared to model oil systems could be studied. Since then,
a variety of test rigs have been built and collected in the
multiphase flow laboratory, a dedicated facility specialised for
handling hydrocarbon fluids.
The test rigs range from a transparent oil/water flow loop
to a high-pressure multiphase flow loop. There are oil/water
flow loops in various sizes to facilitate experiments related
to the oil/water process and transport behaviour. There is a
specialised water test facility able to simulate the real behaviour
of water that is produced. Furthermore, Norsk Hydro has a
500 bar titanium laboratory dispersion characterisation rig for
determining fluid gas/oil/water separation characteristics [1].
Later studies have shown that there are significant Fig. 1. The tilt able section of the Multi Phase Flow Loop. (Here shown in the
horizontal position.)
differences between real oil and model oil systems [2]. In
addition, a stronger focus on qualifying new technology under dispersions, droplet break-up and coalescence, multiphase
realistic conditions before offshore installations required a
gas/oil/water flow, wax precipitation, hydrate precipitation,
test loop, which handled sufficient flow rates, pressures and
corrosion, effects of inhibitors, and the qualification and testing
temperatures.
of equipment and instrumentation.
The heart of the multiphase laboratory is the Multi Phase
Flow Loop (MPFL), which will be emphasised here. The
flow loop is particularly suited to realistic process conditions, 3. The Multi Phase Flow Loop
handling pressures and temperatures relevant for topside, sub-
sea and down-hole processing. This means that it is possible to The Multi Phase Flow Loop (MPFL) is a three-
create test conditions representative for the transportation and phase recirculating test loop for gas, oil and water. The
processing of fluids for all current field designs, including long- loop is constructed for recombined hydrocarbon fluids and
range transport of multiphase flow to shore. This is in great saline water, which represents realistic fluid systems with
contrast to small-scale lab facilities using inert fluid systems appropriate chemistry for an oil producing plant. The technical
or to field tests, where the test conditions are determined by the specifications of the rig are given in Table 1.
wells and production manager. The MPFL is almost fully automated and is operated from
The Norsk Hydro ASA plan of building a high-pressure flow the control room. The basic part of the loop contains a three-
rig that could contain real hydrocarbon systems was realised phase separator, circulating pumps for the respective phases,
in 1991, and the Multi Phase Flow Loop (MPFL) was ready and a heat exchanger to control the temperature. The flow loop
for operation in 1994 to investigate multiphase phenomena has three optional test loops connected: the Flow Loop, the
and mechanisms connected with the characterisation of fluid Choke Test Section, and the Multipurpose Test Area. Fig. 1
separation, emulsions, foaming, transport behaviour, phase shows the outer end of the 120 m long flow loop.
 B. Robøle et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 17 (2006) 163–170 165

Fig. 2. The main part of the Multi Phase Flow Loop, including separator, pumps and heat exchangers. The maximum operating pressure and temperature are
110 bar and 140 ◦ C, respectively.

3.1. Design basis The three-phase separator is the centre of the system. It
acts as a central reservoir of the three phases. In addition, the
The Multi Phase Flow Loop was built to address the water phase and the oil phase can be stored in buffer volumes.
phenomena that occur in multiphase flow in real three-phase The three phases, oil, gas and water, flow from the separator
hydrocarbon/water systems. This brings about a requirement to to individual pumps/circulator, which are fitted with variable
have complete control with both the flowing conditions and the speed controllers, to a mixing point.
chemistry. There are two different mixing points in the MPFL: the
Control with flowing conditions involves: Y-junction and the T-junction. The Y-junction is designed to
• Pressure generate stratified flow, if possible. The water phase is fed
• Temperature horizontally at the bottom, the oil phase horizontally above the
• Flow rates of all the phases water phase, and the gas phase is fed at the top. The other
• Good separation behaviour in separator mixing point is the T-junction, where the oil and water is pre-
• Thermodynamic equilibrium where this is required mixed in a T-junction before the gas is added. This mixing
• No unwanted disturbances to flow such as sudden steps device will favour dispersed flow instead of stratified flow, and
where pipes are connected. tests done in the MPFL have shown differences in pressure
• Control with wax and hydrates drop and flow pattern by alternating between the two mixing
Control with chemistry involves: points. Chemicals can be added to the system, so it is possible
to perform tests with the addition of different types of inhibitors
• Correct composition (corrosion, hydrate, flow improvers, etc.).
• Control with contaminants such as corrosion products and
The main part of the MPFL is shown in Fig. 2. The flow
other surface active chemicals.
from the test section enters the three-phase separator, where the
3.2. Design mixture flow is separated into a gas, an oil and a water phase.
The gas leaves the separator at the top and flows through the
The Multi Phase Flow Loop is a recirculating system that is gas circulator before the temperature is controlled in the gas
able to operate with three phases, oil/water/gas, at pressures of cooler. From the gas cooler, the gas flows optionally to the well
up to 110 bar absolute. The allowable temperature range is from manifold in the Multipurpose Test Area or to the three-phase
−5 to 140 ◦ C. mixing point upstream from the test sections.
The process fluid can be any combination of real crude oils The oil flows from the separator to the oil circulation pump.
as long as the partial pressures of CO2 and H2 S are below 20 Downstream from the oil circulation pump, the flow can either
bar and 0.05 bar, respectively. The water may contain salts, thus flow through or bypass the liquid heat exchanger. The oil phase
a representative water phase can be used in the system. is mixed with the water at an optional T-junction or in the three-
166 B. Robøle et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 17 (2006) 163–170

Fig. 3. The 3 Flow Loop and the Choke Test Section.

phase Y-junction upstream from the test sections. In order to The Flow Loop contains two test areas, as shown in the
direct the oil flow to the well manifold in the Multipurpose Test figure. The first test area is situated just upstream from the
Area, no gas or water passes through the Y-junction, and the oil bend in the inclined test section. The second test area is situated
flow is directed from downstream from the junction to the well upstream from the separator. The test sections are placed such
manifold. that the flow is not effected by anything but the pipe. The first
The water flows from the separator to the water circulation test section is placed more than 880 L/D from the last bend, and
pump. To gain temperature control, the water can optionally the second test section is placed 700 L/D from the bend in the
flow through the liquid heat exchanger. Downstream from the inclined section, and 190 L/D from the inclined section bypass.
liquid heat exchanger, the water can be routed to the well The flow to the Choke Test Section flows from the
manifold in the multipurpose test area, or to the test sections test section to the multiphase pump. Downstream from the
via, optionally, the oil/water T-junction or to the gas/oil/water multiphase pump, the flow can be routed to the Multipurpose
Y-junction. Test Area, or to the Choke Test Section, where different choke
The liquid levels in the separator are of great importance in designs and geometries can be tested.
controlling the gas/oil/water mixture. In order to maintain the Fig. 4 shows the Multipurpose Test Area. The flow from
optimal levels, oil and water can be moved to the oil and water the separator enters the test area in two optional ways, either
buffer tanks. Downstream from the oil and water pumps, a flow through the well manifold system, where gas, oil and water can
be mixed to three different mixtures, which in turn is mixed on
can be directed to the oil and water tank, respectively. In need of
the manifold. The purpose of the well manifold is to simulate
more oil or water in the flow loop, the oil and water is returned
the influence of different well streams and the mixture of these
to the loop upstream from the oil and water pump, respectively.
on downstream processing equipment. The other route from the
Likewise, the liquid in the liquid heat exchanger is alternating,
separator to the test area is via the multiphase pump in the choke
depending on the volumes needed in the flow loop.
test section.
Fig. 3 shows the Flow Loop and the Choke Test Section. The test area is a 50 m × 20 m area situated on the ground,
The gas/oil/water mixture flows from the separator to the 60 m which makes it easy to connect processing equipment. The
long horizontal part of the test section. In the last part of the equipment to be tested can arrive either as complete skids or
horizontal section, the flow can be directed to the Choke Test as processing equipment, which can be connected to exiting
Section. After the 60 m of horizontal piping, the flow can return pipes. From the test area, the mixture flow returns to the MPFL
to the separator, or enter the inclined section. The inclined separator.
section continues straight ahead for 40 m before a U-turn brings
the flow back the 100 m to the separator. The total length of 3.3. Materials
the flow loop, including the inclined section, is 200 m. If the
inclined section is bypassed, the length is 120 m. If needed, the Since H2 S can be present up to 0.05 bar partial pressure, the
flow loop can be bypassed, and the flow returns directly to the test facility is built to comply with standard NACE MR0175–90
separator. for Sulfide Stress Cracking Resistant Metallic Materials for
 B. Robøle et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 17 (2006) 163–170 167

Fig. 4. The Multipurpose Test Area.

Waterfield Equipment. The test facility is basically built of compression machine. The sealing system is a Crane double
Duplex Steel, W.Nr. 1.4462, X2CrNiMoN 22-5, UNS S31803. mechanical seal, and a small amount of sealing fluid leaks into
All process-wetted parts are Duplex Steel, Incolloy 825, or the process stream.
Hastelloy C-276. Monell K-500 can be used as the material in The sealing fluid is petroleum distillate without any added
glands. Grafitti spiral glands with interior and exterior rings in chemicals. (In fact, it has the diesel fractions of Oseberg crude
Monell K-500 are used to connect process piping. with no added chemicals, especially produced at the refinery for
the MPFL.)
3.4. The separator
3.5.2. The oil pump
The separator is provided with a splash plate on the inlet The oil pump is of the type Borneman twin-screw pump,
to reduce the incoming momentum. The liquid flows through a Type W6.5ZX1-30/324008. This is a low shear pump that
pal packed plate, before the gas, oil and water mixture flows avoids the production of small droplets. The generation of small
through a perforated plate. Downstream from the perforated
droplets in a recirculating system may cause the formation of
plate, there is a Vessel Internal Electrostatic Coalescer (VIEC)
stable emulsions and must be avoided. The pump is fitted with
element in order to improve the separation. A weir plate
a Burgman seal. A small amount of fluid leaks out through the
separates the oil from the water, both leaving the separator in
seal and is collected in a dedicated pressurised container.
the bottom. The gas exits the separator through a pipe in the
top. The volume of the separator is 2.2 m3 .
The operational conditions of the separator are determined 3.5.3. The water pump
by controlling the liquid levels. The MPFL is equipped with The water pump is an APV canned glandless leakage proof
buffer tanks to maintain the desired water and oil levels in the centrifugal pump of type HMD Type HP 2E SM RES-125 fitted
separator. By shifting volumes to and from the buffer tanks, the with a magnetic drive coupling.
phases leaving the separator can be kept as pure as possible.
There is normally only a few parts per million of oil in the 3.5.4. The twin-screw multiphase booster pump
water phase and less than 0.5% water in the oil phase, except The multiphase booster pump is of the type Borneman twin-
for poorly separating fluid systems. screw pump, Type MPC208X1-57, similar to the oil pump but
much larger. The pump is fitted with a Burgman seal. A small
3.5. Rotating machinery amount of fluid leaks out through the seal and is collected in a
dedicated pressurised container. The pump is able to raise the
One problem that had to be overcome in relation to rotating pressure of the multiphase stream by approximately 40 bars.
machinery in the test facility was the potential contamination
by surface-active agents of the process fluid within the rig. Such 3.6. Heat exchangers
pollutants could, for example, be lubrication oil from bearings
and seals of the rotating machinery.
All the process piping and the process units of the MPFL
3.5.1. The gas circulator are insulated and equipped with temperature-controlled heat
tracing.
The gas in the MPFL is circulated by means of a Bertin
peripheral compressor, Type CP 310.1.008. This is a low
peripheral speed machine that is stable at all operating speeds. 3.6.1. Gas cooler
The gas flows through the vanes several times from inlet to A shell and tube gas cooler is located just downstream from
outlet, hence the machine can be considered to be a multistage the Bertin gas circulator.
168 B. Robøle et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 17 (2006) 163–170

Table 2
Main control instrumentation of the MPFL
Instrument Model Range Description
Oil flow meter Rheonik Micro Motion 2–700 kg/min Coreolis mass flow meter
Water flow meter Rheonik Micro Motion 2–700 kg/min Coreolis mass flow meter
Liquid flow rate Endress–Hauser 0.1–1 kg/min Coreolis mass flow meter
Gas flow rate Instromet SM-RI 13–250 m3 /h Turbine gas flow meter
Gas flow rate Fisher Rosemount 0.3–2.9 m3 /h V-cone, differential pressure flow meter
Pressure transmitter Rosemount 2088G4A2 0.5–125 bar
Temperature transmitter Pt-100, INOR TRA R6X −10–150 ◦ C
Separator level indicator Sentech Profile Gauge – 40 capacitance probes

3.6.2. Liquid phase exchanger 4. Instrumentation

The liquid phase heat exchanger is a horizontal U-tube
exchanger where the process fluid is located on the tube-side. 4.1. Control and operational instrumentation
The direction of flow can be either upwards or downwards,
depending on the fluid. The flow should be upwards when the The complexity and safety aspects of the MPFL facility
fluid is water continuous, and downwards when the fluid is oil require a significant number of instruments for control
continuous to prevent accumulation of the dispersed phase in and operational purposes. These are pressure transmitters,
the heat exchanger. temperature sensors, flow transducers, level measurements, and
gas detectors. It is not within the scope of this paper to
3.6.3. Cooling jackets go into details of all the different instrumentation installed
One 15 m long cooling jacket is connected to the Flow Loop for these purposes, but rather to focus on some of the most
in the region just upstream from the test (Section 2). The normal important with respect to ensuring total control of the fluids
operating condition of the heat exchanger is counter current. entering the different test sections. Due to the hazardous
The control system is able to regulate the temperature to within environment, the flow loops are classified as EX zone II, and
0.1 K. The jacket can be used to either heat or cool the flow all instruments, as well as all electrical equipment, have the
before it enters the test section. appropriate classification.
As described earlier in the design basis, the test facility
3.7. Composition was designed to feed a specific three-phase mixture with given
flow rates, as well as given pressure and temperature, to the
Every well in the North Sea is analysed for composition.
designated test sections. This means that full control of the
The well fluid transported to Porsgrunn is stabilised, which
specific flow rates of each phase, in addition to control of the
means that all the volatile gases must be added, recombining
fluids leaving the separator, is of paramount importance. The
to produce a “live” hydrocarbon system. The recombination
of the fluids is done by pressurising the fluid to operational main instruments in this respect are given in Table 2.
pressure with either natural gas or a designed gas mixture. The separator is equipped with a SeCaP system [5,6] that
If the gas mixture is designed, calculations are carried out in measures the variation in the dielectric property from the top
advance in order to determine how much of each component to the bottom of the separator along a vertical rod having 40
must be added, as significant amounts of the lighter components electrodes. The system monitors the position of the interfaces
dissolve in hydrocarbon liquid phase. The computer program present in the separator: pure gas, foam, pure oil, oil/water
NEW ∗ S [3,4] can be used for this purpose, but any program emulsion, and pure water.
that is able to predict vapour/liquid equilibrium for real Five coreolis mass flow meters are installed to measure the
hydrocarbon/water systems can be employed. liquid flow rates leaving the separator. In addition to giving out
the mass flow, they also indicate fluid density and thereby flow
3.8. Oxygen content rates in volumetric terms for given fluids. As they give true mass
flow indication, no calibration is necessary. The density option
The maximum allowable oxygen concentration in the rig is also enables a secondary check with respect to the purity of the
5 ppb referred to the water phase. The reason for this is that liquids leaving the separator.
the system contains chlorides that can cause stress induced For the gas flow rates, a turbine meter is installed for
corrosion. In order to keep the oxygen content this low, the measurements of the high flow rates, while a V-cone differential
facility is fitted with a palladium catalyst reactor, where oxygen pressure flow meter measures the low flow rates. Both of them
and hydrogen reacts to form water. A small, controlled quantity are calibrated prior to all major experimental campaigns.
of hydrogen is fed to the rig, having a normal hydrogen
concentration in the gas phase of approximately 50 ppm. 4.2. Scientific instrumentation
Oxygen concentration is measured on-line, while hydrogen
concentration is measured from samples taken from the gas As the purpose of designing and building the MPFL was to
phase. investigate the ongoing processes in multiphase flow, a number
 B. Robøle et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 17 (2006) 163–170 169

of scientific instruments are installed in the test sections. Some the rig. These test probes can include corrosion probes, erosion
of these are off-the-shelf instruments, while others are custom- probes, or simply water wetting probes.
made prototypes. Some have permanent locations, while others Fluid sampling can be performed at several locations;
offer the ability to be used at different locations. from the streams exiting the separator (gas/oil/water) and
from the traversable sampling probe connected to the test
• Five differential pressure transmitters
section area. Samples are taken into pressurised cylinders and
These are open system where the pressure tappings are
no depressurisation takes place before it is required for the
top mounted and gas filled. These offer fast response to
appropriate analysis.
the fluctuations in the test pipe, but suffer from liquid
penetration when the pipe is liquid filled. These are all
5. Published studies from the MPFL
installed with different measuring lengths, which enable us
to monitor any developing flow in the section. Since the MPFL was installed, a number of publications
• Three differential pressure transmitters have been written to present the experimental results. However,
A closed system with membranes and silicon-oil filled these publications are limited compared to the amount of
level tubes. Also installed for different measuring lengths. experiments conducted in the facility. The main reason for
• Four narrow-beam gamma densitometers this is that the unique nature of this facility has given Norsk
Each instrument has a one Ci Cs137 -source facilitating Hydro, as an oil company, a technical edge with respect to the
a 0.016 s sampling rate (62.5 Hz). These are clamp-on understanding of multiphase flow, and thereby a competitive
devices and can therefore be relocated for different tests. The advantage compared with others. Similar arguments apply for
instruments are used for two-phase hold-up measurements the experimental campaigns conducted for process equipment
and flow pattern analysis as well as slug properties (two vendors, where they have ownership of results from the
nearby instruments facilitate cross correlation). experiments.
• Traversable two-energy gamma densitometer The vast majority of results that have been published have
This instrument has a 30 mCi Ba source with beam dealt with multiphase pipe flow and multiphase flow through
collimation of 5 × 10 mm. It can be traversed both in chokes. Some of them will be briefly mentioned here:
linear and angular directions and is mounted on a reinforced
carbon fibre pipe that offers the ability to be relocated to any • Utvik et al. [2]
position in the flow loop. By using two energies, three-phase This was an experimental study with the objective of
hold up calculations are facilitated, as well as flow pattern comparing the results from a recombined hydrocarbon fluid
analysis. The instrument also has the potential to produce system and a model oil/inert gas system in a three-phase
two-dimensional (2D) tomographic images of the pipe cross pipe flow. They concluded that the there were significant
section [7]. differences due to the fluid systems, both with respect to flow
• CCD near-infrared (NIR) camera pattern and pressure drop.
This instrument facilitates visual access to the flow, even • Valle and Utvik 1997 [10]
The objective of this publication was the comparison
with recombined crude oil systems, as it utilizes the crude
oil transparency to NIR light [8,9]. It can be mounted on between experimental oil/water data from the MPFL and
model predictions. They concluded that the available
a traversable unit for examining different parts of the pipe
multiphase models could not represent the experimental
cross section.
data from the facility, and related that to the specific fluid
• Traversable conductivity probe
properties of a recombined hydrocarbon system.
The probe measures the electrical conductivity of the
• Utvik et al. 1998, [11]
fluid at the probe tip and is mounted in a traversable unit. It
A similar publication to Valle and Utvik 1998, but here
gives an on/off signal for the difference between water and
presented for three-phase gas/oil/water flow.
oil, hence giving the position of the oil/water interface in
• Kvandal et al. 1998 [12]
stratified flow.
In this publication, field data was compared to
• Traversable capacitance probe
experimental data from the test facility (using fluids from the
The probe measures the dielectric permittivity of the fluid
same field) and the model comparison. They concluded that
at the probe tip and is mounted on a traversable unit [6]. The
the specific observations made in the test facility represented
electrodes are similar to the level probes in the separator.
the observations from the field data.
A system making it possible to insert and retract traversing • Schulkes et al. 1999 [13]
probes is implemented in the design of the test section. This publication presented an experimental study on
This system has most frequently been used with a traversing high-temperature, high-pressure multiphase flow with radial
conductivity probe. Sampling from the process stream at inflow of gas. Their main conclusion was that the main
different locations can also be accomplished by this system. source of pressure loss with radial inflow was due to
Any type of measurement system can be used with the system. frictional effects.
It only needs to be designed to fit the dimensions of the system. • Valle 2000 [14]
The test section is fitted with four flush mounted test probes In his PhD thesis, Valle presented several experimental
that can be inserted and removed with full system pressure in campaigns conducted using different crude oils. He analysed
170 B. Robøle et al. / Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 17 (2006) 163–170

the findings and found a large degree of consistency for [5] Schüller RB, Halleraker M, Engebretsen B. Advanced profile gauge
different oils. for multiphase systems. In: 1st world congress on industrial process
• Solbakken and Schuller 2001 [15] tomography. 1999. p. 126–32.
[6] Schüller RB, Solbakken T, Engebretsen B, Halleraker M. Water
A study on a gas/condensate/water system showed that
concentration and interface positions by single electrode capacitance
the relative pressure drop for three-phase gas/condensate/ probes (SeCaPTM ), In: 2nd world congress on industrial process
water systems showed lower values than for pure tomography. 2001. p. 644–51.
gas/condensate systems. [7] Frøystein T, Kvandal H, Aakre H. Dual energy gamma tomography
• Elseth et al. 2003 [16] system for high pressure multiphase flow. Flow Measurement and
Another study on gas/condensate/water with the objective Instrumentation 2005;16(2–3):289–93.
of studying the effects of pipe inclination. They concluded [8] Aakre H, Solbakken T, Schüller RB. An In-line NIR/endoscope
technique for observations in real hydrocarbon multiphase systems. Flow
that the available multiphase models, especially with
Measurement and Instrumentation 2005;16(5):289–93.
respect to water accumulations at low flow rates and high [9] Aakre H, Solbakken T, Schüller RB. Online measurements of droplet
inclinations, could not represent the experimental results. characteristics in a flowing crude oil/water system using an endoscope
• Schüller et al. 2003 [17] and Schüller et al. [18] and a CCD-NIR camera. In: 3rd international symposium on two-phase
Studies on sub-critical and critical flow through orifice flow modelling and experimentation. Pisa (Italy): Assembly of World
and cage-type chokes have shown that the Hydro Choke Conferences of Heat Transfer, Fluid Dynamics and Thermodynamics;
Model [17] is able to predict the flow rate for both sub- 2004.
[10] Valle A, Utvik OH. Pressure drop, flow pattern and slip for two.phase
critical and critical flow with high accuracy.
crude oil/water flow: Experiments and model predictions. In: First
• Munaweera et al. 2004 [19] international conference on advances in liquid-liquid two-phase flow and
A special study on erosion of chokes has shown that the transport phenomena. 1997.
mass flow rate is highly sensitive to minor erosive changes [11] Utvik OH, Valle A, Rinde T. Pressure drop, flow pattern and slip for multi-
to the choke geometry. phase crude oil–water hydrocarbon gas system, In: Third international
• Frøystein et al. [7] conference on multiphase flow. 1998.
This publication presents the traversable two-energy [12] Kvandal H, Valle A, Robøle B, Arvesen T. Comparison between three-
phase Field tests and Multiphase simulation code. In: SPE annual
gamma instrument described earlier under scientific instru-
conference and exhibition. 1998.
mentation. [13] Schulkes RMSM, Schüller RB, Munaweera JS. An experimental study of
• Aakre et al. [8,9] multiphase flow with radial inflow of gas. In: Multiphase ’99. Cannes:
This publication presents the imaging techniques for BHR Group; 1999. p. 507–19.
observations in real crude oil systems using NIR imaging [14] Valle A. Three phase gas–oil–water pipe flow. In: Department of
and endoscopes. It shows that it is possible to obtain images, Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology. London: Imperial
since many crude oils are transparent at certain wavelengths College of Science, Technology and Medicine; 2000. p. 471.
[15] Solbakken T, Schüller RB. Multiphase flow experiments on a high
in the near-infrared region.
pressure recombined gas/condensate/water system. In: Multiphase ’01.
Cannes (Cranfield): BHR Group; 2001. p. 163–76.
References [16] Elseth G, Duchet-Suchaux P, Holm H, Vandersippe W, Coffe G,
Kvandal H, Munaweera S. High pressure recombined gas-condensate-
[1] Schüller RB, Olsen K, Engebretsen B, Halleraker M. Monitoring of water flow at inclined conditions. In: Multiphase ’01. BHR Group; 2001.
high pressure separation of real hydrocarbon/water mixtures by single
[17] Schüller RB, Solbakken T, Selmer-Olsen S. Evaluation of multiphase flow
electrode capacitance probes (SeCaPTM ), In: 3rd world congress on
rate models for chokes under subcritical oil/gas/water conditions. SPE
industrial process tomography. 2003. p. 750–5.
Production and Facilities 2003;18(3):170–81.
[2] Utvik OH, Rinde T, Valle A. An experimental comparison between a
[18] Schüller RB, Munaweera JS, Selmer-Olsen S, Solbakken T. Critical and
recombined hydrocarbon–water fluid and a model system in three phase
pipe flow. In: 9th int. conf. multiphase’99. Cannes (France): BHR Group; sub-critical oil/gas/water mass flow rate predictions for chokes. SPE
1999. production and facilities 2006; August.
[3] Overå S. NEW∗ S — A new process simulator. NPF (Norwegian [19] Munaweera S, Solbakken T, Schüller RB. Minor geometrical change
Petrochemical Society); 1989. from erosion affects the three-phase mass flow rate through chokes.
[4] Wilson A, Overå S, Stange E, Majeed A. Creating, implementing and In: 3rd international symposium on two-phase flow modelling and
verifying an engineering tool. In: 70th GPA (Gas Processors Association) experimentation. Pisa (Italy): Assembly of World Conferences of Heat
annual convention. 1991. Transfer, Fluid Dynamics and Thermodynamics; 2004.