title: Sound speed in downhole flow measurement.
abstract: This paper describes the use of sound speed in flow measurement applications in the high-pressure/high-temperature downhole environment. The propagation speed of a sound wave is a powerful tool to extract useful information from a flowing fluid medium in pipe whether the medium consists of a single-phase or multiphase flow. Considering the complex nature of the flow patterns and changing phase fractions from reservoir to surface, utilizing the propagation speed of sound of a fluid mixture is not a trivial task, especially if the interest is real-time flow measurement. The demanding applications span a wide spectrum from noisy medium originating from fast-moving gas/liquid flows to quiet medium originating from slow-moving liquid/liquid flows. In the current work, multiple flow loop tests are conducted in different facilities to evaluate the direct use of sound speed in flow rate measurement and the results are associated with real-life field examples. A tool analysis map is developed that addresses the use of sound speed for flow measurement under different scenarios. Although most examples are based on strain-based local sensing of the flow, the use of sound speed is independent of the methodology and can be implemented by other methods such as acoustic-based distributed sensing.
authors.affiliation: Weatherford, 22001 North Park Drive, Kingwood, Texas 77339, USA.
authors.forename: Ö Haldun
authors.initials: ÖH
authors.lastname: Ünalmis