title: The Finite Element Analysis for a Mini-Conductance Probe in Horizontal Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow.
abstract: Oil-water two-phase flow is widespread in petroleum industry processes. The study of oil-water two-phase flow in horizontal pipes and the liquid holdup measurement of oil-water two-phase flow are of great importance for the optimization of the oil production process. This paper presents a novel sensor, i.e., a mini-conductance probe (MCP) for measuring pure-water phase conductivity of oil-water segregated flow in horizontal pipes. The MCP solves the difficult problem of obtaining the pure-water correction for water holdup measurements by using a ring-shaped conductivity water-cut meter (RSCWCM). Firstly, using the finite element method (FEM), the spatial sensitivity field of the MCP is investigated and the optimized MCP geometry structure is determined in terms of the characteristic parameters. Then, the responses of the MCP for the oil-water segregated flow are calculated, and it is found that the MCP has better stability and sensitivity to the variation of water-layer thickness in the condition of high water holdup and low flow velocity. Finally, the static experiments for the oil-water segregated flow were carried out and a novel calibration method for pure-water phase conductivity measurements was presented. The validity of the pure-water phase conductivity measurement with segregated flow in horizontal pipes was verified by experimental results.
authors: School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, Hebei, China. kongweihang@163.com.
authors: Weihang
authors: W
authors: Kong
authors: School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, Hebei, China. lfkong@ysu.edu.cn.|Key Laboratory for Computer Virtual Technology and System Integration of Hebei Province, Qinhuangdao 066004, Hebei, China. lfkong@ysu.edu.cn.
authors: Lingfu
authors: L
authors: Kong
authors: School of Information Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, Hebei, China. dlts_lil@petrochina.com.cn.|Logging and Testing Services Company, Daqing Oilfield Limited Company, Daqing 163453, Heilongjiang, China. dlts_lil@petrochina.com.cn.
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: Logging and Testing Services Company, Daqing Oilfield Limited Company, Daqing 163453, Heilongjiang, China. dlts_liuxb@petrochina.com.cn.
authors: Xingbin
authors: X
authors: Liu
authors: Daqing Oilfield Limited Company, Daqing 163453, Heilongjiang, China. xieronghua@petrochina.com.cn.
authors: Ronghua
authors: R
authors: Xie
authors: Logging and Testing Services Company, Daqing Oilfield Limited Company, Daqing 163453, Heilongjiang, China. dlts_lijun@petrochina.com.cn.
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Li
authors: Logging and Testing Services Company, Daqing Oilfield Limited Company, Daqing 163453, Heilongjiang, China. dlts_tanght@petrochina.com.cn.
authors: Haitao
authors: H
authors: Tang
keywords: design and geometry optimization; finite element method (FEM); horizontal oil-water segregated flow; mini-conductance probe (MCP); pure-water phase conductivity measurement; sensitivity field