Ultrasonic method for measuring water holdup of low velocity and high-water-cut oil-water two-phase flow

Oil reservoirs with low permeability and porosity that are in the middle and late exploitation periods in China＇s onshore oil fields are mostly in the high-water-cut production stage.This stage is associated with severely non-uniform local-velocity flow profiles and dispersed-phase concentration（of oil droplets） in oil-water two-phase flow,which makes it difficult to measure water holdup in oil wells.In this study,we use an ultrasonic method based on a transmission-type sensor in oil-water two-phase flow to measure water holdup in lowvelocity and high water-cut conditions.First,we optimize the excitation frequency of the ultrasonic sensor by calculating the sensitivity of the ultrasonic field using the finite element method for multiphysics coupling.Then we calculate the change trend of sound pressure level attenuation ratio with the increase in oil holdup to verify the feasibility of the employed diameter for the ultrasonic sensor.Based on the results,we then investigate the effects of oildroplet diameter and distribution on the ultrasonic field.To further understand the measurement characteristics of the ultrasonic sensor,we perform a flow loop test on vertical upward oilwater two-phase flow and measure the responses of the optimized ultrasonic sensor.The results show that the ultrasonic sensor yields poor resolution for a dispersed oil slug in water flow（D OS/W flow）,but the resolution is favorable for dispersed oil in water flow（D O/W flow） and very fine dispersed oil in water flow（VFD O/W flow）.This research demonstrates the potential application of a pulsed-transmission ultrasonic method for measuring the fraction of individual components in oil-water two-phase flow with a low mixture velocity and high water cut.

Methodology for production logging in oil-in-water flows under low flow rate and high water-cut conditions

This study aimed to obtain the production profiles of oil-in-water flow under low flow rate and high water-cut conditions in oil wells.A combination production profile logging composed of an arc-type conductance sensor(ATCS)and a cross-correlation flow meter(CFM)with a center body is proposed and experimentally evaluated.The ATCS is designed for water holdup measurement,whereas the CFM with a center body is proposed to obtain the mixture velocity.Then,a drift-flux model based on flow patterns is established to predict the individual-phase superficial velocity of oil-in-water flows.Results show that the ATCS possesses high resolution in water holdup measurement and that flow pattern information can be deduced from its signal through nonlinear time series analysis.The CFM can enhance the correlation of upstream and downstream signals and simplify the relationship between the cross-correlation velocity and mixture velocity.On the basis of the drift-flux model,individual-phase superficial velocities can be predicted with high accuracy for different flow patterns.