NEL to lead subsea flow research project

A European consortium, led by NEL in the UK, has been awarded a three year research project to establish a reference measurement network and standards aimed at improving the accuracy of subsea multiphase flow measurement for the oil and gas industry.

The E3 million project will be part-funded by the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP) through EURAMET, alongside National Measurement Institutes, industrial and academic partners from the UK, Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and France.

Multiphase flow in subsea applications: uncertainty over accuracy

Multiphase flow measurement systems in subsea applications have uncertainties of flowrate that lead to financial exposures of billions of dollars per annum. (The world economic annual value of oil and gas production is around US$ 3500 billion for oil and US$ 500 billion for gas).

NEL will work with 12 research partners across Europe in a joint multiphase flow measurement comparison study to develop the world’s first multiphase reference network and associated standards. This will provide a more consistent basis for evaluating multiphase flow meters, leading to improved accuracy subsea.

European consortium to tackle the issue

Dr Brian Millington, Managing Director, NEL, said: “This project will be a world first that will put Europe in the lead. There is no single organisation that can address this vast challenge alone due to the many different aspects and ranges of field conditions which must be tackled. That is why we have developed a European consortium of laboratories and industrial scale multiphase flow measurement specialists to holistically address this.”

Research project funding: the details

In the UK, the national financial contribution for the project will be made by the National Measurement System R&D Programme, which is funded by BIS through the National Measurement Office.

NEL is the UK’s Designated Institute for Flow Measurement Standards and will lead other project partners, including: Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Germany), Cesky Metrologicky Institut Brno (Czech Republic), VSL, Shell, DNV KEMA, ProLabNL, Deltares (all Netherlands), Oil & Gas Measurement, Industrial Tomography Systems, Atout Process and University of Leeds (all UK) and Schlumberger (France).

The project also has the support of six major oil companies and two Industry Regulators, DECC (UK) and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

Adapted from press release by Elizabeth Corner

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/27122013/nel_to_lead_subsea_flow_research_project/