Abstract
Multiphase flow meters (MPFMs) are being widely employed in the oil and gas industry for a higher rate test frequency in the producing wells and for continuous production monitoring. But after the installation and before it provides services, a MPFM experiences a lengthy process that is comprised of meter calibration, settings configuration and wellhead sampling for liquid density checking. To accomplish this process is often challenging in offshore fields due to the adverse weather conditions and the high costs of offshore activities. That has hindered the MPFM commissioning activities in many Aramco offshore fields and consequently affected the testing requirements.
A MPFM is an intelligent metering device which is very sensitive to the fluid's PVT properties, fluids densities, H2S and CO2 contents. A typical calibration of a MPFM in Aramco offshore fields often requires taking fluid samples from each individual well for the fluid density check and determination of mass attenuation of oil due to the fluid density variations in a field. An offshore MPFM often covers the testing requirements for all 6 to 8 producers on a platform. Hence this method always takes a long time to take wellhead fluid samples for completing the calibration process of a single MPFM, and tends to lag far behind their planned commissioning schedule.
In 2013, thirty seven new MPFM were installed in 37 different platforms covering more than 122 wells in one Aramco field. A commissioning and calibration campaign was launched early this year with a different approach after carefully analyzing the PVT properties of the produced fluids. In this approach the typical calibration work was first performed on 3 wells, and then the same settings and parameters were copied and uploaded as a batch to those remaining MPFMs covering other 119 wells in this field. This method significantly reduced the time for marine boat support. Furthermore, those 119 wells are being remotely flow tested in a batch via Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) to verify if any further adjustment is required. Due to H2S and CO2free in the produced fluids, and the almost constant liquid densities throughout the area in this field, the accuracy of the MPFM measurement can't be compromised by taking this process. The paper describes a new method that significantly reduced the total time for the 37 MPFM calibration and commissioning jobs and saved the costs.