GAS FIELD ENGINEERING

PCB 4013

Topic
Gas Flow Measurement
Semester: September 2016
Reference Book:
Gas Production Engineering by Sanjay Kumar

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COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (CLO)

1. Evaluate gas reserve calculation methods

2. Analyze deliverability tests
3. Validation of field data with manual calculation for static and
bottom hole pressures

4. Assess various methods of gas transportation calculations and

measuring of gas volume

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CONTENTS
Introduction
Measurement Fundamentals
Selection of Measurement Devices
Orifice Meters
Critical Flow Prover
Choke Nipple
Pitot Tube

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Lesson Learning Outcome

At the end of the session, students should be able to:

Understand the necessity of Gas flow measurement.

Select the Gas Volume measurement Devices.
Calculate Gas Volume Produced by a Gas Well or Gas
Volume transported or sold.

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Gas Flow Measurement

It is required to determine amount of gas being produced or
sold, and also a basic parameter for almost all of the design
procedures.
Produced gas stream is in a continuous state of flow from the
instant it leaves the reservoir until it is consumed at the
delivery end.
Gas measurements must be done on a flowing stream of gas.
Accuracy in measurements is obviously of prime importance:
error of only 1% for a typical pipeline delivering 300 MMscfd
(109.5 Bscf/year) can result in an error of approximately 1.1
Bscf/year of gas which, at an example
gas price of
$3.00/Mscf, would amount to a loss of $3.3 million to the
buyer or seller.
Gas is measured in terms of volume.
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Gas Flow Measurement

Base or standard pressure and temperature conditions are
defined that yield measurements in standard cubic feet.
Volumetric rate can be converted to mass flow rate by
multiplying with the gas density at the standard pressure and
temperature(Psc , Tsc).
The most common basis is the AGA and API recommended
pressure of 14.73 psia and temperature of 60oF.

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Measurement Fundamentals
Flow is one of the difficult variables to measure because it
cannot be measured directly like pressure and temperature.
It must be derived by indirect means.
o Pressure differential over a specified distance
o Speed of rotation of a rotating element
o Displacement rate in a measurement chamber, etc.

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Attributes of Flow Devices

A flow-meter or measurement device is characterized using
the following parameters
Accuracy
Measure of a flow meters ability to indicate the actual flow
rate within a specified flow-rate range.

Accuracy =

Abs [Actual rate Measured rate]

Actual rate

x 100%

Accuracy is reported in two ways:

1.
percent of full scale accuracy
2.
percent of reading accuracy
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Attributes of Flow Devices

Full scale Accuracy: A + or 1 of full scale accuracy
means that the measured flow rate is within + or _ 1
MMSCFD of the actual flow rate regardless of the value of the
flow rate.
Thus,
for a measured rate of 10 MMscfd, actual flow rate is
between 9 and 11 MMscfd.
for a measured rate of 100 MMscfd, actual flow rate is
between 99 and 101 MMscfd.
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Attributes of Flow Devices

Reading Accuracy
A + or -1% of reading accuracy implies that
for a measured rate of 10 MMscfd ,actual flow rate is within
9.9 to 10.1 MMscfd
for a measured rate of 50 MMscfd, actual flow rate is
between 49.5 and 50.5 MMscfd.

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Attributes of Flow Devices

Rangeability: A flow meters rangeability is the ratio of the
maximum flow rate to the minimum flow rate at the specified
accuracy.
Rangeability =

Maximum rate that can be measured

Minimum rate that can be measured

Reported as x:1 . If max. rate is 50 MMSCFD and

min. rate is 10 MMSCFD, Rangeability is 5:1
Repeatability: Repeatability is the ability of a meter to reproduce
the same measured readings for identical flow conditions over a
period of time.

Linearity: This is a measure of the deviation of the calibration

curve of a meter from a straight line. A linear calibration curve is
desirable because it leads to a constant metering accuracy.
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Selection of Measurement Devices

The selection of a measurement devices depends upon:
Accuracy and reliability of the device.
Range of flow rate: maximum and minimum.

Range of flow temperature and pressure.

Fluid to be measured: gas or liquid, their constituents and
specific gravity.
Maintenance requirements.
Expected life of the device, and its initial and operating costs.

Other considerations, such as simplicity, availability of power

or other inputs required by the devices, its
susceptibility(easily effected) to theft or vandalism, etc.
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Classes of Meters
The most common principals for gas flow metering are:
1. Differential Pressure Flowmeters
2. Velocity Flowmeters
3. Positive Displacement Flowmeters
4. Mass Flowmeters
The most common types of differential pressure flow-meters are:
Orifice Meter
Venturi Meter
Flow Nozzles
Pitot Tube
Orifice Well Tester
Critical Flow Provers
Variable Area Rotameter

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Classes of Meters
The most common types of velocity flow-meters are:
Turbine
Ultrasonic
Electromagnetic
Vortex-shedding

The most common types of displacement flow-meters are:

Rotary meter
Reciprocating piston meter
The most common types of mass flow-meters are:
Coriolis mass flow meter
Thermal mass flow meter
Micro Motion mass flow meter
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Classes of Meters

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Classes of Meters

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Classes of Meters

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Classes of Meters

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Orifice Meters
Orifice meter is used most commonly in the gas production and
transportation industry because of its accuracy, simplicity, and
reasonable cost.
It has an interchangeable orifice plate with a small, circular
opening, much smaller than the pipe diameter, inserted into
the flow line.
Either pipe taps or flange taps, are used to measure pressure.
The orifice meter has a gauge that records the pressure and
the pressure difference between the taps.

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PIPE TAPS AND FLANGE TAPS

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Representation of the primary element of an orifice meter

Flow Pattern through an orifice and the static pressure
gradient

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Orifice meters: flange and

pipe taps
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Typical orifice meter chart and recording

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Orifice equation factors

=

where,
= gas flow rate, SCF/Hr
= differential head at 60oF, in. of water
= absolute static pressure of the following fluid, psia
= constant =
where,
= basic orifice factor

= Reynolds number factor = 1 +

= expansion factor
https://www.scribd.com/doc/105594547/Ga
s-Production-Eng-sanjay-Kumar
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Factors in the Orifice Flow Constant

= pressure-base factor =

14.73
, =

base (standard) pressure in

520

, = base (standard)

psia
= temperature-base factor =
temperature in oR

= flowing temperature factor =

520

0.5

, = flowing

temperature in oR
= specific gravity factor =

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1
0.5

, = gas specific gravity

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Factors in the Orifice Flow Constant

= supercompressibility factor = 0.5

, , = respective

gas compressibility factor at the base and operating

conditions

= manometer factor (for mercury manometer)

=gauge location factor
= orifice thermal expansion factor
= 1 + 0.0000185 528
= 1 + 0.0000159 528
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Orifice Meter Installation

Orifice meters most commonly are located downstream from a
gas/liquid separator to ensure that liquid has been removed from the
flow stream and to provide a lower operating pressure.
Pipe and flange taps are the standard taps used in the industry and
differ from each other in their location on the flow line.
Flange taps are located so that the centers of the taps are 1 in. from
the respective orifice plate surfaces.
Standard pipe taps are located so that the upstream tap is 2.5 pipe
diameters from the orifice plate surface and the downstream tap is
8.0 pipe diameters away.

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Common Measurement Problems

Hydrate formation: temperature falls below the hydrate
forming temperature for the gas
Pulsating Flow: sudden changes in pressure and flow rate

Slugging: accumulation of liquids in the gas flow line

Sour gas: corrosion and accelerate hydrate formation

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Critical Flow Prover

A critical flow prover is a special pipe nipple with an orifice flange
on the end.
Unlike that for an orifice meter, the orifice plate is thicker and has a
rounded edge facing upstream.
A critical flow prover can be used if the gas is vented to the
atmosphere or if the pressure drop across the device is large.
The critical flow prover is not as accurate as an orifice meter but
sometimes is convenient when reasonable accuracy is sufficient.

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Design of 2 in. Critical Flow Prover

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Choke Nipples
Choke nipples sometimes are used to control gas flow rates.
Fig. shows a sketch of a choke nipple.
A more common choke is the bean choke in which a cylinder,
similar to a choke nipple, is inserted into a choke assembly.
For estimating flow rate, bean chokes can be treated the same as
choke nipples.

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Choke Nipple

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Pitot Tube

A pitot tube also is used to measure gas flow rate by indirectly

measuring the velocity head of the gas flow rate.
Pitot tubes are used commonly on airplanes to determine
velocity.
Their use in the gas industry is uncommon.
They usually are limited to certain laboratory purposes.

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Pitot Tube
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Thank You

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Q&A
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