Oil and gas producers have always faced the challenge of measuring the oil, gas, and water content in the produced fluids coming from the wells.

Traditionally test separators have been used to periodically separate and measure each of the fluid components.

Multiphase flow meters have enabled these measurements to be done online and continuously as the produced fluid flows continue to be processed and readied for sale.

In this Emerson Automation Experts podcast, Kelda Dinsdale joins me to discuss innovations in multiphase flow measurement with the Roxar 2600 Multiphase Flow Meter and to enable easier setup and installation, and ongoing accuracy.

Give the podcast a listen, and visit the Multiphase Flow Measurement to learn more about improving your oil & gas measurement and production operations.

Jim: Hi, everyone. I’m Jim Cahill with another “Emerson Automation Experts” podcast. I’m joined today by Kelda Dinsdale, product marketing manager, to discuss Roxar Multiphase Flow Meter technology advancements and their benefit for oil and gas producers in real-time well fluids measurements. Welcome, Kelda.

Kelda: Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Jim: Well, it’s great having you here and having a chance to share some of your expertise and wisdom with our listeners. So, why don’t we get started by letting me ask you to share a little bit about your background with our listeners?

Kelda: I’ve been working in Emerson for about 16 and a half years now, based in Bergen in Norway. I started as a document controller, which was a really nice way to get to know the product actually. And I’ve had quite a number of roles since then, both commercial and technical, most of which have been supporting the  . And as you mentioned, I’m currently the product marketing manager, and I support the Roxar 2600 Multiphase Flow Meter and the Roxar Watercut Meter.

Jim: Well, that’s great. I know those are very important in the oil and gas production industry. So, let’s open up by asking you to share some information about the Roxar Multiphase Meter, what it does and how our customers use the meter.

Kelda: Absolutely. In a nutshell, the Roxar 2600 Multiphase Flow Meter provides flow rates for oil, water, and gas without the need to separate the flow first. We have two key aspects to that, I would say. The one is the raw data measurements and the other is the software as for how this works. We take a number of raw data measurements, pressure, differential pressure, temperature, impedance, and we have a mixed density measurement either using a gamma system or with our non-gamma approach.

I should probably mention we have both gamma and non-gamma versions of the multiphase meter available. Both are full range covering 0% to 100% gas volume fraction and 0% to 100% water liquid ratio. So then we have the raw data measurements, and we add to that what I consider the joy and the art and the expertise of multiphase measurement, which is in the software, the interpretation of the raw data measurements, the algorithms.

We have over 30 years of field experience, and all of that is rolled into our embedded software which is called  . So, between the raw data measurements and the software algorithms, we’re able to provide oil, water, and gas rates for the customers. As for how and where it’s used and the types of applications, there’s actually quite a wide range of applications for multiphase metering. All are upstream before flow is separated, and the meters can be used for production optimization, for allocation purposes, well testing, can support flow assurance. Installation can be onshore or on offshore platforms. The meters are used in the conventional oil and gas industry as well as unconventional wells for shale wells.

For oil assets, gas assets, the meters can be installed on a fixed location or used for mobile well testing. And if they’re used mobile, that could be, for example, that the meter is mounted in a skid and that skid is moved around periodically, or even the meter could be mounted on a skid on the back of a truck so that it can be moved much more easily and much more frequently. The meters can be used single well, where they’re providing real-time continuous measurement on an ongoing basis on a single well, or the meters can be used rotating around multiple wells for a single meter. So, there’s a lot of variety in the applications and the metering philosophies that the operators use multiphase meters for.

Jim: Yeah, I think what you mentioned on the mobile part of that is really important, especially in areas here in Texas like the Permian Basin where we’re spread out over vast distances to be able to plug in and do the well testing on that. That is a good idea and saves a lot of test separators around everywhere. With that introduction, which was great, I’ve heard there’s an enhancement to the meter that’s just been released. Can you tell us a little more about that?

Kelda: We’ve recently released, as you mentioned, an enhancement to the 2600 Multiphase Flow Meter, and that’s with regards to the electronics hardware. We have an enhanced design now for our electronics hardware, and all of that is encased within the  , which is mounted directly onto the meter, giving us an all-in-one solution.

Previously, we’ve had a remote flow computer enclosure that’s mounted separately from the meter that’s housed the majority of the electronics hardware. We’ve done a redesign on the electronics hardware, enhanced that, modernized that, and it’s now mounted directly on the meter in what we’re calling the Roxar 5726 Multiphase Transmitter.

Jim: Well, that sounds like it simplifies the design and installation quite a bit. How does this change how the meter works?

Kelda: The short story is it doesn’t very much. The principles are very much the same as how they’ve been. I think it’s important to note that this isn’t a new product. It’s an enhancement to an existing product. We’re not losing anything. Nothing’s experimental, nothing is unknown. We still take all of the same raw data measurements that we have in the past, and we still use the same software algorithm approach. Roxar Rapid Adaptive Measurement, that’s still in use. A lot stays the same. What we’re adding to this is a new modern electronics hardware design, which adds robustness, and it adds resilience, and it adds future capability potential as well. The short story is it doesn’t change how the meter works.

Jim: Well, that’s got to be comforting given all those years of runtime with the design. I mentioned the installation process. How does the Roxar 5726 Multiphase Transmitter change the installation process?

Kelda: It does simplify it. You’re absolutely right with that. Previously, our electronics hardware, we’ve had some mounted in our field electronics enclosure directly on the meter, but the majority of our electronics hardware has been in a flow computer enclosure mounted separately. Now that we’ve redesigned the electronics hardware and it’s all in the Roxar 5726 Multiphase Transmitter, that’s mounted directly on the meter, so you have an all-in-one solution. You only have to install one part. You don’t have to install two parts separately. There’s a smaller footprint. It’s easier, and it’s just, in general, a more compact physical installation.

Jim: How did the cabling needs change with this design?

Kelda: It’s a good point you raised there. All of the internal cabling between our meter body and our electronics hardware is completed in our production facility before our meters are delivered. All of that internal cabling, there’s no need to do anything with that in field because it’s that all-in-one solution, and that’s already done. In field, the cabling needs are related to power and communication cabling. When you receive the meter in field, there’s the mechanical installation into the pipeline, and then grounding, connect power and communications cable, and you’re ready for commissioning.

Jim: Wow, that does sound simpler instead of dealing with separate things. The interconnect wiring between them, everything else, all that goes away. That’s really good. What locations and environments is the meter suitable for?

Kelda: The meter is suitable for extreme weather conditions, both hot and cold. There’s modern electronics hardware design, which is both robust and resilient. We have a wide certified ambient temperature range, and on the cold side, that goes down to minus 30 degrees Celsius. I don’t speak Fahrenheit, but I did check, and that is minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit for those of you in locations where Fahrenheit is more meaningful than Celsius. In short, the electronics design is robust to winter storms and generally cold conditions. Then on the hotter weather condition ends, we’re also robust there. We’ve used modern electronics components within the 5726 Multiphase Transmitter. And as a result, there’s very limited heat generation from the electronics components themselves.

Roxar 2600 MPFM Multiphase Flow Meter with sun shield

In addition, the enclosure has good heat transfer. We also offer a sunshield as an option, which we recommend if there’s very warm ambient conditions with a lot of direct sunlight. That sun shield shades from the top and three sides of the enclosure. If you visualize the electronics hardware enclosure mounted directly onto the meter body, the back is shaded by the meter body itself, and you have a sunshield on the top and three sides. It’s open to the bottom. There’s good airflow capability throughout and within that space. You’ve got limited heat generation, good heat transfer, and what you end up with is a very good solution with good protection from sun and resilience to warm weather conditions, in general.

Jim: Well, that’s great. I think our friends out here in the Permian Basin have very hot summers and very cold winters, so it sounds like it’s designed to handle either case right there. I guess as we get into working with the meter itself, how do our customers interact with the Roxar 2600 Multiphase Flow Meter?

Kelda: Within the meter software, Roxar Rapid Adaptive Measurement, we have a high degree of automation in order to reduce the need for human intervention. I think that’s important to mention as we discuss interactions with the meter. If you’re interested in taking a look at that, I think looking at the animation that we have available on our website for Roxar Rapid Adaptive Measurement would be a good place to start to get an understanding of the automation built into our meter software.

Of course, some interaction is needed, some things might need updated. There’s always going to be some level of interaction with the meter. What we have is a web user interface. It’s highly intuitive, wizard-based, and even if it’s the first time you do an activity, it just leads you through all the interactions required basically. There’s no unique software needed, and the interface is compatible with desk computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone, whichever is most convenient for the customer.

Jim: Well, that sounds like a web user interface is very familiar, and the fact that you walk them through the steps that need to interact with that sounds very user-friendly right there. I guess as we start to wind things down a little bit, let me ask you, what is next? What is there more to look forward to in the realm of multiphase meters?

Kelda: Emerson is always striving to meet and exceed expectations, and the needs of a market are ever-evolving in reality. We fully expect to continue to develop in order to continue over time to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations. We believe we’ve got really robust building blocks now. By that, I mean with the raw data measurements that we take, with our embedded software, Roxar Rapid Adaptive Measurement. And now with this enhanced electronics design, the Roxar 5726 Multiphase Transmitter, we’ve got very robust building blocks. When we think about the 5726 Multiphase Transmitter, we’ve got extensive storage capabilities and extensive processing power. We’ve got more than we’re currently using, more than we’re currently utilizing with the processing that the meter is doing right now. That was a deliberate choice. We’ve left that space because we want the building blocks we have now to be capable of supporting future features, capabilities, diagnostics that will come, and whatever other needs may come in the future.

Customers purchasing the Roxar 2600 Multiphase Flow Meter now can do so, safe in the knowledge that the hardware solution they’re purchasing now is suitable and will be suitable for the needs and developments that may come in the future. If you think about it, usually when operators are installing a multiphase meter, they’re doing that when a new well is coming online and starting to produce from a new well. That well is going to be producing for, say, 25 years, and the meter’s lifetime is 25 years. You want to be able to take advantage of the developments that may happen over that time period so that you can truly get the best out of that instrument for the full lifetime of your well. We’ve kept that philosophy, that metering philosophy very much in the forefront of our minds as we’ve been working on this recent development for the Roxar 5726 Multiphase Transmitter.

Jim: Well, that’s really good that you have that extra capacity in there with the way technology is changing and there’s always the opportunity to get it even more accurate and handle the widest range. You already said it handles up to 100% gas fraction, so it’s already very much in there. But just having that in there to be able to, as technology advances, take advantage of that, that’s excellent. So, let’s wrap things up. Where can our listeners go to learn more about the Roxar multiphase meter?

Kelda: I would recommend taking a look at our website, and you can visit that at www.Emerson.com/RoxarMultiphaseFlowMeasurement. There’s a lot of information on there about our multiphase meter. And for example, if you’re interested in learning more about the Roxar 5726 Multiphase Transmitter, you can jump to or scroll to the video section and take a look at the animation there. That’s probably a good place to start.

Jim: And I’ll also add links throughout our conversation directly to that video and some of the other things that came up here today. So, Kelda, I want to thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your expertise with our listeners. Thank you so much.

Kelda: Thank you very much for having me.

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