Multiphase Virtual Flowmeter accuracy assessment
Helping a client evaluate two technologies with virtual calculations, saving many days of manual effort
Multiphase Virtual Flowmeter accuracy assessment
Helping a client evaluate two technologies with virtual calculations, saving many days of manual effort
Overview
After implementing two different virtual flowmeter (VFM) technologies, a North Sea operator was struggling to calculate quality metrics that would help them select which vendor was the best.
The Eigen Data Transformation engine was configured to calculate the necessary metrics in real time, without any user involvement, which saved the petroleum engineers many days of downloading data and creating calculations in Excel.
25
Average number of well tests per month analysed virtually by Eigen Analytics Platform to compare the quality of the two different VFM technologies.
Problem: Assessing the accuracy of the virtual flowmeter technologies could only take place when well were on test
Extracting the data in line with well tests would have delayed the operator’s vendor selection, added to which performing the necessary calculations in Excel would have taken weeks of an engineer’s time – an alternative approach was urgently required
Solution: Automating VFM accuracy calculations using Eigen’s Data Transformation Engine
The operator turned to Eigen to produce real-time calculations and metrics required to make a comparison, by configuring these calculations in the Eigen Analytics Platform and visualised in Eigen Ingenuity.
With flow measurements, the instantaneous flow rate cannot be compared with the estimated (virtual) one, because the signals are noisy and it is impossible reach a conclusion, so instead we calculate the difference between the cumulative rates during a well test.
Steps to assess the accuracy of the oil measurement during the well test
- The well’s virtual oil flow can only be compared with real flowrates when the well is on test, so the first step is to obtain a variable that contains the VFM estimate for a well that is on test.
- Instantaneous measurements are too noisy, so it was necessary to calculate the error based on the total volume measured during the well test and the integral of the VFM rate estimate.
Instantaneous flow rate vs virtual flowmeter rate estimation during the well test
3. The error can be expressed in absolute terms or as a percentage of the total volume.
The error is calculated as a difference and as a percentage of the real cumulative volume so far.
As we can see in the graph, the error difference and %error converge to acceptable low values.
Other displays and metrics were created to help the engineers decide on the best VFM technology, with the calculations and dashboards are configured directly in the Eigen Ingenuity web front-end.
Total facility VFM estimate comparison with facility meter
Table of last well test vs moving average of VFM estimates from one supplier
Impact: Automating the accuracy calculations saved weeks of an engineer’s time
Because the Eigen Data Transformation engine uses virtual calculations. VFM accuracy calculations and KPIs are available instantaneously and for the history of all wells.
Because no hard coding was involved, calculations and dashboards for evaluation were quickly configured and made available to the engineers.
This made it possible for the engineers in charge of the technology evaluation to obtain the necessary data to evaluate the technologies from the two suppliers within weeks, instead of months.
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