Measurement of mixtures of oil, water, and gas with microwave sensors: new developments and field experience of the MFI MultiPhase and WaterCut meters of Roxar

An oil well produces a mixture of oil, water, and gas in proportions that vary over the lifetime of the well. For the control of the well and the allocation of the production it is important to be able to measure the composition of the flow and the flow rates at various stages in the process. Roxar has a line of products for these purposes. The meters are based on microwave sensors with a varying number of additional sensors, like a radioactive density sensor, a temperature sensor, and a pressure sensor. The paper describes the basic measurement principles, the acquired field experience, and the latest developments of the MFI WaterCut meter and the MFI MultiPhase Meter. A new meter that is being developed for the purpose of measuring the composition of the produced fluid inside an oil well is also described.