Research on wellhead flow detection method at low Reynolds number

• Published in: International Journal of Thermofluids 2023-02, Vol.17, p.100288, Article 100288
• Main Authors: Qin, Hongwei, Dang, Ruirong, Dang, Bo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Constant temperature difference; Fluid flow; Thermal flowmeter; Thermal probe
• ISSN: 2666-2027; 2666-2027
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijft.2023.100288

•This paper first studies the calculation method of thermal probe sensitivity. A large number of data are fitted to verify the feasibility of this method.•The theoretical process of measuring fluid flow with constant temperature difference method is proposed and derived in this paper. Through the fitting of relevant data processing software, the unique monotonic function relationship between power and flow is obtained, which proves the correctness of applying the constant temperature difference method.•The analysis and verification of the results in the field sampling calibration. The experimental results show that the thermal flowmeter can be used for flow measurement in low production wells. The error is within 3%, reaching the expected effect. The detection of wellhead fluid flow is critical in the development of low-production wells. The production status can be evaluated according to the flow of production wells. The thermal flowmeter designed in this paper mainly measures the flow of single-phase flow. The main contents include: 1. The thermal probe's sensitivity calculation method is studied. A large number of data are calculated to fit, and the feasibility of this method is verified. 2. The theoretical process of measuring fluid flow with the constant temperature difference method is proposed and deduced. The only monotonic function relationship between power and flow rate is obtained by data fitting with numerical calculation software, proving the correctness of applying the constant temperature difference method. 3. The results are analyzed and verified in the field sampling calibration. The experimental research shows that the scheme of thermal flowmeter detecting fluid flow based on the constant temperature difference method is feasible. The experimental results show that the thermal flowmeter may be used to measure the flow rate of low-production wells. The error is within 3%, which achieves the expected effect and meets the measurement standard.