V-cone Flow Meter for Wet Gas 2

[djwright]

Has anyone out there got experience of using the McCrometer v-cone flow meter for metering wet gas at a wellhead?
I have used venturis before but the v-cone flow meter has some apparent advantages (e.g. smaller required space envelope and lower cost).

Regards,

DJ Wright

 

[zdas04]

I've used them for some plain vanilla wet-gas stuff and they worked very well. Great repeatability, and excellent comparison to a downstream orifice meter (sum of the v-cones within 1% of aggregate meter, I've never done better with any technology).

I also used them in a service downstream of a compressor that was seriously over-oiling and they didn't work at all. The emulsion from the excess oil plugged the annular space around the cone and then filled the pipe for several feet in front of the meter. The problem with any inferential device is that they can't tell the difference between a reading from plugging and a resding from flow (I've had the same problem with square-edged orifice meters plugging with salt).

I've had problems getting the wafer v-cones out of the line for inspection. The ones built into a spool seem to be easier to maintain (and the flow upset from the upstream sensor port is farther from the minimum flow area so you get slightly more symmetrical flow).


David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

The harder I work, the luckier I seem

 

[JLSeagull]

I have used the V-cone but not where two-phase flow was likely. Check out Cidra for the flow meter or a check on a flow meter for wet applications.

http://www.cidra.com

 

[dcasto]

go here for research on the topic.

http://www.ceesi.com/search.aspx?s=wet gas

 

[djwright]

Thanks for these responses.

We like the v-cone from a space-saving point of view but have concerns about the robustness of the v-cone configuration in slug flow conditions.

We are now looking at the conditioning orifice meter (by Emerson).

Regards,

DJ Wright

 

[zdas04]

Have you looked at the mass of the bluff body? I've seen them stand up to a hit from a launched ice dam.

Good luck.

David