Company Profile

Multiphase Flow Meters in Upstream Petroleum Processing and Extraction Monitoring Arrays

Quick Answer

Silver Automation Instruments supplies flow meters and pressure transmitters used inside multi phase flow meter arrays for upstream petroleum production. We cover oil legs with Coriolis meters, water legs with electromagnetic meters, gas legs with vortex or thermal mass meters, and wellhead pressure with ATEX Zone 1 transmitters. Send your pipe size, fluid mix, pressure in bar, temperature in °C, and flow range for a specific quotation.

Why Multiphase Measurement in Upstream Petroleum Is Different

A wellhead stream rarely shows a clean single phase. Crude oil, produced water, and associated gas often move in the same pipe. This complicates flow measurement compared with a refinery or chemical plant.

Most upstream operators solve the problem with a metering skid. Some use partial separation. Others monitor each leg after a three phase separator. In practice, the field instruments matter more than the skid design. If a pressure transmitter drifts or a meter is sized wrong, the whole array loses accuracy.

Instruments We Supply for Multiphase Monitoring Arrays

For liquid hydrocarbon lines we offer Coriolis mass flow meters. Sizes start at DN15 and go to DN80. The meter reads mass flow, density, and temperature at the same time. A customer in Oman runs three Coriolis meters on a well test separator. They send 4-20 mA HART signals to a remote terminal unit.

For produced water lines we recommend electromagnetic flow meters from DN15 to DN300. Produced water usually has enough conductivity to work with an electromagnetic meter. We have seen a water line in Vietnam run fine with 2,500 µS/cm conductivity. The meter used a PTFE liner and stainless steel electrodes.

For gas legs we supply vortex flow meters and thermal mass flow meters. Vortex meters perform well when gas flow is steady and line pressure stays above 2 bar. Thermal mass meters work better on low pressure vent or flare gas. A coal seam gas project in Australia needed thermal mass meters because the vent line dropped below 0.5 bar at times.

For chemical injection and small fuel oil lines, oval gear flow meters are a practical choice. They give direct volume totalization with no power supply. A chemical injection skid in Oman used four oval gear meters for corrosion inhibitor and scale inhibitor dosing.

For large produced water discharge lines, ultrasonic flow meters can be a better fit. They clamp on or fit inline without a large pressure drop. This helps when the line is already operating and shutdown is not possible.

Pressure Transmitters and Paperless Recorders in the Array

Most engineers skip this part. A multiphase array without pressure and temperature compensation loses accuracy fast. Our pressure transmitters cover common ranges from 0 to 100 bar. We supply ATEX Zone 1 ratings for wellhead locations. A customer in Nigeria requested local displays for gas lift pressure monitoring.

Paperless recorders store trends from the flow meters and transmitters. Small production teams use them as a local backup to SCADA. We have supplied recorders to a crude oil terminal in Nigeria where the operator wanted a clear local record for shift handover.

Meter Pairing by Application

Well test skid liquid leg: Coriolis mass flow meter DN25 or DN50 with 4-20 mA HART output.

Produced water discharge line: electromagnetic flow meter DN50 or DN80 with PTFE liner and stainless steel electrodes.

Gas lift or flare gas line: thermal mass flow meter or vortex flow meter depending on pressure and turndown.

Wellhead pressure monitoring: pressure transmitter with ATEX Zone 1 certification and loc