Spring 2018 Hammertech completed the first pilot for the AquaField™ - a PVT independent water fraction and salinity meter. The AquaField™ unit was installed offshore USA on a manned platform by our Multiphase Specialist, Andreas Haveland.
The operator who requested the pilot has several wells flowing into a separator. Every day a different well is flowing into the separator which has different fluid properties compared to the other wells, especially the water density changes from well to well. The challenge for the operator was getting correct water cut values from the Coriolis downstream the separator. Due to the water density changing every time a different well flows into the separator, then the Coriolis was not able to give correct water cut values, and manual sampling was needed to be done continuously to get the water cut.
By installing the AquaField™ downstream the separator, sampling was no longer needed since the AquaField™ would provide conductivity (salinity) measurement and water fraction measurement. Downstream the separator the flow was a liquid 2-phase, hence the water fraction was equal to the water cut.
The pilot lasted for 6 months followed up by a second pilot in 2019 with improved functionality and accuracy for this specific application.