Friction Flowmeter in Slurry Flows

该项目致力于通过在已获专利的计算方法中加入最小干扰声传感器来提高摩擦式流量计在浆料应用中的精度。这种新的传感器将提供泥浆固体含量的估计，因此可以校正对测量的影响。此外，它还应该提供关于固体物理性质的更详细的信息，以及对过程的进一步了解。众所周知，由于泥浆流体对物理性质和固体含量的变化敏感，因此要准确测量流量是出了名的困难。有了一个可以计算这些参数的系统作为测量的一部分，就不需要单独的测量和使用单独的测量校正--所有这些都在一个带有摩擦流量计的设备中完成。随着用于可再生技术的稀土矿物的需求增加，以及用于地热能和地下储油库碳固存的钻探应用，预计未来几年稀薄类型的流量将会增长。钻探可能是一个昂贵的过程，特别是在北海的近海，一艘钻井船的租金可以每周超过200万GB，一次租用几个月。通过更好的控制和自动化，节省10%的钻井时间，每一次安装每年可以节省数百万英镑，对于这样一个羽翼未丰且重要的行业来说，这可能是一个巨大的经济刺激。

The project focusses on improving the accuracy of the friction flowmeter in slurry applications by incorporating a minimally intrusive acoustic sensor into the patented calculation method. This new sensor will provide an estimate of the solids content of the slurry so the impact on the measurement can be corrected. Additionally, it should provide more detailed information on the solids physical properties as well adding further insight into the process.Slurry fluids are notoriously challenging to measure flow rate accurately because of the sensitivity to changes in physical properties and solids content. Having a system that can calculate these parameters as part of the measurement, eliminates the need for separate measurements and employing separate measurement corrections -- it's all done in the one device with the friction flowmeter.Slurry type flows are expected to grow in coming years with the increasing demand of rare earth minerals used in renewable technologies as well as drilling applications for geothermal energy and carbon sequestration in underground storage reservoirs. Drilling can be a costly process, especially offshore in the North Sea where a drillship can be leased for over £2m per week for months at a time. Saving 10% of drilling time through better control and automation could save millions of pounds per year per installation which could be a huge financial stimulus for such an fledgling and important industry for the energy transition.