METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING THE FLOW OF MIXTURES OF FLUIDS IN A PIPE

A monitoring apparatus for monitoring a multiphase flow in a pipe, the apparatus comprising:a first monitoring module coupled to the pipe and adapted to provide first output data representing a respective concentration of one phase of a plurality of phases, or a mixture of at least two of the phases, in the multiphase flow by processing at least one first variable representing electrical permittivity of one phase or a mixture of at least two of the phases of the multiphase flow;a second monitoring module coupled to the pipe and adapted to provide second output data representing a respective concentration of one phase, or a mixture of at least two of the phases, of the plurality of phases in the multiphase flow by processing at least one second variable representing electrical conductivity of one phase or a mixture of at least two of the phases of the multiphase flow; anda third monitoring module coupled to the pipe and adapted to provide third output data representing a respective velocity of at least one phase of the plurality of phases in the multiphase flow by processing at least one third variable representing velocity of at least one of the phases.There is a further provided a monitoring method for monitoring a multiphase flow in a pipe.There is a further provided an oil well system including a plurality of oil wells, and one or more monitoring apparatus for monitoring a multiphase flow in a pipe.There is a further provided a method of operating an oil well system using a multiphase fluid flow model which is calibrated or modified based on measured parameters of the multiphase flow.