OIL & GAS – R&D
The new Advanced Multiphase
Facility will provide cutting-edge
facilities necessary to address the
technical challenges of extreme
subsea operating conditions. The
facility is a pressurised, closed loop
flow circuit that offers a range of
operating conditions for singlephase,
multiphase and dry gas test
applications
Go with the flow
Glasgow-based TÜV SÜD
NEL, which provides flow
measurement standards
for the UK’s National
Measurement System,
began constructing the base building
that will house its £16 million Advanced
Multiphase Facility (AMF) in September
2017. Building work was completed in
May 2018, and an extensive fit-out has
commenced since.
Scottish Enterprise has supported
the development of the AMF with
£4.9m. Alongside the grant, TÜV SÜD
NEL’s parent company, TÜV SÜD AG, is
investing £11.1m – the largest capital
investment to date in the company’s UK
business. The facility will span 1,600 m2,
and contain a £1.45 million, full production
scale separator, with an operating weight
of 270 tonnes and operating at pressures
up to 150 bar. The facility will be capable
of calibrating and verifying flow meter
performance, ranging from 2in pipe, up to
more than 14in.
“This is by far the most unique facility
relating to fluid mechanics research,
enabling flow rates that are 20 times
greater than the performance of any other
test facility in the world,” says Anna Pieper,
By Adam Offord
multiphase flow leader at TÜV SÜD NEL.
The facility will allow testing at wideranging
flow rates under high operating
pressures and temperatures. Most
importantly, it will allow the evaluation of
meters at the conditions in which they are
used in the field.
The centre will focus predominantly on
the £50-billion-per-annum global subsea
sector, production, and wet gas business.
It will facilitate company-led industrial
projects and product development,
hands-on industry training, and academic
research. The facility will also undertake
dry gas calibration work.
The organisation already has a
comprehensive range of flow testing
facilities at the campus. “The new facility
will augment these, offering research
facilities and a breadth of capability
unmatched anywhere else in the world,”
adds Pieper. “It will also support Scotland’s
oil and gas sector to maximise its global
competitiveness and position Scotland
as a global leader in multiphase flow
measurement. The North Sea is also the
home of the most advanced technologies
used in challenging conditions offshore.
Aberdeen is within reach, and is the capital
of the oil industry in the UK.”
ADDRESSING CHALLENGES
In the current climate of minimising
production costs and ensuring that
production remains economically viable, the
measurement of multiphase flows is a key
factor in understanding the performance of
production operations and improving the
recovery factor.
“Significant remaining production
opportunities are to be found in extreme
environments with higher operating
pressures and temperatures,” explains
Pieper. “These conditions can impact
significantly the performance of multiphase
flow measurement devices, and this needs
to be properly quantified or demonstrated
to government authorities to ensure there
is no bias in the production and taxation
process. TÜV SÜD NEL is a playing a key role
as a fair and impartial arbiter.”
AMF will support current and future
measurement challenges, from well
optimisation production to fiscal accounting
and reservoir management. The facility, with
additional high pressure and high flowrate
capabilities, is built for a range of services.
These, according to Pieper, include single
phase calibration or meter verification;
multiphase and wet gas testing, seamlessly,
from one domain to the other (put simply,
26 www.operationsengineer.org.uk May 2019
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