A revolutionary flow meter developed by CSIRO, could save the Australian oil industry many millions of dollars in capital, operating and maintenance costs, following its licensing to a major international oil engineering and services company.

The licence provides Kvaerner FSSL Ltd with the worldwide rights to further develop and market CSIRO's multi-phase flow meter for use on oil well pipelines. CSIRO will benefit from royalties based on the worldwide sales.

The new meter could revolutionise flow measurement in offshore pipelines by eliminating the need for bulky test separators on oil platforms which are currently used for intermittent and sequential flow measurements. In addition, the subsea version could save oil companies from having to lay the many kilometres of subsea piping which are often necessary to reach such test separators.

The licence agreement was announced by the Minister for Industry, Science and Tourism, the Hon. John Moore MP at the opening of CSIRO Minerals' new laboratory complex in Melbourne on October 6, 1997.

The meter simultaneously measures the individual flow rates of oil, water and gas as the fluid mixture churns through production pipelines. CSIRO believes its meter is the most practical means currently available to measure this three phase flow.

Kvaerner will offer the device, now named the Kvaerner DUET Multiphase Meter, for both oil production topsides and subsea use. The first units, which can be used on offshore oil production platforms such as those around Australia's coastline, are expected to be available this year.

The multi-phase flow meter uses gamma rays to penetrate the pipeline and measure the density and composition of the fluids flowing through it in one easy operation. A key advantage of this technology is that there are no intrusions inside the production pipeline to obstruct flow. Another benefit is that it does not require a sample stream to be taken and separately measured.

The meter was developed by CSIRO over a period of about six years. The development included three extensive field trials. The first was at Western Mining Corporation's NW Shelf Vicksburg platform, the second at WAPET's Thevenard Island (WA) facility and the third at Esso/BHP's West Kingfish platform in Bass Strait. A final demonstration model was trialled at Texaco's multi-phase flow facility in Houston last year.

Much of the meter's development was undertaken as a joint CSIRO-industry venture under the auspices of the Australian Petroleum Industries Research Association. The venture involved Esso Australia Ltd, BHP Petroleum, The Shell Company of Australia Ltd, West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd and Western Mining Corporation Limited. Additional funding was provided by the Energy Research and Development Corporation (ERDC).

The meter is to be manufactured at the Kvaerner facility near Aberdeen, in Scotland

More information :
Dr Brian Sowerby 02 9710 6777, (fax) 02 9710 6789,
(email) brian.sowerby@minerals.csiro.au
Ms Andrea Boothroyd 03 9545 8500, (fax) 03 9562 8919, (mobile) 0417 304 822 (email) andrea.boothroyd@minerals.csiro.au
Ms Coleen Eardley, Kvaerner FSSL Ltd +44 1224 255010, (fax) +44 1224 770997, (mobile) +44 0802 305096
(email) coleen.eardley@kfla.kvaerner.com