Public Funding for M-Flow Technologies Limited

M-Flow Technologies Limited develops metering solutions for the oil industry using innovative and novel composite materials for sensor construction which, combined with built-in microwave sensing elements, provides a robust and economical solution but one that would be even more valuable to the industry if it were more accurate. To increase the accuracy of this type of meter, adjustments must be made to the interpretation of the meter output to cater for different types of oil that may be metered. Currently the only fully reliable way of making these adjustments is by off-line analysis of manually or automatically collected oil samples, a costly and time-consuming process leading to delays in final information being available. This in turn leads to inefficiencies in processing and commercial activities for bulk oil handling in pipelines and tanks, particularly when ownership of the oil is changing hands. This project will explore the feasibility of new methods of obtaining real-time correction factors to allow M-Flow’s meters to provide immediate metering results up to 30x more accurately, greatly increasing their value to the oil industry and helping it become more efficient.

The key aims and objectives will involve the integration of M-Flows existing microwave flow sensor technology with novel complimentary sensing techniques for use in shale gas extraction. Focus areas will be targeted at understanding ‘real time’ measurement of water fractions in ‘chaotic’ hydraulic fracturing ‘flow-back’, namely: 1) Assembly of a pilot demonstrator water flow-back meter to incorporate multi-parameter sensors; 2) Establishing new interpretational algorithms and models; 3) Design and execution of a flow rig test plan to validate actual against modelled performance. The innovation and novel aspects of the proposal include: 1) The use of multi-parameter sensors integrated within a PEEK/Carbon monolithic assembly; 2) Innovative combinations of sensing techniques to measure rapidly varying water fractions in gas; 3) High speed data acquisition and processing of fracture pipeline flow-back; and 4) Characterisation and modelling of flow regimes to allow calibration of the unique sensor.

The UK’s world class oil and gas industry, comprising both production and the essential support services, is a vital part of the economy and also a key sector of the Government’s future industrial strategy. M-Flow Technologies Ltd (M-Flow) epitomises this technology lead with its unique, expanding, portfolio of sensor developments based Magma Global Ltd mpipe ®. The proposed ‘Gas Tolerant Water-Cut Meter’ (GTWCM) Project is one such development. Within the industry a fundamental oil well evaluation parameter is the proportion of oil and water flowing from the well. Due to natural contamination or injected process fluids there is always a proportion of water flowing with the oil. So-called ‘water-cut’ meters are used to measure the ratio of water and oil. In many cases there is also gas mixed with the oil/water. The gas fraction causes problems for the accuracy of existing types of water-cut meters. The key aims and objectives of the GTWCM Project are therefore: 1) Development of a prototype gas-tolerant water-cut meter for use in oil field applications using both M-Flow’s ‘background’ microwave flow sensor technology and complimentary additional sensing techniques; 2) Development of interpretational algorithms and models 3) Sensor construction to incorporate the multi-parameter sensors 4) Development and execution of a flow rig test plan to generate data sets to be calibrated against models. The innovation and novel aspects of the proposal include: 1) The first use of multi- parameter sensors embedded within m-pipe®; 2) Innovative combinations of sensing techniques to measure gas, water and oil fractions; 3) Characterisation and modelling of flow regimes to allow calibration of the new sensor. The main benefits will include: 1) Provision to industry of a lower-cost, low maintenance, smaller, robust device that can accurately monitor water cut in three phase flows. 2) More accurate economic viability assessment for production wells and custody transfer