Response characteristics of conductance sensor and optimization of control-drive circuit in horizontal pipes

Oil–water two-phase flow in horizontal oil-producing wells with low velocity and high water cut generally presents the phenomenon that the underlayer shows water flow and the upperlayer presents oil flow or a dispersion of oil in water flow. And existing ring-shaped conductance water cut meter cannot obtain the online and real-time response values corresponding to oil field water conductivity in the calculating water holdup procedure. To tackle this issue, this paper designs a mini-conductance probe array (MCPA). In order to further investigate the ability of the total flow rate of the allowable measurement fluid and the parameters valuing of the water cut in horizontal segregated flow, this paper also analyzes the performance of MCPA with different structure parameters in terms of the spatial sensitivity distribution characteristics. Firstly, the geometry model and mathematical model of MCPA are designed, and the MCPA simulation model is analyzed by using the finite element method. Then, the optimum structure parameter results of the sensors are obtained through analyzing the spatial sensitivity distribution characteristics of MCPA in consideration of different distance between the two electrodes and different inner diameters. Lastly, the MCPA different parameters are developed, and experiments are carried out in horizontal multiphase flow experiment facility to analyze spatial sensitivity distribution characteristics of MCPA with different inner diameters on the basis of optimum parameters. Experimental results demonstrated that MCPA with a larger inner diameter would have high measurement accuracy in variation range of water cut, and has a high adaptability in horizontal oil-producing wells with relatively high flow rate and different flow conditions.