A proposed NMR solution for multi-phase flow fluid detection

Abstract In the petroleum industry, detection of multi-phase fluid flow is very important in both surface and down-hole measurements. Accurate measurement of high rate of water or gas multi-phase flow has always been an academic and industrial focus. NMR is an efficient and accurate technique for the detection of fluids; it is widely used in the determination of fluid compositions and properties. This paper is aimed to quantitatively detect multi-phase flow in oil and gas wells and pipelines and to propose an innovative method for online nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) detection. The online NMR data acquisition, processing and interpretation methods are proposed to fill the blank of traditional methods. A full-bore straight tube design without pressure drop, a Halbach magnet structure design with zero magnetic leakage outside the probe, a separate antenna structure design without flowing effects on NMR measurement and automatic control technology will achieve unattended operation. Through the innovation of this work, the application of NMR for the real-time and quantitative detection of multi-phase flow in oil and gas wells and pipelines can be implemented.