MSc projects 2007-2008 Production, gas technology and multiphase flow

1. MSc projects 2007-2008Production, gas technology and multiphase flow Supervisor Prof. Rune W. Time

2. Influence of unsteady velocity profile on the accuracy of ultrasonic flowmeters Ultrasonic flowmeters normally require symmetric turbulent velocity profiles to work properly. In assymetric flow the measurement may become erratic, and in some cases the ultrasonic signal may even be distorted so that no signal is received. In this project an industrial ultrasonic flowmeter for liquids will be tested under various inlet flow configurations to determine their sensitivity to non-ideal flow profiles. The true velocity profiles will be determined with a laser-based PIV instrument. The project is mainly experimental, assisted by theory of ultrasonic flowmeters. The PIV equipment will mainly be run by UiS staff.

3. Implications of climate variations for arctic petroleum field development We are living in a time where the possibility for oil and gas exploration in polar regions has increased dramatically due to climate predictions of possible continued ice melting in the arctic seas. This project focuses on the challenges that arctic development will meet regarding long distance transportation, subsea solutions and load on pipeline subsea infrastructure and a unpredictable scenarios for ice conditions. The Shtokman field might be a possible target this project. Transportation strategies are important parts of the study and will be carried out in cooperation with a StatoilHydro. As minor part of the project is a Matlab program that will be developed in cooperation with supervisor to analyse daily satellite images of polar regions (from internet) to determine ice development trends. The project will include literature study as basis of an assessment of challenges and required solutions. Some programming knowledge would be desirable.

4. Spectroscopic monitoring of hydrocarbon flames This project focuses on monitoring of flame combustion using a fiberoptic spectroscope to determine optimal combustion for gas and oil fired power plants, turbines and in heat demanding industrial processes (drying, melting) Several types of instabilities in flames may arise and spectroscopy is a method to identify various chemical components in the flame. Flame monitoring is important to reduce the emission of soot, NOx and HC and CO from combustion. The project is mainly experimental with some theory relating to spectroscopy involving flames and combustion .

5. Flow dynamics of stratified gas-liquid and oil-water flows in petroleum production In petroleum production stratified flow may occur both in long horisontal gas dominated hydrocarbon wells, in downward inclined parts of subsea pipelines as well as in process pipelines. In this project an analysis will be done of 1D flow models as used in OLGA as well as in theoretical models like the Taitel and Dukler model to investigate interfacial friction. The challenge is to relate interfacial friction to average flow velocity of gas and liquid. This work will use the numerical simulation package Comsol Multiphysics to determine the flow profile and to get the wall and interface friction in stratified flow. The results will then be compared with the methods used in commercial simulators. The work is mainly theoretical, assisted by numerical simulation.