Eighty percent of the geothermal reservoirs harnessed to generate electric power involve a flowing mixture of steam and brine (two-phase). Geothermal fluids are hot, can be scaling and corrosive, and involve flows from hundreds of thousands to millions of pounds per hour of steam and brine. Accurate monitoring of the mass flow rate is critical for process and resource management; yet, there are no cost-effective flow meters that can accurately monitor these flows. Current technology for monitoring two-phase flow is extremely costly and does not provide the real-time monitoring that industry needs to mitigate process and resource damage. This project will develop a novel flow-metering approach that uses flow conditioning to mitigate the flow regime issues, creating an environment where superposition techniques can be used to render the mass flow rates of the individual phases. The process will use no moving parts, nor nuclear or invasive chemical techniques, thereby simplifying and enhancing safety and reliability. Phase I will design the two-phase flow meter using plexiglass; design and construct the test loop for an air/water mixture including blowers, pumps, pvc piping, and instruments; flow test the model to achieve phase separation; assess and review the physics; and modify the sensing points and sensors, as required to demonstrate functionality.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The new two-phase flow meter should provide the industry with the cost-effective, real-time monitoring tool that it now lacks. Beyond the geothermal application the technology could lead to a new generation of multi-purpose flow meters based on flow conditioning. The basic configuration should work in pure liquid and pure vapor, as well as two-phase/multi-phase applications. The built-in flow conditioner also reduces the amount of upstream and downstream piping required, opening even more applications. According to Frost and Sullivan, the flow metering industry exceeds $3.5 billion per year
