US 12,013,273 B2
Drilling mud flow metering system and method
Sakethraman Mahalingam, Aberdeen (GB); and Michael Affleck, Aberdeen (GB)
Assigned to Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Dhahran (SA)
Filed by Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Dhahran (SA)
Filed on Feb. 23, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/678,524.
Prior Publication US 2023/0266155 A1, Aug. 24, 2023
Int. Cl. G01F 1/84 (2006.01); E21B 21/08 (2006.01); G01F 1/40 (2006.01); G01F 1/88 (2006.01)
CPC G01F 1/84 (2013.01) [E21B 21/08 (2013.01); G01F 1/40 (2013.01); G01F 1/88 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A mud flow measurement system comprising a flow pipe, a Coriolis meter, a differential pressure sensor, and a mud flow measurement module, wherein:
the flow pipe is configured to direct a portion of the multiphase mud flow from a well to the Coriolis meter and the differential pressure sensor;
the Coriolis meter comprises a measuring tube and two or more vibration sensors;
the measuring tube is induced to oscillate;
the vibration sensors are positioned at different locations along the measuring tube;
each vibration sensor is configured to generate a signal in response to the multiphase mud flow through the Coriolis meter from the well;
the differential pressure sensor is positioned to generate a signal corresponding to a pressure drop across the Coriolis meter in response to the multiphase mud flow flowing through the mud flow measurement system; and
the mud flow measurement module is coupled to the Coriolis meter and the differential pressure sensor, and is configured to:
select a calibration curve corresponding to a drilling mud injected into the well from a library of calibration curves for the Coriolis meter corresponding to different types of drilling muds, wherein calibration curves in the library of calibration curves for the Coriolis meter define a relationship between error in density and density for one or more drilling muds,
determine a measured density based on the signal from each of the vibration sensors of the Coriolis meter and the selected calibration curve,
determine a differential pressure across the Coriolis meter based on one or more signals generated by the differential pressure sensor, and
compute a calculated mass flow rate, Qmass, of the multiphase mud flow using equation

OG Complex Work Unit Math
where Cd is a calibration constant, At is a cross-sectional area of the measurement tube of the Coriolis meter, β is a ratio of an internal diameter of the flow pipe and an internal diameter of the measuring tube of the Coriolis meter, ρ is the density of the multiphase mud, and ΔP is the differential pressure across the Coriolis meter determined from the differential pressure sensor, wherein
ρ is the measured density determined from the Coriolis meter.