In the international oil and gas industry multiphase annular flow in pipelines and wells is extremely important, but not well understood. This thesis reports the development of an efficient and cheap method for measuring the phase flow rates in two phase annular and annular mist flow, in which the liquid phase is electrically conducting, using ultrasonic and conductance techniques. The method measures changes in the conductance of the liquid film formed during annular flow and uses these to calculate the volumetric and mass flow rates of the liquid film. The gas velocity in the core of the annular flow is measured using an ultrasonic technique. Combined with an entrainment model and the liquid film measurements described above, the ultrasonic technique enables the volumetric flow rate of the gas in the core and the volumetric and mass flow rates of entrained liquid droplets to be measured. This study was based on experimental work and the use of modelling techniques. The practical investigation comprised a series of experiments conducted on a purpose built flow loop in which the test section was a Perspex pipe of 50mm ID. The experimental work was limited to two-phase air-water flow. The flow loop was specifically designed to accommodate the different instruments and subsystems designed in this investigation including bespoke flow meters and a film extraction system. Most flow loop controls were automated using a MATLAB program. Reference measurement of the total water flow rate was made using a calibrated turbine flow meter and of the air flow rate using a calibrated rotameter. For the combined ultrasonic/conductance method investigated in this thesis, the velocity of the gas in the core was found using a novel Ultrasonic Flow Meter (USFM). The positioning and arrangement of the transducers have never been used previously. The flow velocity of the liquid film and the thickness of the film were measured using a novel Conductance Flow Meter (CFM). The CFM measured the liquid film thickness using novel wall conductance probes. By cross correlating the signals from a pair of such probes the film velocity was obtained. Good agreement of the experimental results obtained from the CFM and USFM with results published in the literature was found. Although not investigated experimentally in the work described in this thesis, annular flows encountered in the oil industry may contain a liquid phase comprising a mixture of oil and water. For such flows, the volume fractions of the oil and water can be measured using an automated bypass system developed during this project. The bypass system periodically extracts part of the liquid film, measures its density and then releases the sample back into the pipeline. The liquid phase volume fractions are determined from this density measurement which can be performed more than once per minute. An entrainment model was developed, which is required by the ultrasonic/conductance flow metering technique described in this thesis, in which the mass fraction of the liquid flowing as entrained droplets in the core can be determined from the liquid film thickness and velocity measurements. A mathematical model was also developed to describe the properties of the liquid film, such as liquid velocity profile within the film, and the model’s results were found to agree with the experimental results obtained during the project and also with previous work cited in the literature. The complexity of this latter model was reduced by making a number of simplifying assumptions, which are presented and discussed in the thesis, including the assumption that in annular flow there is a dynamic balance liquid entrainment and droplets being deposited back onto the film. The combination of the designed CFM and USFM with the bypass tube and the entrainment model offer the opportunity for a ‘wet gas’ flow meter to be developed to measure two and three phase annular flows at relatively low cost and with enhanced accuracy. Such a device would have the advantage that it would by substantially smaller than systems using separators and it could even be retrofitted onto off-shore platforms. The integration of the subsystems developed in this project into a single system capable of giving on-line measurements of annular flow would be a major benefit to the author’s sponsor, Petroleum Development of Oman.

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No description available.

The use of satellite altimeter data for spatial mapping of the wave resource is examined. A new algorithm for estimating wave period from altimeter data is developed and validated, which enables estimates of wave energy converter (WEC) power to be derived. Maps of the long-term mean WEC power from altimeter data are of a higher spatial resolution than is available from global wave model data. They can be used for identifying promising wave energy locations along particular stretches of coastline, before a detailed study using nearshore models is undertaken. The accuracy of estimates of WEC power from wave model data is considered. Without calibration estimates of the mean WEC power from model data can be biased of the order of 10-20%. The calibration of wave model data is complicated by non-linear dependence of model parameters on multiple factors, and seasonal and interannual changes in biases. After calibration the accuracy in the estimate of the historic power production at a site is of the order of 5%, but the changing biases make it difficult to specify the accuracy more precisely. The accuracy of predictions of the future energy yield from a WEC is limited by the accuracy of the historic data and the variability in the resource. The variability in 5, 10 and 20 year mean power levels is studied for an area in the north of Scotland, and shown to be greater than if annual power anomalies were uncorrelated noise. The sensitivity of WEC power production to climate change is also examined, and it is shown that the change in wave climate over the life time of a wave farm is likely to be small in comparison to the natural level of variability. It is shown that despite the uncertainty related to variability in the wave climate, improvements in the accuracy of historic data will improve the accuracy of predictions of future WEC yield. The topic of extreme wave analysis is also considered. A comparison of estimators for the generalised Pareto distribution (GPD) is presented. It is recommended that the Likelihood-Moment estimator should be used in preference to other estimators for the GPD. The use of seasonal models for extremes is also considered. In contrast to assertions made in previous studies, it is demonstrated that non-seasonal models have a lower bias and variance than models which analyse the data in separate seasons.

Due to increasing water treatment costs and conservation needs, traditional water loss analysis and acoustic leak detection methods are becoming heavily scrutinized by water utilities. This study explores water loss in Johnson City, Tennessee and how geospatial data analysis techniques improve water loss mitigation. This project uses sample water system pressure data and ordinary kriging spatial interpolation methods to identify leakage areas for further investigation. Analysis of existing geographic information system (GIS) water utility datasets with interpolated hydraulic grade values at sample water pressure points produce manageable survey areas that pinpoint areas with possible water leakage. Field detection methods, including ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and traditional acoustic methods, are employed to verify leakage predictions. Ten leakage areas are identified and verified using traditional acoustic detection methods, work order research, and GPR. The resulting data show that spatial analysis coupled with geospatial analysis of field pressure information improves water loss mitigation.

abstract: A mathematical approach was developed to evaluate the resilience of coupled power-water networks using a variant of contingency analysis adapted from electric transmission studies. In particular, the “what if” scenarios explored in power systems research were extended and applied for coupled power-water network research by evaluating how stressors and failures in the water network can propagate across system boundaries and into the electric network. Reduction in power system contingency reserves was the metric for determining violation of N-1 contingency reliability. Geospatial considerations were included using high-resolution, publicly available Geographic Information System data on infrastructure in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area that was used to generate a power network with 599 transmission lines and total generation capacity of 18.98 GW and a water network with 2,624 water network lines and capacity to serve up to 1.72M GPM of surface water. The steady-state model incorporated operating requirements for the power network—e.g., contingency reserves—and the water network—e.g., pressure ranges—while seeking to meet electric load and water demand. Interconnections developed between the infrastructures demonstrated how alternations to the system state and/or configuration of one network affect the other network, with results demonstrated through co-simulation of the power network and water network using OpenDSS and EPANET, respectively. Results indicate four key findings that help operators understand the interdependent behavior of the coupled power-water network: (i) two water failure scenarios (water flowing out of Waddell dam and CAP canal flowing west of Waddell dam) are critical to power-water network N-1 contingency reliability above 60% power system loading and at 100% water system demand, (ii) fast-starting natural gas generating units are necessary to maintain N-1 contingency reliability below 60% power system loading, (iii) Coolidge Station was the power plant to most frequently undergo a reduction in reserves amongst the water failure scenarios that cause a violation of N-1 reliability, (iv) power network vulnerability to water network failures was non-linear because it depends on the generating units that are dispatched, which can vary as line thermal limits or unit generation capacities are reached. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2020

Within the framework of risk assessment and risk management, determination of the failure probability of dams plays an important role. In this paper, the probabilistic approach to hydraulic failure elaborated by the author in the nineties will be developed further and refined. Furthermore, it is shown how the random event “gate failure” can be taken into account when calculating the overtopping probability of barrages. / Im Rahmen von Risikobetrachtungen spielt die Bestimmung der Überflutungswahrscheinlichkeit eine wichtige Rolle. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird der probabilistische Ansatz, welcher in den neunziger Jahren vom Autor erarbeitet worden ist, weiterentwickelt und modifiziert. Außerdem wird gezeigt, wie das zufällige Ereignis „Versagen von Verschlüssen“ in die Berechnung der Überflutungswahrscheinlichkeit von Stauanlagen einbezogen werden kann.

Historically, hydrologic models have been available only on mainframe computers and have therefore not been used by local water managers to support daily decisions. The development of the microcomputer presents an opportunity for that to change. Mathematical models of soil moisture and river routing are selected, developed and tested for use on a microcomputer as an aid to local water management. The models are then integrated with an appropriate data base in a computer program written for a microcomputer. The result is a Decision Support System for local water managers. In order to evaluate the feasibility of using the Decision Support System, an application of the program to a small hypothetical river and irrigation system is carried out. The speed of execution indicates that the use of the Decision Support System on this class of computer under the present configuration may be possible if software or hardware changes can reduce data transfer times to and from disk.

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) instrumentation is becoming more diverse in our world of today. One challenge in scaled physical hydrodynamic models in a laboratory setting is obtaining high resolution water surface elevation data while maintaining accuracy requirements. Accurate water surface elevations are a primary parameter in hydraulic models as they are a means of controlling/monitoring the physical model’s boundary conditions, analyzing model experiment results, and informing model conclusions. This study focuses on laser scanners that have ranging accuracies of at least +/-10 millimeters (mm) or better for the purpose of attaining LiDAR water surface elevation measurements in scaled physical hydrodynamic models in the laboratory setting using different materials on the water surface. While the current available methods have acceptable accuracies, the resolution is extremely limited. The objective of this research to improve the spatial coverage of water surface elevation measurements by using LiDAR instrumentation while maintaining acceptable error ranges.

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