TUV SUD NEL has invested £1.45 million in one of the world’s largest gravity test separators, as part of the build program for its new advanced multiphase facility.
The new separator will test both multiphase and wet gas flows (oil, water and gas) and will ensure sufficient retention time, even at the largest flow rates.
Weighing 270 tonnes and operating at pressures up to 150 bar, it will enable flow rates within the advanced multiphase facility (AMF) that are said to be 20 times greater than the performance of any other test facility in the world.
This should meet the oil & gas industry’s growing demand for flow meter testing that more accurately reflects real-field conditions, to reduce measurement uncertainty and minimise fiscal inaccuracy.
Muir Porter , infrastructure manager leading the installation project, said: “ This is a major milestone for us as the test separator is at the heart of the AMF construction project. The next major phase will be to build the complex steel pipework which forms the test loop and feeds into the test separator, and which will deliver a multiphase flow test facility with a range beyond anything currently available on the market .”
The £16-million AMF is designed to provide a new, best-in-class test facility, and will focus predominantly on the £50-billion-per-annum global subsea sector and wet gas business. It will facilitate company-led industrial projects and product development, hands-on industry training and academic research. Creating at least 17 new jobs, the centre will futureproof the delivery of innovative technical services to the oil and gas production market for the next 25 years.
Scottish Enterprise has supported the development of the AMF with £4.9 million of research and development funding. Alongside the grant from Scottish Enterprise, TUV SUD NEL’s parent company, TÜV SÜD AG, is investing £11.1 million, which makes the project the largest capital investment to date in the company’s UK business.