Description

The apparatus segregates at reservoir-representative conditions, the components of a three-phase mixture expelled from a core sample.  The separator’s wetted parts comprise a vertical bore communicating with a narrow slot whose height equals that of the bore. The narrow slot enhances the phase segregation process. Upon entering the separator, the mixture flows into the bore, deemed the “separation bore”. By virtue of gravity, the lightest fluid comes to rest at the top, the heaviest fluid, at the bottom, and the intermediate fluid, in the middle; in the separation bore, an emulsion of all fluids prevents an accurate volume determination, whereas in the slot, two neat interfaces can be observed. Embedded in the separator wall, on the visualization side is a see-through window cell made of two windows mounted opposite each other. Placing a light behind the tube further facilitates discernment of the interfaces. Uninterrupted produced fluid measurements are achieved by means of a proprietary video software. The latter continuously displays the streaming images, automatically detects, measures and records the altitude of one or two interfaces between immiscible fluids such as liquid/liquid and liquid/gas. It finally interprets them and calculates the produced fluid volumes and core saturation levels.