Patent ID: 7658117

Claim:
A system for measuring flow rate of fluid within a wellbore, comprising: a production tubing string extending along a length from a first location at a surface entrance into the wellbore to a second location in the wellbore; an inverse Venturi meter disposed within the length of the production tubing string, wherein a body of the meter is mated to the production tubing string at each end of the body, the body of the inverse Venturi meter comprising: a throat with a maximum inner diameter greater than a restrictive inner diameter within the production tubing string; a first diverging portion disposed on a first side of the throat and increasing in inner diameter to the throat; and a second diverging portion increasing in inner diameter to the throat and disposed on a second side of the throat further in the wellbore from the surface entrance than the first side of the throat, wherein the body of the inverse Venturi meter is solid walled except for first and second pressure ports, the first pressure port disposed in the throat and the second pressure port disposed beyond a respective one of the diverging portions on one of the first and second sides of the throat; pressure sensing equipment coupled to the ports to detect fluid pressure and produce pressure information based on the fluid pressure detected; and logic circuitry coupled to the pressure sensing equipment to receive the pressure information, wherein the logic circuitry is configured to convert the pressure information to flow rate data.