MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS

Liquid Ultrasonic
Flow Meters

Acadiana Flow Measurement School

Lafayette, LA
April 17- 18, 2007

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Liquid Ultrasonic Meter with Integral Transmitter

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Trans-Alaska Pipeline
First Multi-path Ultrasonic Flow Meters for Liquid Petroleum Measurement

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Application:

Line Balance

Pipeline Length:

~ 800 miles

Number of Meters:

23

Size:

48 inch

Rate:

~ 100,000 BPH

Date Installed:

1976

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Creating Ultrasonic Sound

Piezoelectric Phenomenon
1

0.8

Voltage
+

0.6

0.4

0.2

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1
3.20E-05

3.30E-05

3.40E-05

3.50E-05

3.60E-05

3.70E-05

3.80E-05

3.90E-05

Crystal Rings to Produce

Ultrasound 0.5 to 2 MHz

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4.00E-05

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Sensing Ultrasonic Sound

Piezoelectric Phenomenon
Sound

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

Voltage

-1
3.20E-05

3.30E-05

3.40E-05

3.50E-05

3.60E-05

3.70E-05

3.80E-05

3.90E-05

Sound Wave Converted to

Voltage

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4.00E-05

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Transit Time Flowmeters

Tup = L/(C-V cos)
Tdown =

L/(C+V cos)

Tup

Where:

L = Path Length
Tdown
C = Speed of Sound in the fluid
= Angle of sound path to the pipe axis
V = Average velocity along the pipe axis

V=

L
(T u T d ) 2cos

The solution for fluid velocity is

independent of the speed of sound (C)
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Differential Transit Time

Signal
Processing unit

Spool

P1
P2
P3
P4

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Wetted Transducers No Refraction

Caldon LEFM 240C

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Accoustic Transducer Housings and RTD

Caldon LEFM 240C

Transducer Housings

RTD Temperature Probe

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Accoustic Transducer Assembly

Transducer

Compression Nut

Weld

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Spacer

Spring

Transducer Housing

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Chordal Acoustic Paths and Flow Profile

Velocity of Each Path

PathLength T
V ( Pn ) =
2 (Tup Tdown )Cos

Integration into a Flow Measurement

60-70 times per second

Q =

i =1

P1
P2
P3
P4
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k bi V i A

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Pulse Formation
Q =

i =1

k bi V i A

Frequency Generator

Continuous Pulse Output

1/60
Sec

1/60
Sec

1/60
Sec

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1/60
Sec

1/60
Sec

1/60
Sec

1/60
Sec

1/60
Sec

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Transmitter (Signal Processing Unit)

Inputs and Output
Transmitter
(Signal Processing Unit)

3 Pulse Channels: 0
5V

Power: 24 Vdc, 120 Vac, 240 Vac

Serial: ModBus RTU
Up to 4 Analogs
Out:

Up to 3 Analogs In:
Temperature

Flow Rate

Pressure
Density

Density
Interconnect Cables

Flow

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Temperature
Viscosity

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Meter Prices

Cost of metering system

Expense ($)

Financial exposure

Increasing uncertainty
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Meter Measurement Uncertainty

Application

Typical Uncertainty

Line Balance or Check Metering

+/- 0.3 to 0.5%

Custody Transfer

+/- 0.15 to 0.25%

Master Meter

+/- 0.1 to 0.12%

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Two-Path Meter
Line Balance and Check Metering

Major Characteristics
Stability
Reproducibility
Reliability
Bidirectional Flow
Economy

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Four-Path Meter
Custody Transfer Measurement

Major Characteristics
Precision Accuracy Linearity
Stability
Bidirectional Flow
Provability

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Eight-Path Meter
Premium Custody Transfer and Master Meter Measurement

Major Characteristics
Premium Accuracy
Immune to Installation Effects
Total Redundancy
Bidirectional Flow
Master Meter

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Meter Installation and Flow Conditioning

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Horizontal Meter Orientation

Avoids: Gas Interference at the Top of the Pipe
Particles/Water at the bottom of the Pipe
Horizontal Acoustic Paths
Gas
Chordal
Paths
Water/particles

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Proving Ultrasonic Flow Meters

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Theory of Proving
Flow
Known Volume

Meter

Displacer

Pipe/Displacer/Detectors

Known volume (undisputed)

1st Mile long prover in USA 1958

Modern provers

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Bidirectional
Unidirectional
Small Volume

Detectors

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Theory of Proving
Comparison of the Meters Registration and to a Known Volume
(Standard) to Determine a Meter Factor
Meter Factor =

actual volume ( prover )

indicated volume ( meter )

The Comparison is Made Several Times and the Repeatability

Measured
The Conditions at the Time are Recorded
The Process is Called Proving
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Repeatability of Ultrasonic Flow Meters

Vortices formed by viscous shear Against the pipe wall

Standard Deviation of Transit Time

Measurement Between 1% and 2%

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Repeatability of Proving Runs

API Chapter 4.8, Appendix A

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Proving
Runs

Repeatability
Limit

Meter Factor
Uncertainty

0.02

2.7/10,000

0.03

2.7/10,000

0.05

2.7/10,000

0.06

2.7/10,000

0.08

2.7/10,000

0.09

2.7/10,000

0.10

2.7/10,000

10

0.12

2.7/10,000

11

0.13

2.7/10,000

12

0.14

2.7/10,000

13

0.15

2.7/10,000

14

0.16

2.7/10,000

15

0.17

2.7/10,000

16

0.18

2.7/10,000

17

0.19

2.7/10,000

18

0.20

2.7/10,000

19

0.21

2.7/10,000

20

0.22

2.7/10,000

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Prover Size and Proving Repeatability

Prover Volume vs Meter Size

5 Runs 0.05%

Meter Size (in.)

8 Runs 0.09%

10 Runs 0.12%

15 Runs 0.17%

Prover Size (bbl)

33

15

10

73

34

22

14

130

60

40

25

10

203

94

62

39

12

293

135

89

56

14

399

184

121

77

16

521

241

158

100

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Prover Size and Repeatability Small Volume Provers

Proving Runs and Passes per Run
5 Runs, 1 Pass per Run
5 Runs, 5 Passes per Run
5 Runs, 10 Passes per Run
10 Runs, 1 Pass per Run
10 Runs, 5 Passes per Run
10 Runs, 10 Passes per Run

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Small Volume Prover

Proving Report
3 Passes per Run,
5 Runs Repeat within
0.05%

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Manufactured Pulses
Delay and Dampening
PD
DT

DT

DT

Flow
Rate

RC

Error (%) RC

Erroneous
Indication of
Volume due to PD
and DT

( PD + DT )
PT

Example:
.5%(0.020+0.100)/0.500 = 1.2% Error

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PT
Time

Fundamental Pulse Delay or Sampling Period (PD)

Dampening Filter Time Constant (DT)
Proving Run Time (PT)
Flow Rate Change (%) during the Prove Run (RC)

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Meter Characterization
Improves meter accuracy by compensating for non-linearity of raw Meter
Factor for varying Reynolds Number (Re)

Re =

QD

Meter is calibrated in a laboratory on liquids and flow rates that most closely
match the application Re
Because the meter directly measures the flow rate and viscosity, it knows
the current Re and make the appropriate correction

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OIML Specification R117 Linearity

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OIML Specification R117 Linearity

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API Chapter 5.8

Recommend
Recommend Practices
Practices for
for the
the
Custody
Custody Transfer
Transfer Measurement
Measurement of
of
Liquid
Liquid Petroleum
Petroleum

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Meter Calibration versus In-situ Proving

API MPMS Chapter 5.8

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White Rose FPSO Meters at SPSE, France

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Measurement System - Master Meter

Husky Oil Crude Oil Metering System - White Rose FPSO

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International Organization for

Legal Metrology

OIML
OIMLRR117
117
AASeries
Seriesof
ofTests
Teststo
toInsure
InsureOperation
Operationand
andPerformance
Performance
Suitable
for
Custody
Transfer
Measurement
Suitable for Custody Transfer Measurement

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OIML Performance Specification R117

Additional Requirements:
Sealing and Password Protection
Dry Heat
Power Voltage Variations
Short Time Power Reductions
Electrostatic Bursts
Electromagnetic Susceptibility
Tampering

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OIML R-117 Certification

Certification
Certification by
by aa third
third
Party
Party (NMi)
(NMi) that
that the
the Meter
Meter
Meets
Meets the
the Requirements
Requirements

LEFM 240C
LEFM 220C

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Advantages of Ultrasonic Flow Meters

Simplicity of Measurement System
Large Size Meters
Smaller Systems
Fewer Components
Reduced Cost of Measurement & Ownership
No Wearing Parts
Low P
Less Proving
Multi-property Measurement
Density
Viscosity
Temperature
VOS
Diagnostics, etc.
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In a Nutshell
Value of Ultrasonic Meters
Simplest Measurement Solution
Lowest Cost CAPEX & OPEX
Not Just a Flow Meter

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Discussion, Questions & Answers

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