The accurate measurement of liquid/gas flow rate in the oil and gas industry is significantly important. There are several types of flow meters used for this purpose. Selecting the most appropriate flow meter is sometimes a bewildering task.
The aim of this work is to study different types of flow meters used in the oil and gas industry and to create an overview of selection criteria based on several factors such as the flow meter principle, pipe size, conductivity, meter position, fluid type and accuracy, among others.
OIL AND GAS FLOW METERS SELECTION CRITERIA
Omar Said, Abdullah Musbahi and Hassan Milad Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Elmergib, Algarabolli, Libya
Abstract – Accurate measurement of liquid/gas flow rate in oil and gas industry is significantly important. There are several types of flow meters used for this purpose. Selecting the most appropriate flow meter is sometimes a bewildering task. The aim of this work is to study different types of flow meters used in oil and gas industry and create a selection criteria based on several factors such as flow meter principle, pipe size, conductivity, meter position, fluid type, accuracy and some others.
Index Terms – flow, meter, selection criteria
I. Introduction
Industrial flow measurements include measuring of flow rate of liquids and gases. There are two basic ways of measuring flow, volumetrically or by mass. Volumetric flow is expressed in volume units (barrel/day, gallon/hour, liters/minute, etc.) whereas mass flow is expressed in mass units (Tonnes/hour, Kg/minute, etc.) [1].
Flow meters are devices used to measure the rate of flow of fluid and gas. These devices are generally classified into four groups (i.e. differential pressure flow meters, electronic flow meters, mass flow meters and mechanical flow meters) [1].
Characteristics of each flow meter type make it special for a particular application. One of the most important fluid characteristics affecting flow measurement is the shape of the velocity profile in the direction of flow. Flow measurement is also affected by Viscosity which is a measure of a fluid’s internal friction. The more “viscous” a fluid is the “thicker” it is when stirred. Clean water is an example of a low-viscosity liquid, while honey at room temperature is an example of a high-viscosity liquid [2].
II. Flow Meter Types
A study was made for the following flow meter types:
- Orifice Plate
- Venturi Tube
- V-cone
- Variable Area
- Ultrasonic
- Vortex
- Electro-magnetic
- Coriolis
- Turbine
- Positive Displacement
III. Meters Advantages And Disadvantages
The advantages and disadvantages of the above mentioned flow meters have been gathered in table 1 and were taken into consideration when creating the selection criteria.
IV. Selection Criteria
The selection of a flow meter for an industrial application is influenced by complex desired data. Table 2 shows the flow meters selection criteria based on several factors.
Table 1: Flow meters advantages and disadvantages
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TABLE 2: FLOW METERS SELECTION CRITERIA
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Conclusion
Due to the variety of oil and gas flow meters, attempt was made through this paper to simplify the flow meter selection task. The generated selection criterion helps, to some extent, the instrumentation and control engineers in choosing the most suitable flow meter. Consulting flow meters manufacturers by providing them all relating process and piping data is sometimes still required. For some applications, there might be more than one suitable flow meter, but usually there is only one type which has the best suitability.
There are many companies that compete in the field of flow meter design. Each type of these devices has a series of designs which intend to overcome some of the disadvantages and give it extra features.
References
[1] K. Krishnamurthy and S Vijayachitra, Industrial Instrumentation, 2005.
[2] Tony R. Kuphaldt, Lessons in Industrial Instrumentation, Version 4, Released January 11, 2009.
[3] Michael Anthony Crabtree, Industrial Flow Measurement, University of Huddersfield, June 2009.
[4] John G. Webster, Measurement Instrumentation and Sensors Handbook, 1999.
[5] Roger C. Baker, Flow Measurement Handbook, 2005.
[6] Beta G. Liptak, Process Measurement and Analysis, ISBN 0-8493-1082-0 (V-1), 1995.
[7] PIP PCEFL001, Flow Measurement Guidelines, August 2006.
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- Quote paper
- Omar Said (Author), 2017, Oil and Gas Flow Meters Selection Criteria, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/366484
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