Importantconsiderationsregarding calibrationofultrasonicgasflowmeters

ForNFOGMNytt,June2013 MortenMarstein,FMCKongsbergMeteringAS

Introduction
Multipathultrasonicgasflowmetersarenormallyflowcalibratedatanaccreditedflowlaboratorybefore installationinordertoverifytheflowmetersperformanceandtocorrectforflowmeteroffset.The commonpracticeistoinstallgasflowmeterswithoutinsitucalibrationarrangement.Manyoftheseflow metersareneverrecalibrated.Itisthereforeimportanttoensurethattheflowmetersarecalibrated properlywiththehighestdegreeofconfidencetotheinvolvedparties.Thisarticlewillhighlightsome importantaspectsregardingpreparationsandexecutionofgasUSMflowcalibration.Someimprovement issuesarealsodiscussed.

Figure1.Typicalultrasonicgasflowmeterinstallation

Preparations
Theupstreampipewhichwillbeinstalledwiththeflowmeter,oranidenticalpipespoolwiththesame lengthandinnerdiameter,mustbeusedfortheflowcalibrationinordertoprovidesimilarflowprofile duringcalibrationaswillbeexpectedatthefinalinstallationsite.Ifaflowconditionerispartofthefinal installation,thisflowconditionermustalsobeusedduringcalibration. Page1of7

Thecalibrationlaboratorieshavelimitedtestrunsavailablewithflangetypeandratingdesignedforthe maximumpressureatthefacility.Adapterspoolsarethereforeoftenrequiredtomatchthelinesizeand flangetypeoftheflowmeter. Thecalibrationlaboratoriesusetheirownpressureandtemperaturetransmittersinordertoconformto theiraccreditedprocedures.Theflowmeterortheadjacentpipespoolsofthesamelinesizeshouldhave apressuretappingtoallowforconnectionofthelaboratoryspressuresensor.Thisisparticularly importantifthelaboratorylinessizeisdifferentthantheflowmetersize.Forinstance,ifa6inchflow meterisinstalledina12inchtestpipe,thepressureinthe6inchflowmeterwillbelowerthanthe pressureinthe12inchpipeduetohighergasvelocityintheflowmeter. Itisalsoimportanttosupplytheboltsandgasketsrequiredfortheflowmeter,upstreampipeandadapter spools. Mostcalibrationlaboratorieswillrequireapressuretestcertificatebeforeinstallingtheflowmeterand testspoolsintotheirlaboratory.

Choiceofcalibrationlaboratory
Thechoiceofcalibrationlaboratorywillbedeterminedbytheflowcapacityandthegeographicallocation asmostcustomerswillselectthenearestlaboratorythatcomplieswiththemaximumandminimum calibrationflowrates.ItisworthcheckingthatthelaboratoryisaccreditedtoISO17025forthechosen flowrange.Althoughmostlaboratoriesareaccreditedforthecompleteflowrangethatisoffered,this maynotalwaysbethecase.Also,thetypeoftestgasaswellaspressureandtemperaturelevelsoffered variesbetweenthedifferentcalibrationlaboratories.Anoverviewofthemostcommonlyusedflow calibrationlaboratoriesforgasislistedbelow.
Name Location Gastype Range (m3/hr) 8 6500 Pressure (barg) 14 50 Temperature (C) N/A Uncertainty (k=2) 0.16%

Pigsar

Dorsten, Germany

NaturalGas

http://www.opengrideurope.com/cps/rde/xchg/SIDF2210DCD89EB588A/opengrideurope internet/hs.xsl/2788.htm Force Technology Vejen, Denmark NaturalGas 8 10000 0 50 15 25 0.180.30%

http://www.forcetechnology.com/NR/rdonlyres/6466193540D64E1A9886 4E0BFB69805F/3713/24846en.pdf GLNoble Denton Durham, England NaturalGas 20 19500 35 55 5 15 0.190.24%

http://www.glnobledenton.com/en/consulting/FlowMeterCalibration.php

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NMi Euroloop

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

NaturalGas

5 30000

0 60

N/A

0.15%

http://www.nmi.nl/metrology/euroloop/gas/specifications CEESI Iowa,USA NaturalGas 10 34000 70 N/A 0.23%

http://www.ceesi.com/FlowMeterCalibrationCapabilities.aspx TransCanada Manitoba, Calibrations Canada NaturalGas 30 55000 60 70 N/A 0.19%

http://www.tccalibrations.com/

Table1.Overviewofgasflowcalibrationlaboratories.

Checkpointsduringflowcalibration
Attheflowcalibrationlaboratorytherearesomeimportantissuestobeaddressed.Ihavelistedthem belowinachronologicalsequence.

Beforecalibrationstart
Agreeonthecalibrationprocedureandacceptancerequirements.Supplier,clientandlaboratory personnelshouldmeettogothroughtheprocedurewithrespecttoflowrange,numberof repeats,verificationpointsandotherprojectspecificrequirement. Inspecttheflowmeterinstallation.Checkthattheflowconditionerandupstreampipeisinstalled correctlywithrespecttoflowdirectionandorientation.Itisagoodpracticetotakepictures,if allowed,todocumentthephysicalinstallationarrangement. Checkthatthesameoutputsignalisusedduringcalibrationaswillbeusedinthefinalinstallation fortraceabilitypurpose.Itisrecommendedtousepulseoutputsincethisisasimpleandstraight forwardrepresentationoftheflowrate. Checktheparametersetupoftheflowmetertobecalibrated. o CheckthatthenominalKfactor(pulses/m3)intheflowmeterisusedbytheflow laboratory. Checkthatinnerdiameter,pathlengthsandtransducerparametersareenteredin accordancewithsuppliercertificates. Checkthatcorrectlinearthermalexpansioncoefficientandmodulusofelasticity(Youngs modulus)isenteredintotheflowmeterforcorrecttemperatureandpressurediameter compensation.Typicalvaluesforlinearthermalexpansioncoefficientare1.10E05 m/m/Cforcarbonsteel,1.60E05m/m/CforSS316gradesteeland1.30E05m/m/C forduplexmaterial.Typicalvalueformodulusofelasticityis2.0E+06barforcarbonand stainlesssteel. Page3of7

Checkthattheprocesspressureandtemperatureisenteredmanuallyintotheflowmeter forcorrectdiametercompensation. Printtheparametersetupreporttodocumenttheflowmeterconfigurationduringflow calibration.

Duringcalibration
Checkthattheprocessconditionssuchaspressure,temperatureandflowratearestableduring theflowcalibration.Driftingprocessconditionswillmostlikelyaffecttheflowmeasurement repeatability. Checkthattherearenoalarmsgeneratedintheflowmeterbyitsinternaldiagnosticssystem. Checkfornormalvaluesofautomaticgain,percentageofacceptedultrasonicpulses,path velocitiesandvelocityofsound(VOS)oneachtransducerpair.ThespreadinVOSshouldexceed 0.5m/sbetweenalltransducerpairsduringnormalflow.

Aftercalibration
Checktherepeatabilityandlinearitytowardsthecalibrationprocedure. Iftheflowcorrectionshallbeenteredintotheflowmeter,checkthatcorrectparametersare entered.Thecorrectionisenteredeitherasflowweightedmeanaverage,apolynomialorasa flowrate/correctionfactormatrixwithinterpolatedcorrection.Averificationpointmaybe repeatedafterenteringtheflowmetercorrectioninordertodocumentcorrectenteringofthe flowcorrection. Printtheparametersetupreporttodocumenttheflowmeterconfigurationafterflowcalibration.

0,20

Average deviation from reference (%)

0,00 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

-0,20

-0,40

-0,60

-0,80

-1,00

Velocity (m/s)

Figure2.Typicallinearityplotsformultipathultrasonicgasflowmeters

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Recalibrationorconditionmonitoring
Someauthoritiesoroperatorshaverequirementforrecalibrationoffiscalmultipathultrasonicflowmeter like.FiscalultrasonicgasflowmetersontheUKsidearetypicallyflowcalibrationperiodicallywitha maximumintervaloffiveyears.OntheNorwegiansectortheoperatorswillnormallymonitorcondition parameterstodetermineifflowcalibrationisrequired.ThecommonconditionparametersareAutomatic GainControl(AGC),acousticsignalacceptance,velocityprofileandvelocityofsound. TheAGCismeasuredpertransducerandisdependentonthegasdensity.Thismeansthataslong asthegasdensityorgaspressureremainsstable,theAGCvalueforeachtransducershould remainunchanged. Theacousticsignalacceptanceistypicallydisplayedasapercentagevalueindicatinghowlarge portionoftheacousticsignalsreceivedbyeachtransducerarerecognizedbythesignalprocessing unitintheflowmeter.Adropintheacceptancevaluecanindicateadeterioratedtransducer. Thenormalizedvelocityratio(velocitymeasuredbyeachpathcomparedtotheoverallflow velocity)isanindicationofthegasflowprofileintheflowmeter.Theflowprofilewillremainfixed foralargeflowrange.Amajorchangeintheindicatedvelocityprofileindicatesaproblemwith onetransducerpair. Thevelocityofsound(VOS)isthemostimportantparametertobemonitored.TheVOSis measuredbyeachpath.Regardlessofchangesintheprocessconditions,allpathsshouldmeasure thesameVOSaslongasthereisflowthroughtheflowmeter.Maximumdifferencebetweenthe highestandlowestVOSreadingwillnormallystaywith0.5m/s.TheaverageVOS(acrossallpaths) shouldbecomparedtoAGA10calculatedVOSfromonlinegaschromatography.Drifting discrepancyofmeasured(USM)VOScomparedtocalculated(GC)VOSindicatesadriftineither theUSMorthegaschromatograph.

Theconditionmonitoringopportunitiesinthemultipathultrasonicgasflowmetersshouldbeused activelytoevaluatetheneedforrecalibration.

Figure3.Typicaldiagnosticsdataformultipathultrasonicgasflowmeters

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Suggestionsforimprovement Betteravailability
Aflowcalibrationjobmustbeorderedtypicallyseveralmonthsinadvance.Theflowcalibration laboratoriesarestayingbusy.Morelaboratorieswouldincreasetheavailabilityforflowcalibrationasthe numberofflowmetersinoperationcontinuoustoincrease.

Loweruncertainty
Theuncertaintyoftheflowmeasurementatthecalibrationlaboratoriesrangefrom0.16to0.30%.The USMmanufacturersclaimuncertaintiesfortheirmultipathgasflowmetersinsomecaseslessthan0.50% asdeliveredfromthefactory.Theresultinglinearityandrepeatabilityvaluesforameterundertestis thereforelargelyaffectedbytheuncertaintyofthecalibrationlaboratory.Theuncertaintyofthe laboratoriesshouldbeimprovedinordertomaintainloweruncertaintythanthetestmetersbya considerablemargin.Forcalibrationofotherinstrumentsthereferenceinstrumenttypicallyisfiveoreven tentimesmoreaccuratethanthetestinstrument.ForUSMflowcalibrationthereferenceinstrumentation isonlytwoorthreetimesbetter.

Higherflowcapacity
Asimplecalculationoftheflowmetercapacitiesisshowninthetablebelowassumingnominaldiameter andmaximum25m/sgasvelocity. Size(Inches) ID(mm) Vel(m/s) Flowrate(m3/h) 4 100 30 848 6 150 30 1909 8 200 30 3393 12 300 30 7634 16 400 25 11310 20 500 25 17671 24 600 25 25447 30 750 25 39761 36 900 25 57256 42 1050 25 77931 Table2.TypicalUSMmaximumrangefordifferentsizeofmeters Weseefromthetablethatforlargeflowmetersofsize24inchandhigherthenumberoftestsitesisvery limited.TherearetwotestsitesinNorthAmericathatcanhandlethefullflowrange.Thereisaneedfor calibrationlaboratorieswithinEuropethatcanflowcalibratethesesizemeters.

Higherpressureandtemperature
Theflowcalibrationlaboratoriesoperateongaspressuresupto50barg,someupto70barg.Gas temperaturesaretypicallyintherangeof5to30Catthelaboratories. Theultrasonictransittimemeasurementsinultrasonicgasflowmetersmustbecorrectedfordelaysinthe transducers.Thetransducerdelayisdependentonpressureandtemperature.Theextentoftransducer delayvariationoverpressureandtemperaturedependsonthedesignoftheultrasonictransducer,some Page6of7

factorsbeingstabilityofpiezoelectricsensor,mountingofsensorandtypeofmatchinglayer.The manufacturersoftheultrasonicgasflowmetersusedifferentmethodsfordeterminingthetransducer delay,andforthepressureandtemperaturecompensationofthetransducerdelay,eitherthroughfactory calibrationsorthroughempiricalestimates. Pressureandtemperaturewillalsoaffecttheinnerdiameteroftheflowmeter.Sinceultrasonicflow metersmeasuretheflowvelocity,volumetricflowrateisproportionaltothesquareoftheinnerdiameter. Thediametercorrectionisdoneeitherinsidetheflowmeterorinthesystemflowcomputer,normallyby standardpipeexpansionalgorithmwhichmaynotbefullyapplicablefortheflowmeterbody. Manyultrasonicgasflowmetersinpipelineapplicationsoperateatpressuresbetween100and200barg. Operatingtemperaturebetween50and100Carenotuncommon.Anaddeduncertaintyforinstallation effectmustbeappliediftheseflowmetersarecalibratedatconsiderablylowerpressuresand temperatures.Theaddeduncertaintyforinstallationeffectistypicallyestimatedto0.2to0.5%in uncertaintybudgetsformeteringsystems.Iftheflowmetersarecalibratedatpressuresandtemperatures closetofinaloperatingconditions,thecontributionfrominstallationeffectscanbereduced.

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