Monitoring Water Usage with Loop Powered Flow Transmitter

Application
Measuring flow of domestic water use in each of the buildings located on a university campus in Connecticut.

Background
The university hired an outside contractor to replace existing paddlewheel flowmeters at various locations across the campus. The paddlewheel flowmeters were unreliable and required frequent maintenance and replacement.

Advantages
The UTX878 appealed to the customer as an economical non-intrusive, maintenance-free alternative to the paddlewheel flowmeters. Since the UTX878 does not come into contact with the process, there is no danger of clogging and does not require shutting down the process.

The UTX878 was also easily powered using the existing 24 VDC supply. Approximately 50 units were purchased and installed.

Installation
Most of the UTX878 installation locations were on Type L copper pipe ranging from 2 to 6 in. (50 mm to 150 mm) outside diameters. The transducers and fixture were typically installed after the system back-flow preventer. The UTX878 meter electronics was powered by 24 VDC from the existing data acquisition panel located in each building.

Equipment
Measurements were taken with the UTX878 Loop Powered Flow Transmitter with UTX clamping fixture with #407 2 MHz transducers.



Specifications
Pipe OD: 2 to 6 in. (50 mm to 150 mm)
Pipe Wall: 0.070 to .140 in. (1.8 to 3.5 mm)
Pipe Material: Type L Copper
Pressure: 0 to 10 psig (0 to 1.07 bar)
Temperature: 50oF (10oC)

To get more information of UTX878 Flow Transmitter Click Here..

Ultrasonic Flowmeter for Steam

Application
A Dutch paper factory in Holland produces approximately 160,000 tons of paper per year. The main products are copy paper, envelopes and packing paper. Low pressure steam is used to heat up the paper machines and glue. The condensate is then pumped to the power plant.

Problem
The manufacturer began looking for a method to measure low-pressure steam in an isolated pipe with a 700 mm (28 in) diameter. The main objective was a future fiscal transfer measurement of energy in megajoules supplied by the power plant to the factory and to be able to produce a complete energy balance.

Requirements
- High turndown ratio of 150:l.
- No pressure loss.
- High repeatability.
- High accuracy with regards to internal transfer.
- Low maintenance costs.
- Trouble-free operation and thus high reliability.

Equipment
The GE gas flowmeter with standard steam transducers are used in a diagonal 45 installation. A flow computer converts the 4 mA to 20 mA output signals from the meter, along with pressure and temperature inputs, into a mass flow rate (tones/hour).



Specifications

Minimum/Maximum Flow
0 to 50,000 m3/hr

Nominal Flow
35,000 m3/hr

Pressure (gage)
2.45 bar

Temperature
165°C

Accuracy
± 1% of full scale

Reproducibility
≤ 0.5%

Click here to see similar Steam Flow Measurement applications

Steam Flow Measurement

Application
The application is the measurement of low-pressure steam flows. Such flows are measured and controlled for purposes such as controlling the temperature of vessels, the speed of steam turbines, and the heating of process fluids.



Background
Traditionally, orifice plates have measured steam flows. With that technique, users were faced with pressure drops, which cause energy loss and produce water droplets in low- pressure, saturated steam. These water droplets cause erosion of the internal metal surfaces such as valve seats, elbows, turbine blades, and even the orifice plate used to measure the flow. An additional problem is the limited range of orifice plates, typically a maximum of 10 to 1. More recently, other types, including shedding-vortex meters have been tried.

Problem
A GE customer had installed insertion, shedding-vortex meters in the 60 psig and 235 psig steam-supply system for a new operating unit. These meters were selected because of low-pressure drop. The installed meters, however, could not handle the high velocities encountered and performed poorly in measuring very low flows.

Advantages
The GE Steam Flowmeter system gives excellent measurements from zero flow through 70 fps. There is no pressure drop to cause droplet formation and energy loss. The insertion mechanisms allow transducer replacement and removal without disrupting plant operations.

Equipment
The customer was familiar with GE ultrasonic flowmeters in stack flows and asked if they could measure steam flow. Temperature and pressure inputs were fed into the steam flowmeter electronics so that the meter could calculate mass flow of the system. High-temperature, high-pressure transducers were used to withstand a large range of steam process conditions.

Installation
The installation includes three meters in a diagonal 45° configuration. Steam velocities range from 0 to 70 fps. Line sizes include one 10 in, two 12 in, and one 18 in line.

Flow Rate Measurement of Cryogenic Fluids

Application
Flow rate measurement and totalization of cryogenic fluids provide the manufacturer with better product control and improved plant efficiency.

Background
Due to the extremely low temperature, most conventional flowmeters cannot operate reliably, especially in small diameter pipes. During start-up, if cold liquid enters a warm pipe, it can boil and generate gas velocities that are high enough to overspin and ruin a turbine meter. An orifice plate, on the other hand, may produce a pressure drop large enough to cause “flashing” of the cryogenic liquid, producing erratic readings.

In this application, the GE Sensing ultrasonic transit-time liquid flowmeter provides the cryogenic manufacturer with the ability to detect leaks of valuable liquid. By monitoring the output of the plant to storage vessels, one customer detected a failure in the insulating system of the storage vessels. Typically, cryogen storage vessels are double walled with a vacuum between the walls for thermal insulation. If the vacuum system fails, the stored cryogen will vaporize and be returned to the plant for reliquification. By measuring the liquid flow rate to the storage vessel, one can quickly detect deviations from desired plant operation. In this example, reliquification caused the measured flow to storage to double its normal value, indicating failure of the storage vessel insulation.

Installation
An offset flowcell with 90° tees was installed in the argon liquification plant as an integral part of the plant piping in the cold room. The electronic instrument was mounted in a remote analyzer house approximately 30 m (98 ft) away from the cold room.



The GE ultrasonic flowmeter provides direct reading in gallons per minute and total flow in gallons. The offset flowcell and wetted transducer sizes are dependent upon pipe size.

Advantages
Due to a unique GE transducer design, the transducers can be exposed to temperatures as low as -200°C (-328°F). Also, the flowmeter requires no maintenance because there are no moving parts. The particular ultrasonic flowcell selected for this application (axial offset, 90° tees) can operate with laminar, transitional and turbulent flow. At low (laminar) flow rates, the pipeline must be well insulated to prevent flashing.
(Note: For smaller pressure drops, other flowcell configurations are available.)

Equipment
• Transit-time ultrasonic liquid flowmeter
• Wetted transducers
• 12.7 mm (1/2 in) offset flowcell

Specifications
- Liquid argon, single phase
- 1.1 to 11.4 L/m (0.3 to 3 gal/min)
Temperature
-183°C (-298°F)
Viscosity
- 0.25 cp (0.6 lbm/ft-h)
Density
- 1.38 g/cm3 (86 lb/ft3)
Pressure
- 328 kPa (47.5 psi)


Click the below link to know about various flow meters
http://www.gesensing.com/productservices/tech_flowmeters.htm

Register for Ultrasonic Flow Measurement Technology Training – GE Sensing

GE Sensing is providing training courses on Flow Measurement for the interested audience. Emphasis is placed on understanding the range of applications, and providing insight into the specification and selection of the most suitable ultrasonic measurement system for your application. You can attend one session or combine sessions for even more in-depth training.

Ultrasonic Flow Measurement Technology Training – 2 Day Course

The workshop includes demonstrations of the capabilities of ultrasonic flowmeters from simple clamp-on models for water to engineered systems for the most challenging applications. Attendees will receive a presentation package including Powerpoint presentations, a cd with product resource materials, application notes and technical papers on the subject.

Click Here to view the agenda. Who should attend ?

The ultrasonic flowmeter technology training is ideal for anyone interested in gaining or refining technical skills in flow measurement including engineers and technicians, as well as those specifying and operating flow measurement instrumentation.

Topics covered:

• Ultrasonic flow measurement fundamentals
• Ultrasonic flow meters
• Liquid meter systems
• Liquid applications
• Gas flow-differences from liquid
• Gas meter systems
• Gas applications
• Clamp-on gas demonstration
• Facility tour of liquid and gas flow loops and the manufacturing process


Registration
Click here to register.

Class Schedule
Click Here to view the calender

Fee for Training
Training sessions at the GE Sensing Boston Center are priced at $625 per day.

Click Here to get complete details on more courses

GE Sensing's PanaFlow Meter System Helps Generate Electricity by Solar Power During the Night

Spanish Solar Research Center uses PanaFlow Meter System to measure flow of high temperature nitrate salts in thermal storage system

The Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA), located in the desert of Tabernas in southern Spain, is the largest center for research, development and testing of concentrating solar technologies in Europe. It operates a number of projects investigating the application of solar power for the generation of electricity. These solar power systems use computer controlled mirrors that track the sun and concentrate its radiation onto receivers, where a working medium converts the radiation into thermal energy. This working medium is then passed through a heat exchanger to produce steam and the steam is passed to turbines to generate electricity.

PSA runs a number of pilot research projects involving the use of molten nitrate salts as a working and heat accumulator medium. The salts are heated up from 290ºC to 550ºC and pass through a steam generator to create steam that is directly injected to a steam turbine; or is bypassed to an insulated storage tank, to allow electricity to be generated overnight.

In order to control the generating capacity during the night, it is necessary to control the flow of the nitrate salts into the heat exchanger. At first it was believed that this could be done by controlling the pressure of the salts, but this method failed, which led the team to investigate using ultrasonic flowmeters.

The only solution to the problem, with the capability of handling the very high temperatures and the temperature cycles, was the PanaFlow Meter System.

How It’s Done
PanaFlow consists Bundle Waveguide transducers (BWTs) installed into a pipe section. Transducer signals are transmitted and received by the XMT868i transmitter that is also mounted on the pipe section.


PanaFlow is installed in a spool piece section of the nitrate salts inlet pipe leading to the heat exchanger (see figure, above), where the operating temperatures range from 290ºC up to 550ºC at an average pressure of 1.5 barg. Bundle Waveguide Transducers (BWTs) are installed using FTPA buffers that allow easy installation or removal of the wetted transducers without interrupting the salts flow or emptying the pipe. The unique BWT transducers use waveguide bundles to efficiently concentrate a greater amount of the transducer ultrasonic signal into the flow.
At the same time, the bundles act as buffers to protect the piezoelectric transducers by removing them from extreme temperatures (see figure, right). FTPA extended buffers allow operation in liquid temperatures from -190ºC to 600ºC. This compares with the upper limit of 260ºC offered by most competitors’ flowmeters.

The all-digital XMT868i transmitter has no moving parts, requires minimal maintenance and provides long-term, drift-free operation.

Advantages of PanaFlow
In this instance, there was simply no other competitive solution to the problem. Only PanaFlow could provide the technology to measure the flow at such high temperatures and over such a wide range. The BWT transducers transmit a signal through the buffer assemblies, which is powerful enough to penetrate all liquids, including molten nitrate salts. The XMT868i’s Automatic Tracking Window feature enables accurate flow measurement even when the fluid sound speed is changing due to temperature shifts.



Contact GE Sensing to inquire about PanaFlow Meter System

GE Sensing
Worldwide Headquarters
The Boston Center
1100 Technology Park Drive
Billerica, MA 01821-4111
USA
Tel: 978 437 1000 or
Toll-Free 800 833 9438
Fax: 502 479 6722
Email: sensing@ge.com

Large Order For Flare Gas Flow Meters for GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies

GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies has received a significant order for the supply of flare gas flow metering systems for the Pearl GTL project in Qatar. The order for GF868 digital ultrasonic flow metering systems, comprising flare transmitters, transducers and flow cells, was placed by MW Kellogg, on behalf of Qatar Shell GTL Ltd. This order follows a similar order placed for another section of Qatar’sNorth Field.

Sponsored by Qatar Petroleum and Shell, the Pearl GTL (Gas to Liquids) project includes the development of offshore natural gas resources in Qatar’s North Field, transporting and processing the gas to extract natural gas liquids and ethane and the conversion of the remaining gas into clean liquid hydrocarbon products through the construction of the world’s largest integrated GTL complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar.

Gas flaring, both on offshore platforms and in refineries, is carried out to burn off unwanted gases under both routine and emergency conditions. However, it is important to measure the amount of gas being flared, to comply with environmental regulations, to identify leaks, to reconcile plant mass balances, to conserve energy by eliminating unnecessary flaring and for basic flare burner control.

Ultrasonic flow meters have proved themselves superior to other types of flow meters in the arduous task of flare gas flow measurement. The GF868 flow metering system has consistently demonstrated that it operates reliably even under unsteady flow, pulsating pressure, varying gas compositions and temperatures, harsh environments and wide flow ranges. Flow measurement is independent of gas properties and the flow meter uses a proprietary algorithm for instant determination of molecular weight and mass flow rate of the flare gas.

The project engineer at MW Kellogg commented, “We had no hesitation in specifying the GF868 for the project, as it is a complete flow metering system, ideally suited to this application.”

For more information please visit http://www.gesensing.com/