Automation Business

Flow Measurement
Some Basic Terms and Concepts
Fluid - The state of a substance in which its particles easily move and change their
relative position without a separation of the mass and that easily yield to pressure.
A fluid can be a liquid (generally considered incompressible) or a gas.
Mass - Quantity of matter that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field. Mass
flow is expressed in weight/time, ie kilograms/hr.
Volume - Space occupied or enclosed by cubic units. Volumetric flow is expressed
in cubic measure/time i.e. cubic feet/minute or gallons/hour.
Density - Mass of a substance per unit volume.
Specific Gravity - The ratio of the density of a substance to the density of some
some substance taken as a standard. For flow of liquids, specific gravity of fluid is
compared against that of water, for gases against that of air.
Mole - grams/molecular weight
SCFM - Standard Cubic Feet per Minute.

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Automation Business

Flow Measurement
Some Basic Terms and Concepts
Liquids are generally considered incompressible
Ideal Gas Law - The pressure, temperature and volume of a gas are all
interrelated.
PV = nRT
P = pressure of the gas
V = the volume that the gas occupies(ie ft3)
n = number of moles
R = ideal gas constant (a universal constant)
T = temperature of the gas in absolute units
For the gas industry flow is most commonly measured as volumetric flow
and expressed at base conditions
volume is dependant on temperature and pressure and composition
volumetric measurement must be corrected back to base conditions
usually 60 - 700F and 1 atmosphere (14.73 psia) pressure

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Automation Business

The Object of Flow Measurement

How much went from one place to another?
Volumetric
corrected to base pressure and temperature
Mass
Mass is mass. It doesnt change with changes in
temperature or pressure.

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Automation Business

A Variety of Flow Measurement Methods

Orifice plate meter

Most common in the gas industry

Relatively low rangeability

Least accurate of all popular methods

High installation cost

No moving parts low (or no) maintenance

No calibration little maintenance

Intrusive device

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Automation Business

Orifice Plate Meter

Static Pressure
Temperature
Differential Pressure

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A Variety of Flow Measurement Methods

Turbine Meter
Most common meter type across all industries
Second most common in the gas industry
Much more accurate than orifice plate
Wide flow rangeability
Low relative cost to purchase but comparatively high cost to
maintain
Has moving parts that can fail but is easily field repaired
Requires calibration
Intrusive device

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Turbine meters
Use a vaned rotor engaged by the flowing fluid
the fluid spins the rotor at an angular
velocity proportional to the flow rate
As the turbine rotates, an AC voltage is
induced in a magnetic pickup
mounted externally to the fluid process
As each turbine blade passes the pickup the total magnetic flux density is changed
induces a single voltage pulse
Each pulse represents a finite volume of fluid that has been displaced through 2
adjacent rotor blades.

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Automation Business

A Variety of Flow Measurement Methods

Positive displacement meter
Most accurate
Uses standard low speed digital input on PLC
Other less common types
Venturi meter
Ultrasonic meter
Vortex meter
Lots more

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Automation Business

Flow Measurement by the Orifice Plate Method

Origins of the fluid flow Laws
More than 300 years ago, Charles and Boyle discovered that
Uf1 = (P *h)1/2
The formula looks deceptively simple
Qb =(218.573Cd(FT)EvY1d2Tb/Pb)(Pf1Zb Zb air*hw/GiZf1Tf)
And it would be,

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Automation Business

Flow Measurement by the Orifice Plate Method

Origins of the fluid flow Laws
More than 300 years ago, Charles and Boyle discovered that
Uf1 = (P *h)1/2
The formula looks deceptively simple
Qb =(218.573Cd(FT)EvY1d2Tb/Pb)(Pf1Zb Zb air*hw/GiZf1Tf)
And it would be, except each component of the equation,

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Automation Business

Flow Measurement by the Orifice Plate Method

Origins of the fluid flow Laws
More than 300 years ago, Charles and Boyle discovered that
Uf1 = (P *h)1/2
The formula looks deceptively simple
Qb =(218.573Cd(FT)EvY1d2Tb/Pb)(Pf1Zb Zb air*hw/GiZf1Tf)
And it would be, except each component of the equation, for example the
Coefficient of discharge term, relies on solving an equation like this:

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11

Automation Business

Flow Measurement by the Orifice Plate Method

Origins of the fluid flow Laws
More than 300 years ago, Charles and Boyle discovered that
Uf1 = (P *h)1/2
The formula looks deceptively simple
Qb =(218.573Cd(FT)EvY1d2Tb/Pb)(Pf1Zb Zb air*hw/GiZf1Tf)
And it would be, except each component of the equation, for example the
Coefficient of discharge term, relies on solving an equation like this:
Cd(FT) =Ci(FT)+.000511(106 /Red)0.7+((0.0210+.0049(19,000/ Red)0.8) 4(106/
Red)0.35

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Automation Business

Flow Measurement
The Names and Numbers to Know
For measuring flow there are 3 equations that are the
most common
For orifice plate meters, AGA 3
1992 version
1985 version
ISO 5167 is equivalent and is very similar
ISO is currently upgrading and will probably come into
lock step with AGA
For turbine meters AGA 7
AGA 7 is a relatively simple equation compared to AGA 3
Uf1 = (f/K)*M

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Flow Measurement
The Names and Numbers to Know(contd)
For high accuracy gas measurement a compressibility and sometimes
supercompressibility equation is needed
AGA 8 Most common
2 versions
1985
1992(ISO12213)
Multiple methods
Gross methods
2 for 1992 (recommended method for use between 32 to
130 oF and less than 1,200 psia, provided the gas
composition is within the normal range)
4 for 1985
Detailed methods
1992 is the most accurate and most common

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Flow Measurement
The Names and Numbers to Know(contd)
Other compressibility equations(in order of popularity)
NX-19 (developed in 1962)
Still used frequently in high C02 applications
Compressibility equations used for special gas compositions
Soave Redlich Kwong (SRK)
Wichert Aziz

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Flow Measurement
The Names and Numbers to Know(contd)
API 2540
Used for liquid measurement with turbine or rotary displacement
meters
Provides temperature and pressure compensation

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Flow Measurement
Putting it all Together
For measuring gas with an orifice plate meter use one of these
AGA 3 alone
AGA 3 with AGA 8
AGA 3 with NX-19
AGA 3 with other

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Flow Measurement
Putting it all Together (Contd)
For measuring gas with a turbine meter
AGA 7 alone
AGA7 with AGA 8
AGA7 with NX-19
AGA7 with other

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Automation Business

Flow Measurement
Putting it all Together (Contd)
For measuring liquid with an orifice plate meter
AGA 3 alone
For measuring liquid with a turbine meter
AGA 7 alone
AGA 7 with API 2540
For measuring liquid with a rotary displacement meter
API 2540

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Flow Measurement
API 21.1 Audit Trail and Event Log
Custody transfer applications are those where the fluid being
measured changes ownership at the meter point
If the measurement application is not custody transfer it is
Allocation (often requires API 21.1 for convenience)
Control
For custody transfer applications a detailed audit trail and event log
are required
The Industry expects a minimum of
7 days of hourly averages of specified variables
35 days of daily averages of the same variables
A copy of the configuration of the meter parameters
A 100 entry time stamped log of events
All parameter changes
Alarms

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Automation Business

Flow Measurement
If You Dont Know for Sure, Just Ask
If a customer says he needs an RTU that does AGA that doesnt
mean anything!
Ask the customer some basic questions and consult your notes.
What is being measured?
What kind of meter do they have?
How accurate does the measurement need to be?
Is the customer doing custody transfer?
If a customer is just doing control based on flow measurement
AGA 3 or 7 alone are often accurate enough.

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What does Schneider offer?

Orifice plate meters
Starling Associates Gas Flow Loadable Function Block Library
To run loadables on a continuous basis you must use the proper enabler, 130
HEK 301 01 or 130 HEK 301 02
Fits in the bus expansion port of a Compact or Micro PLC.
Disallows the use of the AS HDTA 202 2 slot rack.
Must be used with a IA WBXT 204 cable if an AS WBXT 201 is used.
Loadables can be run, without an enabler, in demo mode for 48 hours
after program load.

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What does Schneider offer?

Orifice plate meters (continued)
Starling Associates Gas Flow Loadable Function Block Library
consists of 5 blocks that cover the different calculation combinations
G392 - up to 8 meters of AGA 3 1992 alone. API 21.1 audit trail
130 HEK 301 02

GD92 - meter of AGA 3 1992 and AGA 8 detailed method.

130 HEK 301 01

GFNX - up to 8 meters of AGA3 1985 and NX-19. API 21.1 audit trail
GG92 - up to 8 meters of AGA 3 1992 and AGA 8 both gross methods. API 21.1
audit trail
GM92 - up to 8 meters of AGA 3 1992 and AGA 8 detailed method. API 21.1
audit trail

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What does Schneider offer?

Orifice plate meters (continued)
Flow calculations run only on Compact and Micro 612 04 CPUs
Except for the 612 04 you must have a minimum of 16K 984 LL capable
CPU to run GG92, GFNX or GM92
The 612 04 is a special case which can run any of the flow loadables
and have a large amount of program space left.
GD92 and G392 may be run in as small as a Compact 141 CPU
Using these loadables in an 8 K controller leaves little space for other
programming.

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What does Schneider offer?

Turbine meters
AS BVRC 200, AS BCTR 205 and AS BCTR 224
High speed counter input cards, for the Compact and Modicon Micro,
that perform the AGA 7 Calculation in the module
K and M factors are configured in the module and a corrected count
or rate is delivered to the CPU.
BVRC 200 takes direct turbine meter sine frequency input signal
BCTR 205 and 224 take square wave DC input signals, 5 VDC and
24VDC respectively.
API 2540 temperature compensation and pressure compensation is
currently not supported as a solution but can be programmed by the end
user.

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Automation Business

What does Schneider offer?

Orifice plate meters (continued)
Flow calculations run only on Compact and Micro 612 04 CPUs
Except for the 612 04 you must have a minimum of 16K 984 LL capable
CPU to run GG92, GFNX or GM92
The 612 04 is a special case which can run any of the flow loadables
and have a large amount of program space left.
GD92 and G392 may be run in as small as a Compact 141 CPU
Using these loadables in an 8 K controller leaves little space for other
programming.

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