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Clamp-on Ultrasonic Gas Flowmeters
Have Injected the New Blood
into Natural Gas Check-metering and
Custody Transfer Application
Characteristics of Clamp-on Ultrasonic Gas Flowmeter
Rocky Zhang
Siemens
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Table of contents
Global acceptance of ultrasonic technology
Theory of operation
Similarities and differences between Clamp-on ultrasonic
gas flowmeters and ultrasonic liquid flowmeter
Differences between the field clamp-on and clamp-on
spool in check-metering and custody transfer application
Benefits of clamp-on ultrasonic gas flowmeter
A few unique features of Siemens clamp-on gas
flowmeters
Short video of Apple App for local and remote meter
access for programming and diagnostics
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Ultrasonic Flow Measurement Technology
Ultrasonic Flowmetering is the Fastest Growing Flow
Measurement Technology – 9%
Relatively New, Proven & Dynamic
AGA, API, ISO, ASME, etc. are in place
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API issue the standard and Siemens participated
in its testing towards the Standard Establishment
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AGA Standard with Clamp-on being qualified
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Ultrasonic Flow Technology Category
Acoustic Measurement Type Transit Time
Doppler
Installation type Insertion (in-line wetted sensor)
Clamp- on Type (externally mounted sensor)
Clamp-on Transit Time Signal Transmission Type Wide Beam
Shear Mode (Narrow Beam)
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First, let’s take a look at transit-time theory…
There is a time difference. Why?
Downstream Upstream
A
B
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Ultrasonic Flow Metering Variations
A
B
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Clamp-on Market 2012 Survey by Flow Research
Siemens has the No. 1 market share
Clamp-on Market
Clamp market share
Technology Breakdown
Source: Flow Market Research Study April 2012
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Shear Mode (Narrow beam) / Wide beam Transmission (Clamp-on)
Wide Beam
wide beam
Shear Mode Narrow beam
Click for Sample wide beam
Click for Sample Shear Mode
Insert Wave
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WideBeam Convert pipe into transducers and “Sees” most of the Fluid Flow Profile to
provide much more Stable and Repeatable Data
Wetted Insert
Quadruple
WideBeam Dual WideBeam
WideBeam™ Clamp-On Flowmeter
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Clamp-on Technologies -
Wide Beam and Narrow Beam transit time
WideBeam.html -
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Upstream Transducer Downstream Transducer
Signal path
Burst of pulses
From transducer
Arrival of signal
through pipe wall
Arrival of signal
through
measured stream
Time
Operation of Zero Flow Correction
Pipe wall signal path
Operation of Zero Drift Correction
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Basic clamp-on system configuration
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Differences between ultrasonic gas and
liquid measurement
Low density (1 Kg/m3 vs. 1000 Kg/m3 for water)
Low gas sound velocity (350 m/s vs. 1500 m/s for water)
Lower refraction angle(7 degree for clamp-on vs. 30 for liquid)
High flow velocity (As high as 100 m/s vs. 5 m/s for most liquids)
High accuracy requirement (Typically 0.5% or better)
Sonic gas signals are harder to inject
Otherwise same as liquid such as both using transit time technology
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Gas Molecular Weight vs. Sonic Velocity @ 0oC
(MW reference from CRC handbook)
Ammonia
Methane
Nitrogen / Carbon Monoxide
Hydrogen Sulfide
Chlorine
Carbon Dioxide
Oxygen
Air
Hydrogen
Helium
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Gas Sonic Velocity Vs (Mps)
Ac
tua
l M
W (
gra
ms
/mo
le)
Curve represents the Flare Gas meter
computed MW derived from the measured
temperature and sonic velocity.
MW = k R T for k = 1.29 (specific heat ratio)
Vs2
R = Gas constant (8314)
T = Degrees Kelvin
Ethylene
Sulfur dioxide
Clamp-On Gas and Gas Properties
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Similarity and Difference Between Liquids and Gases
• Gas has a much lower density and sonic propagation velocity
• Gas has a lower refraction angle
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Gas has a lower sonic impedance and therefore less amplitude
Similarity and Difference Between Liquids and Gases
Before damping After damping
Importance of Damping Material
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Dampening Material
Removes pipe wall noise and convert its energy from sound to heat
Sonic impedance of material is a better match to the pipe wall than the gas
Transducer can be mounted on top of the material
Improves SNR
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Clamp-On Gas and Gas Properties
Compressibility factor for Natural Gas
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Pressure (bara)
Z-F
acto
r
0 C
20 C
40 C
60 C
80 C
100 C
ACT
BASE
ACT
BASE
BASE
ACT
ACTBASEZ
Z
T
T
P
PQQ
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FUG1010 compensate for temperature, pressure and
gas compressibility using fixed gas compensation
Fixed gas composition
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Standard Volume and Gas Compressibility
Compensation
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Non-Intrusive Technology
No Pressure Drop or Energy Loss
No need to cut pipe or stop flow except for spool
Little to No Maintenance
No Moving Parts, No Wear, No Foul, No Cavity
No need for sensor cleaning
Application:
Check metering
Custody transfer
Portable application
Diagnostics:
Tell flow direction
Tell meter’s health and time for calibration and
maintenance
Clamp-on Flowmeter Benefits
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Siemens Clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeter Benefits
Wide beam technology (highly immune to beam blowing and PCV noise)
Patented compensation algorithms to improve accuracy for different
upstream pipe configurations
Use pipe wall signal to verify the flowmeter’s integrity of both hardware
and software
The signal diagnostic graphics can be viewed from the transmitter which is
used as an oscilloscope for diagnostic
Apple App Connection – to program, download data and diagnose the
flowmeter both locally and remotely
Wide beam technology is the only technology that can perform the
custody transfer accuracy by using externally mounted sensors.
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40+ Patent
Compensation for upstream conditions
Family of Flow Profile Correction Values as a Function of Pipe Configuration
0.75
0.8
0.85
0.9
0.95
1
1.05
1.E+01 1.E+02 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07 1.E+08
Reynolds Number
Pro
file
Co
rrecti
on
Mu
ltip
lier
Fully Developed
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten (Flat)
Eleven (Depressed)
Twelve
Region of Jet Flow
Region of Depressed Core Flow
Fully Developed Flow Profile
Copyright: Controlotron 2004
Flat Flow Profile
Compensation for upstream
pipe configuration to improve
accuracy
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Pipe Configuration Compensation
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Beam Blowing
In case of fluids with very high velocity, the acoustic signal may be blown
out of the reception area of the transducer.
The shear mode clamp-on transducers are sensitive to beam blowing.
The WideBeam transducers are highly immune to beam blowing effects.
WideBeam benefits: Increased Immunity to Beam Blowing
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INSENSATIVE TO CONTROL VALVE NOISE
CV Noise = 100khz - 150khz
Insert Meters = 100Khz – 200
Khz;
WideBeam Meters = 200khz –
450khz (most gas applications)
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Custody transfer flowmeter with externally mounted
transducers
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Page 30 Author / Department Page 30 9/20/2014 For internal use only
Insert vs Clam-on Sensors
No Cavity and no sensor cleaning
for clamp-on technology
Cavity cause local flow disturbance and
wetted sensor has built up and
contamination potential
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Patented Technology
TransLoc mounting system
One of 5 winners in measurement
category
Recognized for non-intrusive
ultrasonic sensors and 1st meter
of its kind to offer custody
transfer accuracy
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Siware – Diagnostic, Viewing, Reporting,
Application Review and Sensor Selection
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Si-Ware Diagnostic software
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Local and Remote Access to Gas Flowmeter (Siemens
SITRANS CONNECTION)
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Typical field clamp-on gas flowmeter
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Typical Transloc Clamp-on spool with
external mounted sensors
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Typical gas checkmetering using clamp-on
gas flowmeter
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Some more field Clamp-on installation- Natural Gas
(24”)
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42” Field Clamp-on Gas
meter
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55” CLAMP-ON GAS METER
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4 Beam in Cold Weather
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Gas measurement with toxic HCL
– 10” OD/2.5” WT
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Portable check-metering kit
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KOGAS Installations with KRISS Calibration
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Test at TransCanada Calibrations 8CS40 Pipe,
Dual Beam, Reflect
Insert Chordal 5-path failed at about 95 ft/sec!
Results of Testing Field Clamp-On System 1010GC
vs. Turbine Reference Meter (8CS40 Pipe)
-2.00
-1.50
-1.00
-0.50
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500
Flow (m3/hr) (Flow Rates >qt)
De
via
tio
n (
%)
(FW
ME
Co
rre
ctio
n p
er
AG
A-9
)
130 f/s, w/o Flow
Conditioner and no-
correction, as-found
datapoint
Testing at TCC with flow conditioner () and adjustment; except for the data point at 130 ft/sec (), which was “out-of-
the-box” performance with flow conditioner removed.
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What is SITRANS CONNECTION?
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Thank you for your attention!
Max Mustermann
Function
Sector / Region / Department
Musterstraße 123
12345 Musterstadt
Phone: +49 (1234) 56789
Fax: +49 (1234) 98765
Cellular: +49 (170) 1234567
E-Mail: [email protected]