Energy sectors are fuelling innovation

Pent up demand in the oil & gas industries is driving strong growth in the global flow meter market, according to a new ARC report.

Oil prices are on the rise again due to the economic recovery, increased demand, and political and social unrest in the Arab world, explains Allen Avery, principal author of the ‘Flow Meter Global Market Research Study’.

These trends, he believes, will continue to drive demand for flow meters going forward, as higher prices favour increased exploration, production, and processing of fossil fuels.

Oil prices are on the rise again due to the economic recovery…

In terms of technology, Avery expects more widespread adoption of intelligent field devices such as ultrasonic and Coriolis flow meters.

These devices, he notes, offer much higher measurement accuracy and reliability than older mechanical meters or methods such as orifice plates or PD meters.

Among the key emerging markets in the energy sector is LNG - natural gas which is cryogenically liquefied and shipped to import terminals for storage in cryogenic double-walled tanks before being re-gasified and supplied to national distribution networks.

The increasing level, rate and complexity of LNG transfer and storage is raising the need for flow measurement, as is currently the case for custody transfer of oil shipments.

In response, Daniel, part of Emerson Process Management, has developed an ultrasonic technology that allows volume measurement of LNG at cryogenic temperatures and delivers higher accuracy than static measurement methods.

According to Daniel, the ultrasonic flow meter incorporates several features that can overcome many of the challenges posed by LNG flow measurement.

These include a redundant four-path design for immunity to flow-profile disturbances and termination cables designed for use at cryogenic temperatures.

Describing the LNG device as a promising measuring instrument for the rapidly expanding LNG market, ARC concluded: “While both ultrasonic and Coriolis mass flow meters have been used in the past, with some degree of success to provide dynamic custody transfer measurements of LNG, this application-specific Daniel ultrasonic meter appears to incorporate many unique features designed to target previous pain points.”

In the biogas sector, meanwhile, flow meters are playing a key role in efforts to address the challenge of injecting this fuel directly into natural gas pipelines.

Suppliers are responsible for accurately dosing the various biogases to ensure detection, should a gas leak occur.

Though odourant systems often apply stroke counters to register odourant injections, Canadian biogas supplier Anaergia has decided to monitor actual injected flow amounts to keep more detailed records of its odourising of the gas.

Moreover, some flow meters are also used for the detection of line clogging, which can cause a shutdown of the entire facility.

In the past, such measurements were done with differential pressure methods or vortex shedding meters. Like all in-line measuring instruments, these were subject to wear and tear and demanded daily maintenance.

Non-intrusive flow measurement proved to be a significantly better solution, said Flexim, citing the success of a test measurement, using its WaveInjector together with a portable transmitter on a six-inch pipe carrying hot VAC tower residue.