In the new era, petrochemical enterprises are facing unprecedented challenges. How to improve the production efficiency of the petroleum industry and improve the product quality is an important problem that needs to be solved urgently in front of us. The rational application of flow meters to the petrochemical industry can effectively reduce production costs. Promote the improvement of work quality and efficiency of petrochemical enterprises. However, due to the difference of fluids and different production conditions, it is necessary to choose the petroleum flow meters that meet the actual situation based on the actual production needs.

 petroleum flow meters for  Oil and Gas Industry

Top 8 petroleum flow meters for Measuring Oil and Gas

It can mainly use the principle that there is a corresponding relationship between the pressure difference and the flow rate generated when the fluid passes through the throttling device, and use the measurement of the pressure difference to achieve flow measurement.

The differential pressure type structure is relatively simple and has been widely used.

However, with the continuous emergence of various technologies, the problem of insufficient accuracy has gradually appeared in this type of instrument.

The types of differential pressure flowmeters include orifice plate, nozzle, venturi tube, etc.

The ultrasonic flowmeter uses ultrasonic waves to detect the liquid flowing inside, so as to capture the reflected waveform data and calculate the corresponding material flow.

As a non-contact flow meter, the ultrasonic flowmeter is suitable for measuring fluids that are not easy to touch and observe and large-diameter flow.

Extended Reading: Collection of Industrial Insertion Flowmeter Type

Turbine flowmeter is a kind of velocity type flowmeter. Turbine flowmeters are divided into liquid turbine flowmeters and gas turbine flowmeters.

The liquid turbine flowmeter is suitable for the measurement of various clean liquid media, but not for gas measurement.

Gas turbine flowmeter is suitable for the measurement of clean gas medium, not for steam and liquid measurement.

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Positive displacement flowmeter is also called fixed displacement flowmeter. Positive displacement flowmeters use mechanical measuring elements to continuously divide the fluid into a single known volume portion, and measure the total flow volume based on the number of times the metering chamber fills and discharges that volume portion of fluid sequentially and repeatedly.

The main varieties of positive displacement flowmeters are oval gear flowmeters, waist wheel flowmeters, membrane gas flowmeters, etc.

Extended Reading: Summary Of Crude Oil Flow Measurement Options

The electromagnetic flowmeter has been well used in the flow measurement of some conductive liquid substances, but it cannot measure the flow of gas, steam and pure water.

In addition to measuring the flow of general conductive liquids, electromagnetic flowmeters can also measure liquid-solid two-phase flow, high-viscosity liquid flow, and volume flow of salt, acid, and alkaline liquids.

However, it is worth noting that it is not suitable for use in environments with high temperatures and strong magnetic fields.

Vortex flowmeter is a volume flowmeter that measures the volume flow of gas, steam or liquid, the volume flow or mass flow of standard conditions, and is researched and produced according to the principle of Karman vortex. Mainly used for flow measurement of industrial pipeline medium fluid, such as gas, liquid, steam and other media.

It is characterized by small pressure loss, large measuring range, high precision, and is almost not affected by parameters such as fluid density, pressure, temperature, viscosity, etc. when measuring the volume flow of the working condition. No moving mechanical parts, so high reliability and low maintenance.

Read more about: Types of biogas flow meters

Thermal flowmeter is a flow meter designed based on the principle of thermal diffusion, that is, it is measured according to the heat exchange relationship between the fluid in flow and the heat source.

Thermal gas mass flow meters are suitable for the measurement of various dry and pure gas media (except acetylene).

Read more about: Industrial Gas Measurement with Digital Gas Mass Flow Meters

Rotameter, also known as rotameter, is mainly used for small and medium caliber flow measurement. Can measure liquid, gas, steam and other media. The product series has complete specifications and is widely used.

According to the material, the rotameter can be divided into glass tube rotameter, plastic tube rotameter, metal tube rotameter, etc.

Extended Reading: Metal Tube Flow Meter Applications

Extended reading: High Pressure Rotameter for Liquids/gas-Upto 25 Mpa

Featured Petroleum Flow Meters

Factors affecting the accuracy of petroleum flow meters

(1) Instrument accuracy

During the production of the flow meter, due to rough parts, assembly accuracy and wear, etc., the accuracy of the flow meter itself is not high or the accuracy is reduced, so that the quantity of petroleum products sent (paid) is inaccurate. Therefore, when selecting a flowmeter, one with higher accuracy should be selected. At present, the accuracy of the working flowmeter is required to be ±0.5% in China, and the periodic verification should be carried out according to the regulations in use.

(2) Installation process

Although the accuracy of the flowmeter is high, due to improper or unreasonable installation process, the flowmeter will produce systematic errors. If there is not enough straight pipe section in front of the flowmeter (generally the straight pipe section should not be less than five times the diameter of the oil pipeline used), eddy current will occur, and the elbow in the pipeline will increase the flow resistance for a long time, which cannot guarantee the working pressure of the flowmeter. It can cause errors in the indication value of the flowmeter.

Extended reading: Crude oil measurement, 80G radar level meter should be your first choice!

(3) Medium

The medium used for the factory calibration indication value of the flowmeter is different from the medium at work, and the indication value reflected by the flowmeter is also different. For example, water is used as the medium during calibration, but it is used in various petroleum product media during work, so there will be errors, mainly due to the different viscosity of the medium. Therefore, it is required that the medium used for calibrating the indication value of the flowmeter should be consistent with the working medium, so as to eliminate the error caused by this.

(4) Temperature

The flowmeter cannot display the true value of the output (payment) amount due to accidental errors caused by temperature instability during the work start to end. Therefore, it is required that the flowmeter should keep the temperature as consistent as possible during the oil delivery process.

(5) Differential pressure and flow rate

The use of the flowmeter should be within the specified pressure differential range to ensure accuracy. Because the pressure is high and the flow rate is fast, the flow rate is also large, and vice versa. If the flowmeter cannot maintain the consistency of the pressure difference between the front and rear during the oil delivery process, and it is higher or lower than the working pressure difference range of the instrument, it will affect the accuracy of its output (payment) volume.

Extended Reading: Mechanical oil flow meter

(6) The working environment is different from the verification environment

During the periodic verification of the flowmeter, if it is carried out in a specific device of the metrological verification unit, when it cannot be consistent with the verification conditions in use, environmental errors will also occur. Therefore, when periodic verification is required, it is required to be carried out under working conditions, that is, on-site calibration.

Extended reading: Heating Oil Flowmeters

Flowmeter selection principle

The rational design and selection of flow meter should be a scheme with high reliability, convenient maintenance and cost saving under the premise of meeting the requirements of use.

The factors that need to be considered in the selection of flow meters mainly include: fluid characteristics, flowmeter characteristics requirements, installation conditions, environmental conditions and costs.

In addition, the selection of flow meters cannot fully pursue high performance and high precision, which not only increases the procurement cost, but also increases the cost of spare parts.

Accurate measurement and regulation of fluid flow is the basis for ensuring the safety of petrochemical production processes, improving product quality and reducing energy consumption.

Due to the complexity and diversity of the medium for flow measurement, there is no universal flowmeter, and no flowmeter can be applied to various media under any different conditions.

Each flowmeter has its advantages and limitations in measurement, and flowmeters with different principles, structures and functions play a role in their respective applicable ranges.

Therefore, the selection of flowmeters needs to follow standard specifications and selection principles, and comprehensively consider various factors that affect flow measurement.

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Related Flow Meters for Measuring Oil and Gas

What is a fuel flow meter? The fuel flow meter is an instrument that can monitor fuel flow. Industrial Fuel is an important energy source. For example, diesel, marine fuel, gasoline, etc.

Industrial Fuel Flow Meters

Industrail Fuel is an important energy source for production and manufacturing. For example, diesel, marine fuel, gasoline, etc. It is very necessary to accurately measure industrial fuel. Commonly used industrial fuel flow meters, such as turbine flow meters, gear flow meters, mass flow meters, ultrasonic flow meters, etc.

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Mechanical Oil Flow Meters

Mechanical oil flow meter refers to a flowmeter that can detect the volume flow of oil inline. Most importantly, this type of flowmeter is a mechanical measurement. It is common to use an oval gear flowmeter to measure the flow rate of diesel oil, or other relatively viscous oils.

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Extended reading: non contact flow meter

Application of flow meter in petrochemical industry

3.1 Application in Onshore Oilfield

Constrained by various factors, the drilling of deep wells and ultra-deep wells in Youshan generally has the problem of wasting high-density weighted materials.

In order to maximize the use of weighted materials, it is necessary to combine the relevant parameters of the centrifuge, the change of density difference, the viscosity of drilling fluid and other data. With the support of the calculation flow meter sensor, accurate data information can be obtained. Working speed and processing capacity. And scientifically control it with the help of computer to achieve the purpose of recycling.

In the use of flow meters in the petroleum industry, the selection of flow meters is very important. Therefore, we must fully consider the characteristics and working principles of flow meters and choose suitable flow meters.

3.2 Application on Offshore Drilling Platforms

At present, the development of offshore oil resources is in the ascendant, and a large number of offshore drilling platforms have been put into operation. They are mainly composed of modules such as public system, process production system and auxiliary process system.

According to the functional requirements of each plate, it is determined that it needs to rely on a large number of flow meters in its role.

For example:

The main measurement uses condensate oil as the fluid medium, its parameters are viscosity 0.89cp, temperature range 42~65℃, working pressure 6690~7411KPa, conventional flow 0.521m/h.

Combine the above basic data to filter the flow meter.
First, since the petroleum medium is not conductive, electromagnetic flowmeters can be excluded;
Second, condensate is highly dependent on pipelines, which are then delivered directly to end equipment. This can exclude turbine, ultrasonic and mass flow meters;
Finally, due to the limited space of the offshore drilling platform, the differential pressure flowmeter is also difficult to apply.

In order to prevent high cost, it is also necessary to exclude flow meters and positive displacement. In order to meet the requirements of small pipe diameter and low flow rate, it is also necessary to choose a rotameter.

Extended reading: metal tube flow meter

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Frequently asked questions

Measuring oil flow is to measure the volume or mass flow of oil. According to the actual demand, and the actual parameters of the oil, the appropriate oil flow meter can be selected.

Extended reading: What Is Hydraulic Flow Meter?

Turbine flowmeter can be used to measure the flow of gasoline, with high measurement accuracy, liquid crystal display instantaneous flow, cumulative flow, stainless steel material, flange installation!

Of course, other types of flow meters can also be selected.

Read More about: What is the difference between rotameter and flowmeter?

Industrial oil flow meters measure the volume or mass of oil. Can realize the mutual conversion of volume and mass.

The main industrial oils are hydraulic oil. Gear Oil. Turbine oil. Compressor oil. Refrigeration oil. Transformer oil. Cylinder oil, heat treatment oil, heat transfer oil, etc. Of course, edible oil can also be produced in the industry. In addition, there are greases with lubricating oil as base oil and thickening agent.

Therefore, whether it is a company that uses, trades, or produces oil, it needs to accurately measure the oil flow.

There are many common oil flow meters, such as turbine flow meters, positive displacement flow meters, gear flow meters, mass flow meters, etc.

Extended Reading: Rotameter vs Flow meter

If you want to divide the flow meter into three categories. I think it can be divided into volumetric flowmeters, mass flowmeters, and velocity flowmeters.

Read more about: 5 Types of Flowmeters-Guide to Flowmeter Types 

Sino-Inst’s petroleum flow meter offer reliable and accurate volume flow measurement in a large range of sizes and pressure rating while being fully compliant with international standards.

Sino-Inst is the risk-free choice for your petroleum flow measurement applications.

Sino-Inst supplies petroleum flow meters, like: gas turbine flow meter. vortex flowmeter, thermal mass flow meter, and more.

Sino-Inst’spetroleum flow meters, made in China, Having good Quality, With better price. Our flow measurement instruments are widely used in China, India, Pakistan, US, and other countries.

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