Mass Flowmeter vs Turbine Flowmeter 2

[secondo]

Hello all,

I am working on a revitalizaion of a gasoline/diesel tank farm, where accuracy & reliability of custody meter is important. The area of concern is the main 10" pipeline which transports multiple products. There is both an FMC turbine flowmeter (W-series), and an E+H Mass flowmeter (Promass 63F; the older version of 83F).

Up to now, the ATG have been used as custody meter, and not the flowmeters. We are trying to move towards using the flowmeters for custody meter. However, due to budget constraints we can only do one. My question is, which would you pick? Is there a general advantage/disadvantage for these 2 types of flowmeters, considering its application? And for the main custody meter, which would you pick?

Best Regards

 

[secondo]

Forgot to add; the fluid coming in is from a refinery, at a rate of 5000 L/min. I hope this helps.

 

[djs]

What is the unit of measurement of the custody transfer? If it is in volume metric units (gallons, barrels, liters etc.) then go with the turbine flow meter. If the units are mass based (lbs, kgs etc) then use the mass flow meter. BTW I believe that neither one is rated for custody transfer.

 

[hacksaw]

buget constraints? you will have to explain just what you mean

metering error can force you out of business just trough the "give-away"...it is the true bean counters night-mare

 

[secondo]

hacksaw, what i meant by budget constraint is that the higher ups are willing to shell out money only for full refurbish and continuous calibration of 1 flowmeter; this flowmeter would become the official custody transfer meter. The other flowmeter would just be used for internal checks.

djs, thank you, that clarified my problem very well. Now that you have pointed it out, we are receiving and selling by volume. I think that is a very clear justification. That would make my choice very clear; turbine flow meter. I very much appreciate your help!

Regards,
Secondo

 

[sysengineer]

Reporting by volume is not a justification for choosing the turbine meter. Consider the following: massively improved rangeability of the coriolis meter which will allow you to accurately measure low flows. I suspect you are reporting by standard volume and not flowing volume, the turbine meter will only measure flowing volume (requiring density correction). You could easily report by volume/standard volume from the coriolis meter since it will also record the density for you (std. vol = flowing vol * flowing density / std. density) you should be able to get an accurate figure of the product std. density as I assume this remains constant.

If you were to choose the turbine meter, to get anywhere near the accuracy required for custody transfer you would need to have live temperature and pressure averaging and a flow computer to calculate the flowing density. This will cost considerably more than maintaining the coriolis meter.

I hope this helps.