Going with the flow

Modern high-end solution meters, such as ultrasonic and electromagnetic meters, boast a much longer lifespan than the conventional ones with their multiple moving parts. This obviously brings cost savings in terms of maintenance, replacement and process outages.

"With these ultrasonic ones, technically there is no end of life," den Hollander remarks. "If there is no chemical problem like corrosion or something, they will go on forever.

They don't wear out, unlike the old fashioned types which have rotating parts and bearings that will wear out and you need to recalibrate them often - every one or two or maybe five years, it depends a little on the process."

As demands for greater process efficiency and billing accuracy grow, operators are increasingly turning to the more sophisticated solutions and these types of devices are gaining in market share.

"The electromagnetic principle essentially is you put two magnets on the outside of a pipeline, thereby magnetising the water in the pipeline as it is flowing," den Hollander explains.

"As the water is conductive it creates a small current and from there you can calculate the flow. It will only work if the medium in the pipeline is electrically conductive so it will only work with water or water-based solutions. For water applications you can use either ultrasonic or electromagnetic flow meters, but in the oil industry as oil is not conductive you can only use ultrasonic devices."

Enhanced functionality

Equipment producers are constantly working to improve the design and usability of flow meters, in part to keep ahead of the lower priced imitations coming out of countries such as China.

At present, there is a trend within the industry towards adding enhanced functionality, so that the next generation meters provide more than one measurement.

"The vortex meter is a new design and the thing that is unique is it includes pressure and temperature in one flow meter. In this case it is a really multi-variable flow meter: it measures flow by the vortex principle but also pressure and temperature.

The other ones just measure flow and we would have to add an additional pressure and temperature sensors," den Hollander says.

The advantages of integrated metering are clear, such as reduced capital outlay and installation costs. Furthermore, simultaneous temperature and mass flow monitoring can help to improve the energy efficiency of a facility or process.

"Customers are interested in developments that improve reliability," states Dunphy. "The less they have interact with these devices the more interested they are in finding new advances, so improving reliability by combining multiple measurements in one device and by making it easier to extract the information through advanced communication or advanced diagnostics are areas that customers are finding very valuable."

Measurements taken by flow meters are displayed on LCD panels on the front of the units, but the information is also fed automatically into the main control room so that operators can access the readings easily.

The way the data is relayed back to the control room is another area where huge technological improvements are currently being seen, namely through the advent of wireless communication techniques.

"Should we go wireless is now a question for everybody and a thing most firms are looking into," comments den Hollander. "This technology is available but not many customers use it yet.

The discussion today is about if I have a plant do I want to communicate my instruments over a wired link? If you wire it up someone has to come in and run wires or I do it wirelessly and save on wiring costs. I think it is going to be the topic for the near future."

Emerson's Dunphy, however, harbours no doubts that wireless is where the flow meter market and the process industry in general should be headed.

"We are leading the industry in the introduction of practical wireless solutions, while lots of folks are talking about the appeal and theory of how we can use these, Emerson already has these devices available today," he says.

"It is absolutely something new, but I wouldn't say it is slow to catch on, I would say people were being deliberate in their considerations and they are easily finding small applications where they can try the technology and understand how it works and confirm that it is not just hype and that the equipment actually works.

Once they have reached that level of understanding, we are finding that they are expanding the applications very rapidly. But we are very much in that first phase of finding small applications and gaining experience with the technology and equipment."

"In the case of flow meters and wireless we are still bringing power to the devices but then we are using the wireless communication capabilities to extract diagnostic information as an optional device, both integrated within the flow meter and as an add one," he continues, adding: "Wireless is driven by how do I get more information out of these devices without having to spend a whole load more money running wires and things that aren't practical?"

Indeed, it is practicalities that are the driving force behind research and development in the flow meter industry. End-users can expect to see continued improvements in diagnostics and accuracy as manufacturers compete to win customer loyalty.

This comes as good news in these times of soaring feedstock and operating costs when process efficiency is more vital than ever.

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