Emerson Delivers Unique Custody Transfer Flow Metering Solution

Technical Challenge between gasoline Local economies depend on vast amounts and diesel fluid (See of petroleum transported through pipelines. table 1). Pipelines provide a safe and economical mode The customer of petroleum transportation. Pipelines transport was impressed with crude oil to refineries for processing into the the long term stabil- products people use daily. Once crude has ity of the ultrasonic been refined, pipelines transport liquid products meter. The custom- through an enormous pipeline infrastructure pro- er commented, “It viding fuel for cars, trucks, planes, and ships. impressed me know- When fluid is to be traded between two ing that the meter parties, accurate measurement of the fluid stayed very much the passing through pipelines is required to make same throughout the a fair transaction. This measurement is termed whole time period custody transfer or fiscal flow measurement. with only periodic No measurement is 100% accurate, so pipeline provings. That will companies strive to reduce inaccuracies to a allow us to prove on minimum agreed upon amount. A meter sta- an occasional basis, tion operating with an inaccuracy of +/- 0.1% reducing wear and and measuring product worth $1 million a tear and mainte- day stands to lose $1,000 a day, or $365,000 a nance costs on our year. With such a large financial stake at risk, prover.” pipeline companies do all they can to ensure recommended the turbine meter to be installed 5 With no moving parts to wear or seize, measurement is as accurate as possible. diameters downstream of the ultrasonic meter, maintenance of the ultrasonic meter is also a non-ideal meter arrangement. minimal. The ultrasonic meter does not The Emerson Process obstruct flow, and therefore, introduces Management Solution Results little pressure loss to the system. The In early 2006, Emerson worked closely The customer tracked flow rate data from the customer has found the ultrasonic meter with a leading global oil & gas customer. turbine and ultrasonic meter for over a year. Over to be easy to use and was impressed The customer performed custody transfer that period the two meters showed a difference with the amount of information available measurement on a pipeline that transports of just 50 barrels over the 15+ million barrels with the Daniel CUI (Customer Ultrasonic You offloaded 2,091,038 barrels of oil from your tanker. diesel and gasoline through the state of that flowed through them. This is a difference Interface) software. The pipeline company Texas. The metering station consisted of of only 0.0003%. This is especially noteworthy was so impressed with the meter that they a 12" pipeline that reduced down to an 8" since the turbine meter was proved every batch, plan to remove the existing turbine meter Or did you? line where a turbine meter is positioned. The and the liquid ultrasonic meter was proved only to use it elsewhere. Furthermore, the com- challenge for Emerson was to install a backup periodically with the customer’s onsite 20” ball pany is looking for other locations where prover. Proving results show the ultrasonic’s meter they can install other Daniel Model 3804 measurement device in series with the turbine When 0.10% costs you $13.1 million per year*, there is no room for inaccurate measurement. meter in the 8" line. Emerson, the global factor stayed very steady, even as flow alternated Liquid Ultrasonic meters. n leader in custody transfer solutions, evaluated The Daniel Model 3804 Liquid Ultrasonic Meter assures you accurate measurement with real the existing measurement technologies and time diagnostics and a graphical representation of the flow rate and flow profile. The Daniel recommended the new Daniel Model 3804 CUI (Customer Ultrasonic Interface) Windows® - based software offers you a comprehensive Liquid Ultrasonic Meter. A key challenge with the application was remote dashboard, “Playback and Capture” functionality and a maintenance reporting the short length of undisturbed, straight pipe feature that makes the Daniel Model 3804 Liqiuid Ultrasonic Meter easy to use. on either side of the existing turbine meter. The diagnostics allow you to improve your asset uptime and lower your operating costs. The American Petroleum Institute (API) recom- mends a minimum of 10 diameters of upstream See how much you can save at EmersonProcess.com/Daniel/3804.htm pipe using a flow conditioning element and 5 diameters of downstream pipe on either side of a turbine or ultrasonic meter. This arrangement was not possible due to the limited amount of pipe available, existing drains in the system, and the need to install the turbine meter and the ultra- sonic meter in the same short section. Without *Calculation based on crude oil at $60 per barrel and assumes two tanker loads per week. an ideal piping arrangement Emerson proceeded The Emerson logo is a trademark and service mark of Emerson Electric Co. © 2007 Emerson Electric Co. The Daniel logo is a registered trademark of with a recommendation for the installation of a Daniel Industries Inc. Windows is a registered tradmark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. tube bundle approximately 6D ahead of the ultra- sonic meter next to a 2" drain line. Emerson also Table 1: Meter factor data of 8” Daniel Model 3804 Liquid Ultrasonic Meter

106 Pipeline & Gas Journal / July 2007 / www.pgjonline.com