Out with the Old - in with the New

UFM 3030 3-Beam Ultrasonic Flowmeter for Hydrogen Desufurization Project in Geelong, Australia

2003-Apr-10. Take a look around most chemical and petrochemical plants and you will see all kinds of turbines, positive displacement, vortex and mass meters. Some may argue "don't fix what ain't broke" , however as time goes on, the unreliability of some instruments is becoming problematic in maintaining acceptable levels of plant efficiency, safety and overall quality control. Mechanical wear and tear, inherent pressure drop due to antiquated designs, inaccuracy and significant and continual repair costs are causing many plant engineer and operators to look for new alternatives in flowmeter technology - such as ultrasonics.

In many circumstances ultrasonic flowmeters can offer decisive advantages because of their maintenance free operation - as there are no mechanical parts and their ability to deliver far more reliable measurements. As a rule of thumb ultrasonic flowmeters are useful for measuring any liquid -  conductive or non-conductive, as long as it is homogenous (<5% solids content), there is not too much air (<1%; 2% in the case of the new UFM 3030 3-beam) in the liquid and the flow tube material is resistant against the fluid that is measured.

Especially in the chemical and petrochemical industries, this translates into valuable advantages, since there are many low conductive or non-conductive liquids that cannot be measured by an electromagnetic flowmeter.

A major crude oil refinery in Sydney, Australia, has recognised the benefits of using ultrasonic measuring principles for measuring flow in a completely new part of the plant. In this instance, KROHNE's UFM 500 (being succeed in early 2003 by the new 3-beam UFM 3030) was chosen as the flowmeter as part of the plants new Hydrogen Desulphurisation Project (HDS). This project known also as the "clean fuels project" is an industry-wide initiative to meet new laws in Australia to minimise pollutants in the environment through vehicular exhaust emissions.

KROHNE's UFM was chosen over other ultrasonic flowmeters, due to its outstanding accuracy and KROHNE's renowned expertise and pioneering efforts in multibeam ultrasonic technology. The new UFM 3030 features unique patented triple beam sensor arrangements with sensor mounts welded perpendicular to the tube centre line -  this system reduces overall flowmeter length and increases measuring accuracy (0.5%) and repeatability (0,2%), with an unimpeded tube which means no wear and no pressure drop. The multibeam patented design specific to the UFM was also a decisive factor in the plant's decision for maintaining accuracy regardless of velocity, viscosity, and notwithstanding the flow profile of the fluid, be it laminar, transitional or turbulent.

The UFM also incorporates a micro-processor control signal converter for digital signal processing -  linking to the plant's control system and enabling remote processing operation from an offsite control room over a conventional -  4-20 mA loop.

New developments

As previously indicated, a new generation of 3 beam Ultrasonic flowmeters, will be officially introduced in the market this year. The introduction of a 3rd measuring beam together with its intelligent digital signal processing techniques results in improved accuracy (down to 0.3%) and excellent repeatability.

The use of ultrasonic flowmeters is one of the largest and fastest growing measurement technologies in the world today. It is expected that KROHNE's introduction of this new generation of flowmeter will further help plant engineers worldwide manage the common problems of increasing plant maintenance costs and decreasing process efficiencies.

Key words: chemical, petrochemical, hydrogen desufurization, ultrasonic flow meter, oil & gas


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