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Overview

A gas utility company was looking for a convincing flow measurement solution for pacing of an odorizer. As natural gas is odorless, substances with an extremely low odor detection threshold such as methyl mercaptan (methanethiol) are mixed into it, so that eventual leakages can be detected by smell. In order to add the correct amount of odorizer, the flow rate of the natural gas must be measured.

The city utility company has been using turbine meters for this purpose. Due to their intrusive nature, the turbine meters have two major inconveniences: firstly, they form a blockage to the Pipeline Inspection Gauge (P.I.G.). Each time the P.I.G. travels through the measuring point, they have to be removed, which requires considerable maintenance and safety precautions. Moreover, these mechanical devices quickly show their drawbacks when it comes to measuring low flow velocities. For this reason, the gas utility company was looking for a better way of gas flow measurement.

FLEXIM’s non-invasive ultrasonic flow meters clearly prove to be the superior solution for this measuring task. As the ultrasonic transducers are simply clamped onto the outside of the pipe, they do not block the passages of the Pipeline Inspection Gauge in any way and they are not subject to wear and tear.

Furthermore, the acoustic method proves to be convincing due to its impressive measuring dynamics. In the respective application, FLEXIM’s ultrasonic gas flow meters successfully detect low flow rates in both DN500 and DN400 pipes with excellent signal-to-noise ratio. Thanks to FLEXIM’s non invasive flow measurement, the city utility company can now ensure continuous service.

Advantages

  • Non-invasive flow measurement of natural gas
  • Unparalleled measuring dynamics - even at very low flow
  • No more maintenance issues
  • Constant pipeline availability: no pipework necessary for the installation of the ultrasonic flow measurement system or for the preparation of passages of the Pipeline Inspection Gauge (P.I.G.)