PC-OCT23-PG20-21.1_Layout 1 03/10/2023 10:07 Page 20
FLOW & LEVEL CONTROL KEEPING TRACK OF TANK LEVELS
Ian Loudon, international sales manager at remote monitoring specialist Omniflex, explains why tank monitoring is essential
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hen considering the potential consequences of inadequate tank farm monitoring, images of
disasters like the Buncefield fire probably spring to mind first. However, with the development of safety regulations and equipment, these catastrophic events are
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becoming far less common over time. Instead, those who rely on functional tank farms as part of their supply chains are more likely to suffer from inefficiency and resultant financial setbacks. Without accurate information,
businesspeople are in the dark. Keeping track
of supply levels in tank facilities is crucial both to regulate your incoming materials and provide the required product quantities on demand. This is as true for hazardous chemicals and flammable petroleum storage as it is for paint and water. But how can decision-makers access that data?
ULTRASONIC FLOWMETERS OFFER EFFECTIVE ‘EVENT DURATION MONITORING’ Event duration monitoring allows water utility providers to keep a
ith UK water companies facing unprecedented challenges in terms of aging infrastructure, leakage, pollution, drought- related issues and financial constraints, the need to adopt
cost-effective digital solutions is now seen as crucial. A commitment to investment in improved monitoring in order to comply with changing legislation, has brought the subject of ‘event duration monitoring’ to the fore. According to the latest Environmental Performance Assessment by
the Environment Agency, four of the nine water and sewerage companies operating in England that provide clean water and wastewater services were found to be significantly below environmental performance targets. This only fuels the call for urgent adoption of innovative and reliable digital EDM technology such as clamp-on ultrasonic flow measurement, in order to ensure environmental protection and regulatory compliance. In relation to flow measurement, an ‘event’ is determined as an
‘adverse weather event’ - usually a storm, which has the effect of increasing flow through a Sewage Treatment Works (STW). All STWs have an upper limit of flow that is permissible to treat,
which is known as Flow to Full Treatment (FFT) or Pass Forward Flow (PFF). If during a storm event the flow within an STW exceeds this limit, it is authorised to overflow into a storm management system or even directly discharge into a river or the sea. There are other factors that may influence an STW’s decision to
discharge to a storm management system or river before the maximum limit is reached. Reasons such as population growth place excess demand on the STW’s original flow capacities, which risks more frequent breaches of their approved Flow to Full Treatment.
20 OCTOBER 2023 | PROCESS & CONTROL
reliable record of all instances of overflow spilling. Combined with other data including weather conditions and the volume of flow going forward to treatment at the time of the event, this provides regulatory evidence of a storm event being within the site’s permit condition. In the event of it being found to be outside the permit condition, the water utility provider has the benefit of enhanced data in order to make changes to the site and avoid further untimely spills. Environment Agency measures designed to better monitor Flow to
Full Treatment, include the requirement for UK water companies to install EDM monitoring by 2025. And the Government’s additional planned measures are intended to make sure that outside of storm events, STWs do not unduly rely on the use of storm overflows. Clamp-on ultrasonic flow measurement is able to deliver a non-
invasive and cost-effective event duration monitoring solution for closed conduit pipes. This technology provides real-time data on the flow rate of storm outflows, which can be used to monitor the amount of water flowing out of a particular area during a storm event. One of the key advantages of clamp-on ultrasonic flow measurement is that it is completely non-invasive. There is no need to cut or modify the pipe, eliminating unnecessary downtime – installation is simple and cost-effective. And because there is no contact with the fluid being measured, there is no contamination risk. Thanks to powerful clamp-on transducers and sophisticated
Advanced Meter Verification software, ultrasonic flowmeters from FLEXIM are able to deliver accurate, drift-free and highly repeatable
flow measurement data.
www.flexim.co.uk
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