MONITORING & METERING
GO WITH THE
FLOW!
Designed to carry out gas or liquid flow measurements, flow computers can be used for a range of applications - from use on oil rigs and gas platforms to biogas injection sites and in hydrogen generation. Daniel Goodwin, managing director, EX~i Flow Measurement, explains
D
omestic gas supply is delivered through a 6-15mm diameter pipe at just over
atmospheric pressure (1Bar+). Imagine a pipe of 100-2,000mm diameter at pressures of up to 180Bar: the rate of flow can be very rapid. When pressure is exerted on a gas or liquid its volume changes, by how much depends on what the gas or liquid is. Flow computers are used here to take the rates
of flow from a number of measurement devices to calculate the actual volume of gas or liquid flowing, ultimately resulting in a bill which can run to many millions of £/$ per hour. Flow measurements are usually taken either at
10
the point of production or point of use, although there may be others in between such as:
1. Oil rigs and gas platforms. Extraction of hydrocarbons from underground and can be offshore or onshore. Measurements of both quantity and quality are taken since these are crude products which usually contain many impurities, such as sea water or sand, which need to be filtered out.
2. Storage sites. With all consumable products, there are peaks and troughs in demand, but it is difficult and expensive to adjust production
ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS - Summer 2025
to match these. Storage sites are used to buffer production and demand. These can be above ground tanks, or underground caverns, converted for storage.
3. International transfer. Where pipes cross country borders, such as the Langeled gas pipeline from Norway to the UK, measurements are required to ensure the correct quantity is recorded. This is particularly true when the two countries use different base conditions of pressure and temperature, or different metric and imperial units, or different standards of calculation.
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