Thank You for Attending Our April Webinar

Taking the Pain Out of Portable Flow Measurement

Providing Solutions to Detect, Measure, Analyze, and Control Your Process and Your Facility.

Your Host

Mike DeLacluysePresidentLesman Instrument Comiked@lesman.com

Featured Speaker

Tom MichalowskiProduct Manager – Ultrasonic

Clamp-On & Vortex Flow Meters

Baker Hughes, a GE Companythomas.michalowski@bhge.com

Follow the Conversation LIVE @Lesman_Inst #LesmanWebinar

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval. © 2017 Baker Hughes, a GE company, LLC - All rights reserved.

Portable Flow Measurement

April 26, 2018

Taking the Pain Out

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

Introduction

April 26, 2018 2

• Product manager for ultrasonic clamp-on and vortex flow meters

• 20 years with Panametrics, GE, and Baker Hughes

• Application engineering experience

• Chemical engineer with MBA

Tom Michalowski

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

Ultrasound

April 26, 2018 3

• Detecting objects (bats, submarines)

• Imaging (unborn babies)

• Non-destructive testing (flaw, corrosion detection)

• Chemical processes (cleaning, mixing)

• Flow measurement

Ultrasound is used every day!

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 4

Ultrasound

• Ultrasound is sound with a frequency greater than 20,000 Hz, approximately the upper limit of human hearing.

So what is ultrasound?

Frequency:

• The number of periods or regularly occurring events of any given kind in unit of time, usually in one second.

• The number of cycles or completed alternations per unit time of a wave or oscillation.

Materials:

• Different materials support different frequencies:

Solids = 1 MHz to 100 MHzLiquids = .25 MHz to 5 MHzGases = 20 MHz to 200 kHz

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

Ultrasound

April 26, 2018 5

• Transducers measure ultrasound. They are a substance or device such as a piezoelectric crystal, loudspeaker or photoelectric cell that converts input energy of one form into output energy of another.

How do transducers work?

• Electrical energy is applied to the crystal, which converts it to mechanical energy by stressing the crystal. The electrical power is removed and the crystal relaxes, converting mechanical energy to sound energy. This is the Piezoelectric Effect.

• The transducer is both a transmitter and a receiver—a transceiver.

How does it work?

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

Ultrasound

April 26, 2018 6

How does it apply to flow meters?

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

Ultrasonic flow measurement

April 26, 2018 7

There are several methods of ultrasonic flow measurement.

Transit time Doppler

Clamp-on transit time Correlation tag

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Ultrasonic flow measurement

April 26, 2018 8

The transit time principle.

Variables

V = Fluid velocityC = Fluid soundspeedTup = Transit time upTdn = Transit time downP = Accoustic path lengthL = Axial projected path lengthθ = Path angle

P2V =

2L

tup - tdn

tup x tdn( )

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

Ultrasonic flow meters

April 26, 2018 9

There are different types of ultrasonic meters.

Wetted (in-line) Permanent clamp-on Portable clamp-on

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 10

Why portable flow meters?

• Trust your measurement?... risky

• Trust the existing flow meter’s diagnostics? ... installed correctly?

• Send meter for verification?... time, money

• Portable ultrasonic flow meter?

Do you trust your flow measurement? Why portable ultrasonic flow meters?

• Installation within minutes to the outside of the pipe

• Battery powered

• Datalogging to capture data

• Installs on very wide range of pipes

• Installs on many difficult flow, temperature, and pressure applications

• For troubleshooting now and for preventative maintenance

• Use for flow surveys in the future where no meter currently exists

• ….a tool for your tool box.

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 11

Portable flow meters

• It is too difficult to program!

• It is too difficult to correctly install the transducers onto the pipe!

• It is too difficult to determine if you have a good flow measurement or not.

• It is too difficult to log data and get the data out of the flow meter.

• It is too difficult to install the meter due to the pipe location.

• It is too difficult to relearn how to use the flow meter again….you only use it a couple of times a year.

Is there too much pain with your installation?

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 12

The pain of portables

• Most portable flow meters are difficult to program.

• Menu structures are difficult to navigate.

• They require the manual with a programming tree to understand how to program.

• They are like using calculators…

Too difficult to program BHGE solution—TransPort PT900

• Intuitive, icon-driven app makes measurement easy.

• Industrially-designed user interface

• Colorful, graphically-driven versus text driven

• Simple menu structure—scanning and connecting, main menu, programming, measuring, logging, etc.

• Easy decision making for beginning through advanced users

• Touchscreen advantages—clicking, swiping, dropdown menus, etc.

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 13

The pain of portables

• The clamping fixture is too complex!

• You can’t figure out how to put transducers into the fixture.

• You feel like you need three hands to install, with tools needed to put the fixture on.

• You’re not sure if the transducer spacing is correct.

• You don’t trust the measurement if you don’t trust if the transducers are installed correctly.

• It feels like a jig saw puzzle!

Too difficult to install transducers BHGE solution—TransPort PT900

• Chain and chain screw mechanism for easy installation

• Clearly marked alignment arrows for correct spacing

• Transducer spacing adjustable without chain removal

• Snap-in transducer holders for easy transducer install

• Easy installation of transducer onto pipe with spring and lever assembly

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 14

The pain of portables

• How do you know if your meter is reading correct?

• It is providing a flow measurement, but it is different than your existing meter.

Trust your portable meter?

• Clear diagnostics and error messages, not just flow or no flow

• Diagnostics: signal strength (SNR) and soundspeed

Meter “A” Meter “B”

BHGE solution—TransPort PT900

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 15

The pain of portables

• It is too difficult to log data and get the data out of the flow meter.

• You need the data for reporting and to show to your team.

• Setting a log is way too complex…I just want the data.

• You need to use special software to get the data? Why?

Logging data and retrieving

• Simple logging screen to set up datalogger

• Simple USB connection to PT900 transmitter to move file from PT900 to PC

BHGE solution—TransPort PT900

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 16

The pain of portables

• It is too difficult to install the meter due to the pipe location.

• Your current meter is in a heavy suitcase that is hard to bring up a ladder and stairs.

• The installation is in a difficult location, which makes it hard to install with multiple fixture parts.

• The pipe is very hot and I do not like to be close to the location.

Difficult installation locations

• PT900 system is available in a light carrying case

• Clamping fixture with ability for preinstalled transducers with spacing set to minimize installation time and temperature exposure.

• Wireless communication from the tablet to the transmitter minimizes user exposure to application.

BHGE solution—TransPort PT900

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 17

The pain of portables

• “Sure, you trained me but I am not sure I can do it again.”

• You do not have time to read the full manual again.

• What do you do if you have questions?

Too difficult to use again

• Instruction videos: onboard in the PT900 application or on YouTube

BHGE solution—TransPort PT900

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

The value of clamp-on.

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 19

Advantages of clamp-on measurement

No leakage

No required maintenance

Install on outside of pipe

Install on new or existing pipes

No welding, no extra parts

Save time and money not cutting into pipe, install in difficult locations, install anytime

Save time and money not cutting into pipe, no process shutdown, no process contamination

Save time and money

No contamination

Low cost of ownership

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval.

April 26, 2018 20

Case studies

• Manufacturing plant needed an accurate energy efficiency assessment for the amount of water being used.

• No existing measurements of where the water was being used in the plant.

• Pipe sizes were from ½ inch up to 24 inches.

• Portable meter was able to baseline the water use.

Energy efficiency assessment Temporary measurement

• An oil company re-injected gas into oil wells in the Sahara Desert to maintain well pressure.

• Both orifice plate and BHGE wetted ultrasonic meters showed a 20% difference between their measurements.

• A portable gas clamp-on meter was brought in to compare the values.

• Deduced the difference in standardized volumetric flow rate was caused by an incorrect application of compressibility in high pressure natural gas.

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