News and Events

Bula! From Fiji (Notes on a Visit to a Fiji Gold Mine)

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:06:00 GMT

Industry: Gold Mining
Location: Fiji
Application: Doppler Flowmeter

Once again, a recent trip made to a gold mine in Fiji underlined the fact that when it comes to flow meters, quality trumps quantity every time. That is, what appears to be a good deal price-wise could end up as a big dent on your resources.

The problem started innocently enough. Our Fijian clients purchased a flow meter at reduced cost, intended for what they believed were fairly new pipes running clear water. Sounds simple.

On the first test that we made however, it was immediately clear that the budget flow meter was not suitable to their flow measurement needs. Diagnostics showed that there was a massive build up of lime scale in the pipes. Clearly, this liquid flow was going to be very challenging to measure than expected. The budget flow meter was simply not going to stand up to the demands of the work expected of it.

One of our Flowservices technicians installed an older model of our high accuracy FLEXIM ADM 6725 flowmeter to solve the problem. In no time at all, we were able to measure flow rate on all pipes, including those that had heavy scaling.

To measure flow, we attached type M flow transducers on the same side of the pipe we were using, at about 170mm apart. We used tension chains for the duration of our service but for a permanent installation, steel bandit straps or something similar would work better. We were able to log flow results from all the sites at one-second intervals, quickly and with perfect results.

Problem solved!

The moral of the story: what seems to be a cost-efficient solution may be more costly in the long run. You could end up with errors that could ruin your budgets. When weighing your options for measuring flow, a low price on your flowmeter does not always mean quality results.

If you are working within a budget, contact us today as we can offer you a base range that produces good results. We aim to please—we want to resolve our clients’ flow measurement needs and problems with the right budget and the right products. We can stand by the reliability of our Flexim units, after having worked with them for over 14 years. Bula!

Offshore Gas Measurement

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:05:00 GMT

The client:

A major oil company with an offshore platform in the Asia Pacific area

The flow measurement needed:
Measure gas flow in a 6-inch, schedule160, thick-walled pipe, with injection at 1,000 psi

The complications:

The company has just installed a new compressor control system so flowmeters have to be installed at specific compressor outlets;
Extremely high pressure levels;
Shutting down pipe operations to install flow meters is out of the question.

The perfect solution:

The FLEXIM® G704 clamp-on ultrasonic gas flow meter

The client wanted to place the flow computer in a separate room, which meant the flowmeter transducers had to be installed in the field. To accommodate this requirement, a local junction box was used to traffic the connection between the ruggedized stainless steel transducers used for this job and the flow computer. The transducers were also equipped with surge protection to prevent breakdowns due to lightning strikes.

Using FLEXIM’s range of clamp-on transducers employs several ways of calculating signals, making it an ideal solution in a variety of conditions—among them pipe wall size and process/systems demand. In this instance, the high pressures in the gas pipes needed a flowmeter that can respond to 25mm of pipe wall thickness.

The G704 flow measurement system, combined with the appropriate transducer, was indeed the perfect solution. That’s because pressure and temperature inputs in the G704 can be activated to allow the integrated flow computer to calculate compensated mass gas flows.

The G704 overcame the following challenges:

Vulnerability to abrasive wear
Thick pipe walls
Exotic pipe materials
High turndown and broad measurement range

Water Injection

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:58:00 GMT

Besides addressing erosion, water injection is also one of the typical approaches in preserving reservoir viability, which is important in smart well management systems.

Sea water is injected into wells to increase reservoir pressure as well as encourage better production rates. Flow meters check water levels being injected into the system, and this information is sent to a control system which regulates the process.

Water injection is a two-step process. Phase one involves drawing water off the water tank of the reservoir, using booster pumps to allow for approximately 217 psi of admission pressure. The pressure is needed by injection pumps to work out an empty space or cavitation. In phase two, water injection begins using 10-inch pipes made out of 1-inch thick duplex steel material, which creates pressures reaching 4,350 psi.

Getting accurate readings on injection rates though could be tough. The high pressure in the pipes and the high velocity of water influx can degrade old school invasive flowmeter technologies. A North Sea platform maintained by a European producer discovered this unpalatable reality just recently. The accuracy of measurement readings from differential pressure flow meters progressively deteriorated when deposits and erosion wore out water injection lines.

To solve this dilemma, a FLUXUS ® ADM7907 non-invasive flowmeter was brought in and installed to monitor flow rates. Drilling the meter into the pipes to measure flow rates in the media was not necessary. The transducers were simply fastened onto the pipes causing no pressure loss or flowmeter degradation as the meter did not come into contact with the medium being measured.

Although this type of system is a perfect solution for retrofit installs, new installations can also benefit when considering the meter’s light weight and its ability to leave pipe pressures unaffected.

Currently, the North Sea platform says the FLUXUS® ADM 7907 flowmeter solution is being maintained with a minimum of effort. No performance problems, typical in high velocity, high pressure water injection conditions, were experienced.

The Pros and Cons of Gas Flowmeters: Pointers in Choosing Which Technology Best Suits Your Needs

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:09:00 GMT

In a perfect world, every flowmeter provides accurate, reliable measurement in any media; has excellent rangeability; requires little effort to maintain—or nothing at all—and does not need frequent calibration. The perfect flowmeter would also register little dent on budgets—particularly in acquisition and lifecycle costs.

It is typical for flowmeter suppliers to claim near perfection in their products. It is highly unlikely though that you’ll acquire the perfect meter any time soon. That is because each flowmeter comes with technological specifications and operational principles that are unique to particular applications and flow media.

The advantages and disadvantages that you will usually find in flowmeter systems are often dictated by different factors: technology, application, installation requirements, or construction material used. By their very nature, magnetic flowmeters could not measure hydrocarbon liquids as they need a conductive fluid to measure flow rates.

Turbine meters—because of how they measure flow—require many moving parts. Despite innovations to make them produce more accurate and reliable measurements, a turbine meter without its moving parts is simply incomprehensible.

On the other hand, Coriolis meters do not have moving parts within its makeup but how they operate dictates their large size—and they become more expensive when their line sizes increase to more than four inches.

In the case gas flow measurement, it is beneficial to weigh your options when utilizing different flowmeter technologies. That is because gas presents more challenges than liquids , though some would say measuring steam flow is the more challenging objective. There are indeed many flowmeters to choose from in gas flow measurement, but each flowmeter type comes with advantages and disadvantages that are best weighed first before choosing which to employ.

With this article, we will explore these pros and cons that come with the current flowmeters specifically used in gas flow measurement.

Coriolis Flowmeters

The past five years have seen rapid growth and innovation in Coriolis flowmeters, which finds its way into process plants in place of typical differential (DP) meters. Although they are very expensive to acquire initially, these flowmeters are good investments when relevant lifecycle costs are added up.

Coriolis flowmeters are specific to gas flow measurement but they do come with drawbacks. For one, Coriolis meters are best when measuring liquid flow rather than gas flow for the simple reason that gases are less dense than liquids.

Another is the fact that Coriolis flowmeters are historically expensive and cumbersome in line sizes beyond 100mm. Recently however, manufacturers have started selling sizes of more than 150mm which could gain traction for Coriolis flowmeters in larger line applications.

The best feature of a Coriolis flowmeter yet is its capacity for direct flow measurement. That is, determining mass flow value does not involve calculating a formula unlike other flowmeters where volumetric flow has to be determined (except in the case of thermal meters).

Calculating volumetric flow measurement involves filling up small compartments with fluid and summing up the number of times these compartments had been filled—much like filling up small cups with water and counting the cups that you end up with...which is how positive displacement meters measure flow.

Countless surveys over the past eight years show that the accuracy and reliability of a flowmeter dictates the buying behaviors of end-users. Coriolis flowmeters are highly favoured in this instance, with the added bonus that this flowmeter type needs little upkeep due to the fact that they have no internal moving parts. Without moving parts that are subject to wear and tear, Coriolis flowmeters need only intermittent maintenance, yet they still perform reliably despite it.

Ultrasonic Flowmeters

Ultrasonic flowmeters are classified either as transit time flowmeters or Doppler flowmeters.

Equipped with a sender and a receiver, transit-time ultrasonic flowmeters measure flow rate by sending angled signals down the length of a pipe—one signal follows the flow and the other in counterflow. Ultrasonic signal travels faster when it follows the flow of media measured, and slower when travelling against it. Ultrasonic flowmeters determine the time each signal takes to travel (the “transit” time). The difference between the two signals’ transit time is the rate of flow.

The past two decades has seen many innovations in ultrasonic flowmeter technology. Particularly in the area of electronic processing, these advancements have allowed transit-time flowmeters to measure impure liquids with better reliability and accuracy. Because of these and other innovations, the ultrasonic flowmeter has found traction in broader applications and many conditions.

Perhaps one of the more important innovations in ultrasonic flowmeters is the development of the multipath transit time flowmeter which uses multiple ultrasonic signal (or “paths”) in flow rate measurement. Simply, these advanced flowmeters can measure flow rate across multiple sites in the line of stream, lending more accurate readings.

Compared to the latest flowmeter types, ultrasonic flowmeters have a distinct advantage when it comes to measuring flow rates in larger pipes. Most Coriolis flowmeters come in pipe sizes of 50 mm or lesser but beyond 100mm pipe sizes, it becomes bulkier and more expensive to acquire. With ultrasonic flowmeters, the larger the pipe size the better it performs as wider circumferences give ultrasonic signals. This makes ultrasonic flowmeters better than Coriolis flowmeters when measuring flow rate at pipe sizes 150mm and larger, especially involving gas flow.

When compared to magnetic flowmeters, ultrasonic flowmeters also have a distinctive advantage when measuring flow in nonconductive liquids, steam, and gases. Magnetic flowmeters have not seen much action in the oil and gas, transportation and refining industries as liquids used in these conditions are nonductive. Generally, magnetic flowmeters are not viable in measuring hydraulic fluids, oil, or gas and steam—which is why ultrasonic flowmeters is the fastest growing sector in the flowmeters market.

Vortex Flowmeters

Vortex flowmeters first made their commercial appearance in the industrial scene in the early 70s but its discovery dates back further.

Leonardo da Vinci first described the principle behind vortex flowmeters—the creation of vortex swirls or vortices downstream of a barrier in the path of a stream—in 1500. Theodore von Karman studied the creation of alternating vortices occurring in double rows, created when a flat object was placed in the flow path, which later came to be known as Von Karman’s Vortex Street.

Modern day vortex flowmeters employ the principle behind von Karman’s study. A bluff body—an impediment with a wide, flat surface—is placed at right angles to the path of flow and when the fluid comes up against this barrier, several rows of alternating vortices are created. Flow rate is proportional to the frequency of vortices, which are determined with the use of pressure, thermal and ultrasonic sensors. The rate of flow is the product of the pipe area and flow velocity.

Users in the custody-transfer of natural gas have not found much use for vortex meters, preferring to use turbine, DP and ultrasonic flowmeters instead. Vortex flowmeters though are very versatile. They are very reliable in measuring the flow rates of gas, liquid and steam, able to withstand the extreme heat involved in steam flow measurement.

Understanding Ultrasonic Flow Measurement Technology

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:19:00 GMT

When clamp-on flowmeters were first introduced for industrial use in the 1960s, Doppler ultrasonic flow measurement was a misapplied technology. Ultrasonic flow meters were more identified with the medical field than in industrial settings.

However, there many advantages to using ultrasonic Doppler flow measurement technology for the pipes industry:

Doppler ultrasonic flow meters clamp on the outside of a pipe so they are non-invasive and don’t have moving parts.
Clamp on flow meters don’t cause pressure drops, risk no damage from the process liquid, and require little maintenance.
When properly calibrated, Doppler flow meters can have a ±1% error accuracy margin

Doppler Ultrasonic Flowmeters in Industrial Applications

The misapplication of Doppler ultrasonic flow measurement technology (or clamp-on flow meters) is mainly due to confusion on what flow meter solution to use for what application.

There are two technologies that are used in flow measurement:

Doppler/Doppler shift
Transit time

The key is in the type of liquid that’s being measured: dirty or clean liquids

Doppler / Doppler Shift Flow Measurement

Dirty liquids have solids, air bubbles or gaps that affect flow rate or velocity. In this case, the Doppler shift flow measurement technology is the appropriate solution.

Doppler ultrasonic flow meter basics:

The central principle: flow measurement is done by measuring the frequency shift (Doppler Effect) of an ultrasonic signal that’s bounced off a moving solid or air bubble.
A clamp-on flow meter with two transducers—one is a transmitter and the other is a receiver - is mounted outside the pipe.
(Flow profile conditions will dictate where the clamp-on flow meter will be placed.)
The transmitter fires off an ultrasonic signal into the pipe to hit a solid particle/air bubble/gap.
The solids, air bubbles or gaps in the flow reflect back the ultrasonic signal to the receiver.
Because these particles in the dirty liquid are moving, the frequency that’s reflected back is shifted or moved.
We get the flow measurement by calculating the time it takes for the ultrasonic signal or beam to hit the moving particle and then reflect back to the receiving sensor.
The frequency shift is directly proportional to the velocity of reflected particles in the liquid.

Transit Time Flow Measurement

Transit time flow meters are best used for clean liquids that contain only up to 10% solids. That’s because the clamp-on flow meter measures the transmission and reception of ultrasonic signals differently.

Transit time flow meter basics:

The central principle: flow measurement is based on the theory that sound waves moving along the direction of flow require less travel time than when moving in opposition to the flow.
Transit time flow meters measure the time difference in diagonal and vertical ultrasonic signal movements, upstream as against downstream, through the pipe.
A clamp-on flow meter with two transducers—again one is a transmitter and the other is a receiver—is mounted onto the pipe exterior.
In the Direct Mode, the clamp-on flow meter transducers are placed on opposing sides of the pipe, so that the transmitting and receiving sensors are communicating directly with each other.
In the Reflect Mode, the clamp-on flow meter is placed on the same side of the pipe, allowing the ultrasonic beam to bounce off the pipe wall and reflect on the receiving sensor.
Both modes—which essentially define the sound path of the ultrasonic signal—depend on pipe size and transducer frequency.
Direct mode flow measurement is typically used for larger pipes and Reflect Mode flow measurement is generally utilised on smaller pipes.
Flow measurement is taken by calculating the time it takes for the ultrasonic beam to move from the transmitter, bounce off the pipe wall, and arrive at the receiving sensor.

A Little Ultrasonic Flow Meter History

The Doppler Effect theory which is at the heart of ultrasonic flow measurement has been around for almost 170 years.

Christian Doppler, an accomplished mathematician and physicist, discovered in 1842 that a stationary observer perceives sound differently depending on the location of the sound transmitter.

As the sound source moves toward an observer, the wavelengths shorten. When the sound source moves away from the observer, the wavelengths lengthen.

This phenomenon became known as the Doppler Effect—which explains why you’ll hear a blowing horn increasingly louder as a car approaches and the sound progressively drops in pitch as the car drives farther away.

Shigeo Satomura, a Japanese physicist, brought the first ultrasonic flow meter into the mainstream with the release of his findings in December 1955 of his measurement of the Doppler shift of ultrasonic signals emitted by a beating heart.

By 1963, the first ultrasonic flow meters were being used for industrial purposes—three years after Satomura’s research confirmed that the Doppler flow meter could measure different types of blood flow.

The Doppler ultrasonic flow measurement technology has come a long way from its dubious status in the 70s and 80s. Today, non-invasive, non-intrusive ultrasonic flow meters are being used across the world in measuring liquids and gases across a wide range of applications.

Location Location Location.

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:20:00 GMT

After seven years of serving our clients’ ultrasonic flow measurement needs from a converted garage, Flowservices is finally moving out of the home office!

We really had the most enjoyable time working in the home office. Where in the world would you have an office where you had the pantry, the fridge, and of course, the coffee machine within reaching distance? And our coffee breaks! You’d find us taking a dip in the pool or a two-meter trek to the fridge to hunt for refreshing drinks on hot summer days.

In the name of progress though, these heavenly days are over. With our new business address, looks like we’ll have to start asking the wives for packed lunches to make up for the loss of the home pantry! (Note to wives: a little encouragement on a Post-It will really perk up our day.)

The new Flowservices headquarters is nothing special. It’s your usual 30-square-meter office and storage space in the heart of a quiet business complex. But here’s what we love about it: we’re only 5 minutes from home! (And of course, the pantry and the pool! Heh.)

The move’s not all bad. In fact, it’s quite the opposite!

Flowservices has really been bursting at the seams with the demand for high quality ultrasonic flow meters increasing in all kinds of industries and all sorts of applications. The mining industry’s been booming, too, so we’ve been having a ball—albeit a busy one—providing the unique brand of flow measurement services we’ve done in the past.

The flow measurement space indeed has been growing exponentially and to keep up with the unprecedented growth, we had no choice but to kick ourselves out of our comfort zone and grow along.

With this growth, we’re going on a program of revisiting the basics and re-affirming the culture and values that propelled us to the top of ultrasonic flow measurement. Flowservices is determined to stay on top as the go-to provider for the best flow measurement solution for our clients.

Our growth also means we’re now able to carry a bigger supply of flow meters for our hire service, ready for deployment at a moment’s notice. Last year, we were lucky to source a fantastic Doppler flow meter for hire, and our own ultrasonic Flexim clamp-on flow meters have always been very reliable.

Every company matures at some point and we’re no exception. We’ve grown from a one-man band to a posse of awesome flow measurement professionals who, I must say, represents our company’s solid experience perfectly. Their backgrounds in ultrasonic flow meters and flow measurement technology are simply amazing!

Although we don’t make much of physical premises or growing in number, we believe that this simple little move to a new business location is the first step in the process of Flowservices' growth...

Our high quality flow measurement services will only be the better for it!

Pump Performance Efficiency Audit

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:21:00 GMT

One usually does pump performance efficiency audits to assess the fluid power and useful work being done by a pumping system. Evaluating pump performance is just one of the services that Flowservices offers customers.

Recently, we got called in to do a pump performance efficiency audit in Caboolture, Queensland. What do you know, we’ve encountered another one of those problems that mystify clients. It should’ve been a quick problem to fix—it just only takes us 10 minutes or so—but some still get stuck with old school, expensive methods when new technology could easily solve the problem.

Pumps age. Rust and scales accumulate within. Flow is blocked thus negatively affecting pump performance efficiency.

Pump performance efficiency audits are one of the easiest applications that Flowservices does. If you don’t know what what issues to look out for, you could end up with a headache instead of correcting the problem.

You wouldn’t expect a 20-year old pump to be as efficient as when it was brand spanking new, would you?

Yet when pump flow becomes sluggish or pumps stop working altogether, council workers and contractors always opt for the knee-jerk solution. They mistakenly believe that they can fix poor pump performance just by replacing older pipe sections with brand new ones. The only trouble to that quick, simple solution is the fact that a 30-year-old pipe is already antiquated, made of asbestos cement, and incompatible with a new pipe.

The result?

When the pump gets cranking, the pipe starts moaning.

That’s because the older asbestos pipe can’t handle the pressure running freely and fluidly through the new pipe sections. If that happens, the older asbestos pipe is sure to split and crack.

Not only is it bad news to have asbestos floating around in the water, you also have a ruptured pipe in your hands. So now, what started as a small headache has just turned into a throbbing aneurysm!

The lesson learned in this seemingly obvious and simple solution? Hold off on a pipe change until you have an idea of the actual flow measurement.

Poor pump performance can cause all sorts of trouble.

Every component in the pumping system must match pump loads. If there’s a mismatch in the system somewhere—like old and new pipes forced to work together—the pump will continue to perform poorly. Flow is one of the critical aspects of matching loads to pumps. Until you get the actual flow measurement, you shouldn’t start changing pipes.

Flowservices can easily and quickly undertake flow measurement—just 10 minutes—if you’d only allow us. We’ll be using ultrasonic flow meters that clamp on the outside of the pipes, which does not disturb the pumping system.

Ultrasonic flow meters use the Doppler Effect to measure flow. These flow meters are non-invasive so we won’t have to cut the pipes. We will also not use any harmful chemicals, ensuring that the environment (or any environment, for that matter) is untouched.

Best of all, the pumping system will continue running. By placing our sensors well away from the pump so the flow meter won’t pick up pump turbulence or aeration caused by the pump, we can obtain flow measurement in minutes. Ultrasonic flow meters work for both clean and dirty liquids, even slurry.

Flowservices can establish flow measurement from all kinds of pumps—pool pumps, mining pumps, industrial pumps and so on. Whatever type of pumping system you have, we’re sure to have a solution. Contact us now to find out how we can help you audit your pump performance efficiency.

Born In The USA!

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 05:31:00 GMT

FLOWSERVICES staff recently had the pleasure of meeting with suppliers Teksco in Texas USA. Teksco are world renowned for the manufacture of high quality Compuflow Doppler flow meters. Their true “ Born in the USA” Flowmeters have been designed and built over the last 25 years.

A pleasant 4 hour drive from San Antonio to Harlingen in Texas gave us an opportunity to savour the Texas countryside. The broad Texan accent and the even broader Texan smile was most welcoming after 25 hours in transit from Australia. James and the staff went to great lengths to make us feel welcome, spruced up the factory and even got dressed up for the occasion. In typical Australian style we went to the meeting dressed in shorts and thongs which the Texans took that in their stride. James took great delight in teaching us about “hot” cuisine at a local Mexican restaurant. Alan indulged in the local’s favourite dish- goat on the spit with Jalapenos on the side.

The focus of the meeting was to exchange ideas and build stronger relations between FLOWSERVICES – The sole Australasian representative for Teksco’s Compuflow range of Doppler and Insertion flowmeters.

We were introduced to a number of new innovations:

High power Doppler meter for difficult applications with high slurry.
New Portable Doppler flowmeter with Aluminium casing.
Hybrid Doppler flowmeter to measure flow in virtually all liquids in a pipe.
New low cost Doppler flowmeter with same high power sensors.
New Insertion Magflow meter to suit 2” to 200” diameter pipes with a single sensor

Remote data retrieval systems using latest wireless technology:

Doppler flowmeter for use on Basalt lined pipes.
Electronic Bubble generator to assist Doppler measurement in clean liquids.
Ex – Explosion proof flowmeters with small casing and low cost
High temperature solutions for non intrusive measurement Doppler sensors.

Thanks to Teksco and the team for a wonderful visit. We will be back.

A Trip Across the Ditch

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:19:00 GMT

Taking a trip across the ditch to New Zealand for a job is always fun for us. We’ve always had a good strong relationship with the kiwis, from council workers to engineers, Kiwis just know how to get the job done.

Our trip took us to the city of Hamilton where the council outsourced a consultant who then outsourced a company for the job who then outsourced us at FLOWSERVICES for our gear…we got there in the end.

Our mission was to test and then calibrate 7 wet well pumps throughout the city that have not been serviced in years. Each wet well contained 3-4 pumps that needed to be measured all at the same time.

Using two of our F601 Portable Flowmeter, each having two output channels we were able to measure the four pumps all at the same time. The ever weather changing Hamilton proved to be no hindrance for the tough hard working kiwi. Being harnessed up, lowered and suspended into a wet well full of waist was no obstacle.

The transducers were mounted on each pump pipe within a few seconds and data was collected over a 10-minute period.

170mm diameter PVC slimmed coated pipe was no problem when using the
F601 Portable Flowmeter (medium sensors) especially using the new mounting
brackets which the customer seem to really like.

We managed to get 5 wet well stations done over the course of the day.

After running through the basics of the flow meter and having two stations left, we left one of the meters with the customer to finish off the remaining wet well stations. The customer loved using the F601 Portable Flowmeter so much he wants to keep it for a week to do some work in Wellington.

Overall, a successful trip with some great results!

Remote Flow via the WEB

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:13:00 GMT

At FLOWSERVICES we are constantly looking for new ways to improve our service...

As technology advances, so do our flow meters. Always keeping an ear to the ground for new technology and trying new and improved ways to make flow measurement easier.

All of our flowmeters now have an optional on board web-based logger.

What does this mean for you?

No more driving to site to check your flow. You’re flow data can be accessed from any computer with Internet access. Data can be exported to a chosen format or you can just view it straight away! No waiting for flow reports, no special software, drivers, connection cables or wiring.