Processing, April 2020
OIL GAS Coriolis meters etroleum refineries have traditionally employed di erential pressure dP ow meters for most f low measurement points across the facility These meters P have historically been used because they are a ordable upfront and their repeatable measurements are well suited for process control in a variety of applications Although measurement repeatability is important for process control there are additional bene ts that a ow measurement technology can deliver such as improved accuracy and reliability of a device And while dP flow meters have great application flexibility and repeatability their accuracy can easily be impacted by changes in the composition or ow pro le of the uid owing through them or by changing process conditions such as pressure or temperature It is important to note that on the back end dP flow meters require very regular maintenance as these technologies have impulse lines that can be prone to plugging depending on climate conditions and uid properties Like many mechanical meters the accuracy of the device also degrades over time due to wear and tear on the ori ce plate Di erential pressure ow meters have often been viewed as a one size ts all technology in re neries but there are some areas in a re nery where using a higher accuracy and more robust ow measurement technology like Coriolis meters for process automation and control has generated added optimization bene ts beyond measurement repeatability Coriolis meters are multi variable devices that provide a direct measurement of mass ow density and temperature for liquids slurries and gases e technology is based on the Coriolis effect in which the inertia created by the fluid flow causes the meters tubes to twist proportional to the mass flow rate Coriolis meters in comparison to dP flow meters o er a more robust device without moving parts that can handle a variety of changing uid properties and ow pro les while maintaining accuracy When looking to automate processes evaluating ow meter technology attributes such as additional process variables reliability and accuracy should be among the considerations To that end were seeing that the Coriolis meter is nding increasingly more uses across the re nery Below is an in depth look at some of the applications where Coriolis meters are proving reliable and optimal for process control and automation C o n t r o l l i n g c r i t i c a l r e f i n i n g a p p l i c at i o n s w i t h There are a variety of applications where Coriolis meters can be used for automating or improving control in a re nery By Meha Jha and Julie Valentine Emerson 20 Processing APRIL 2020 Image courtesy of Emerson
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