Whisky tankers load efficiently using Coriolis

Micro Motion flow measurement systems monitor whisky tanker loading operations for Diageo plc, at Cambus in Scotland: 52 Million litres of spirit were measured in the first year of operation

Emerson Process Management has installed Micro Motion flow measurement systems for monitoring tanker loading operations for Diageo plc, at Cambus in Scotland.

In the first year of operation, 52 Million litres of spirit were measured by the Micro Motion meters at the Cambus site, where the spirit is matured and, many years later, blended to create such brands as Johnnie Walker, J and B Rare and Bell's Scotch Whisky.

Micro Motion CMF300 Elite mass flow systems were installed to improve the efficiency of tanker on- and off-loading at this storage and cask filling site.

Replacing the original positive displacement metering systems has allowed increased flow rates on both loading and unloading operations, reducing the time 27,000 litre road tankers spend in the loading bay by almost half, from 1 hour to 35 minutes.

The meters have been accepted by Customs and Excise authorities after tests demonstrated volume flow measurement accuracies better than 0.1% with the Micro Motion system.

Further Elite flow measurement systems have been installed for process and batch control in the whisky reduction plant, where water is added to spirit to reduce the strength.

In addition to flow measurement, the Micro Motion RFT9739 rack mounted transmitter provides a second output of the alcohol concentration of the spirit, derived from the density and temperature monitoring available with the CMF300 sensor.

Since this was previously derived from sample measurements, the Micro Motion units are now providing continuous on-line monitoring.

With analogue and HART or Modbus digital data outputs, the measurement can be immediately transmitted to the plant blend control system.

After the first year of operation, a calibration validation exercise was carried out, which showed that the Micro Motion units needed no calibration correction or maintenance.

This is a significant change to the previous experience with PD meters, where some spirits containing "Char", an abrasive, meant that these mechanical meters needed regular maintenance and re-calibration.

A further advantage noted with the new system, is that the Micro Motion flow sensors can be blown through, after a batch is completed, to remove all traces of the previous product - important for avoiding any taint to the next batch.

This had not been possible with the previously used mechanical metering systems.

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