Product category:
Ultrasonic and Clamp-on liquid flowmeters
News Release from: Krohne | Subject: UFM 500 at Fawley
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 27 January 2003
Ultrasonic flowmeters for largest
refinery in UK
The giant Esso oil refinery at Fawley near Southampton is employing ultrasonic flowmeters from Krohne to streamline part of its process operation, achieving results that were considered unattainable
Krohne ultrasonic flowmeters have been able to deliver accuracy and performance standards which were previously considered to be virtually unattainable The Esso Petroleum Company refinery at Fawley on Southampton Water is the largest refinery in the UK and one of the largest in Europe
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 14 Aug 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The refinery 330kb capacity supplies over 15% of all the oil products used in Britain, with 85% of its products delivered by pipeline to Avonmouth, Birmingham, Manchester, West London, Purfleet, and Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
The Fawley site also incorporates an integrated chemical plant operated by ExxonMobil Chemical.
Each type of crude oil has its own composition, and flexible operations mean that the Fawley refinery can process between 20 and 30 different types of crude oil from all over the world.
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As part of a crude tank farm optimisation project, Esso have developed a more efficient method managing their crude oil inventory.
New flowmeters were required as part of this project in an on line blending process to bring efficiency to their resources and make provision for cutting costs.
Krohne has supplied six 12 inch and six 20 inch diameter UFM 500 ultrasonic flowmeters.
The flowmeters are arranged in pairs, with the first flowmeter configured to protect the pump against low discharge flow (which could lead to pump cavitation), and the second for regulating the flow via a control valve to enable the correct crude ratios to be blended.
Ultrasonic flowmeters were chosen to meet the 5% accuracy stipulated by the project for the entire range of flows and viscosity required for the blending process.
Further, the offsites piping network extends over an area of 3 square miles, thus line size flowmeters helped to minimise the inherent pressure drop within the overall system.
Foster Wheeler, the main engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project, purchased the units on behalf of Esso after the Esso engineering team at Fawley provided the exact flowmeter specification.
It was an extremely demanding specification which, according to expert sources within ultrasonic flow technology, could be difficult to meet because of the low velocities and high viscosity, coupled with the overall range of velocities and viscosities taking the flow through the laminar, transitional and turbulent regions.
This process requirement together with physical restrictions resulting in multiple out of phase pipe bends upstream of the flowmeters has taken the flowmeters outside their normal performance ranges.
Velocities in the range of 1.03 to 3.81m/s were required for the 12 inch flowmeters, and 0.41 to 1.37m/s for the 24 inch flowmeters, with a viscosities ranging from 3 to 1800 centistokes.
Field trials have demonstrated that the Krohne flowmeters were able to meet the performance criteria.
With pairs of the flowmeters arranged in series, consistent flow outputs have been achieved despite the potential for a distorted flow profile from the upstream pipe bends and cross-talk between the flowmeters.
The blending system control software conducts a self check of the flowmeters against tank movement via the radar ATGs installed on the crude tanks.
The Krohne UFM 500 features a unique patented double-beam sensor arrangement with sensor mounts welded perpendicular to the tube centreline.
The system reduces overall flowmeter length and increases measuring accuracy and repeatability, with an unimpeded tube cross section which means no wear and no pressure drop.
The parameters for flowrate are 1-450,000m3/h, while the flow velocity is 0.5 -18m/s, however Fawley are now successfully operating down to 0.41 m/s.
Each Altosonic UFM 500 also incorporates a microprocessor controlled signal converter for digital signal processing.
At Fawley this is linked to the Control System enabling remote process operation from Offsites Control Room over a conventional 4-20mA loop.
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