Singapore Navy installs flowmeter from Sierra

A ship of the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) was recently deployed with a Sierra Innova-Sonic model 206 in-line ultrasonic flow meter installed as a critical element of its refueling system.

The RSN deploys frequently to all parts of the world and the navy wanted to be assured that the quantity of the expensive fuel they are being billed for is in fact what is piped aboard.

Before choosing the Sierra model 206 in-line ultrasonic, an exhaustive search was undertaken to identify the best meter to double check the fuel amounts received.

Impressed with its high accuracy, the RSN first looked at Coriolis meters, but found the 2-3in sizes required too expensive.

They then looked at positive displacement meters and, while more economical, the navy was concerned about potential fouling problems plugging up the sensor ports as marine bunkering fuel can be very dirty.

Electromagnetic flowmeters can get around this problem, but they do not work on fuel oil because it is non-conductive.

The RSN chose the Sierra Innova-Sonic in-line digital correlation transit-time ultrasonic flowmeter because it provided the ideal combination of economy, accuracy (+/- 0.5 per cent of reading) and installation (no sensing ports to plug).

The Innova-Sonic model 206 features PicoFly measurement technology.

PicoFly represents an order-of-magnitude improvement in transit-time measurement technology, allowing superior response to changes in flow (with much greater resolution) and low flow detection.

This is because PicoFly allows transit time-of-flight to be measured in picoseconds 10e-12 (one trillionth of a second) rather than the typical nanoseconds 10e-9 (one billionth of a second).

For these reasons, the Innova-Sonic is becoming increasingly popular for maritime use and is one of only a few flowmeters assessed by the American Bureau of Shipping for shipboard use.

The Sierra Innova-Sonic model 205 clamp-on transit-time ultrasonic flow meter is being used by the US Navy for fuel oil and water measurement.

It shares all of the same features as the in-line meter, but with the added benefit of clamp-on sensors that can be affixed to the outside of fuel and water lines with no intrusion into the piping at all.

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