10/14/2008

Turbine Meter Training

Presented by Kevin Ehman

2008.10.08

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Common Types of Gas Meters

TypesofGasMeters

Positive Inferential
Displacement Meters
Meters

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Common Positive Displacement Meters

Positive Displacement Meters

Diaphragm Rotary
Meters Meters

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Common Inferential Meters

Inferential Meters

Turbine Orifice Ultrasonic

Meters Meters Meters

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Calculating Flow Rate Measured by an Inferential Meter

Q=VxA
Where: Q=FlowRateinCFH
V G V l it
V=GasVelocity
A=FlowArea

InferredFlowRate=Aflowratederivedindirectlyfromevidence
(e.g.velocitythroughaknownarea)

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Turbine Meter

TurbineMeters

Advantages Disadvantages
GoodRangeability LimitedLowFlow
Compact,EasytoInstall Susceptibletomechanical
DirectVolumeReadout wear
NoPressurePulsations Affectedbypulsatingflow
Wide Variety of Readouts
WideVarietyofReadouts
Willnotshutoffgasflow

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Lets Start with Explaining a Few Key Definitions

Error Thedifferentbetweenameasurementanditstruevalue.
Kfactor Anumberbywhichthemeter'soutputpulsesaremultipliedto
determinetheflowvolumethroughthemeter.
Meterfactor Anumberbywhichtheresultofameasurementismultipliedto
compensateforsystematicerror.
MAOP Maximum allowable operating pressure
Maximumallowableoperatingpressure
Pressuredrop Thepermanentlossofpressureacrossthemeter
Qmax Themaximumgasflowratethroughthemeterthatcanbe
measuredwithinthespecifiedperformancerequirement.
Qmin Theminimumgasflowratethroughthemeterthatcanbe
measuredwithinthespecifiedperformancerequirement.
Rangeability Theratioofthemaximumtominimumflowratesoverwhichthe
metermeetsspecifiedperformancerequirement.Rangeabilityis
alsoknownastheturndownratio.

Material quoted in part from AGA publication 7

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Conversion to Base Conditions

Conversion to Base Conditions

Baseconditionsisasetofgiventemperatureandpressurewhichdescribesthe
physical state of gas in flow measurement.
physicalstateofgasinflowmeasurement.

Baseconditionsaredefinedjurisdictionally:

InCanada Pb =101.325kPa,Tb =15C

InUSA Pb =14.73psi,Tb =60F

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The Ideal Gas Law

TheIdealGasLaw

Conversionofthemeasuredlinevolumetobasevolumereliesontheequation
ofstatefortheparticulargas.

( )
PV=nRT(1)

Inthisequation
Pistheabsolutepressure
Visthevolume
n isthenumberofmolesofthegas
Ristheuniversalgasconstantandequals8.31451J/molK.
Tisthethermodynamic(orabsolute)temperature

Thisequationisvalidfornmolesofgasanddescribestherelationbetween
thevolumeV,the(absolute)pressurePandthe(absolute)temperatureT.

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Gas Turbine Meter - a Well Established Technology

Reinhard Woltman was

Sectional view of a turbine meter
generally credited to be
the inventor of the
turbine meter in 1790 for
measuring
i watert fl
flow.
Modern gas turbine
meters are very accurate
and repeatable over a
wide flow range.
These meters have a
very extensive installed
base in the natural gas
industry worldwide.

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Cut-out View of a Turbine Meter

Flowvolumeregister

Changegears IndexAssembly

Lubricationfitting
Mainrotor

Encoder/sensor
Nosecone
Topplate

Meterbody

Conditioningfins

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication 11

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Cut-out View of another Turbine Meter

Flowvolumeregister
IndexAssembly

Coupling
Conditioningplate

Mainrotor

Mainshaft
Meterbody
Bearingblock

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication 12

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Turbine Meter Operating at Various Pressure Ranges

Turbinemetersoperatingatatmosphericpressureshowa
verynonlinearperformancecurve
50psig
175psig
720psig
1440psig
Turbinemetersoperatinginahighpressurelinedisplaysa
muchmorelinearandpredictablecharacteristic

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication 13

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Principle of Turbine Meters

TheLawofConservationofEnergy

KineticEnergy=DynamicEnergyofMassinMotion

Velocity = V KE=1/2 MV2

Where:KE=Kineticenergyofthemovinggas
molecules
M =Massofgasmolecules
M Mass of gas molecules
Mass of gas molecules = M
V=Velocityofgasmolecules

Inanturbinemeter,aportionofthelinearkineticenergyofthemovinggasmoleculesis
convertedintorotationalenergyoftherotor

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Principle of Turbine Meters

Analysis of an Ideal Rotor r is the average of the rotor radius

Q is the volume flow rate
A is the annular flow area
is the blade angle
V 1, V 2 are the gas velocities at point (1) and (2)
1, 2 is the fluid velocity relative to the rotor blades
i is the ideal angular velocity

(1)

(2)

The angular velocity of the rotor is proportional

to the volume flow rate

Q i (3)

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Turbine Meter Index Assembly

IndexAssembly
Change gears
Theindexassemblytypicallyhousesa
readoutregisterofflowvolumeand
Signal terminals oneormoresetsofencoderdiscand
Magnet reed
sensor sensorforgeneratingflowoutput
pulsesforelectronicmeasurement
systems.

Encoder disc Magnetic coupler

Sensor

16

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Dual-Rotor Turbine Meter

Theprimaryrotorofadualrotorturbinemeter
isbasicallythesameasthatofasinglerotor
design.Asecondrotorisaddedforchecking
and/orimprovingthemeasurementintegrityof
theprimaryrotorundervariousflowconditions.

AdjustedVolumeatInitial
Calibration
BasicAdjustmentPrinciple
OperatingChangesin
Retarding Torque
RetardingTorque
CutoutviewofanAutoAdjustmeter
SelfCheckingFeature

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Construction of a Turbine Meters

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Dual-Rotor Turbine Meter

Mainrotor Themainrotoriscalibratedtoregister110%
Sensingrotor oftheactualflowpassingthroughthemeter.
Thesensingrotoriscalibratedtoregister
10%oftheactualflow.Bydesignofthetwo
rotorsandtheirplacementinthemeter
body,theflowerrorexperiencedbythe
sensing rotor matches that of the main rotor
sensingrotormatchesthatofthemainrotor.
TheAdjustedVolumethereforeprovidesa
veryaccurateaccountofthetrueflow.

Vadjusted = Vmain - Vsensing

CutoutdetailsofanAutoAdjust
j
dualrotorhousing
Thesensingrotorcorrectionfactoris
providedbyfactorycalibration.

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Dual-Rotor Turbine Meter

TheAutoAdjustTurbineMeterEquations:

V sensing V sensing (1)

A = 100 = 100
V adjusted V main - V sensing

V sensing
= 100 A (2)
V main V sensing

Where:
Vmain =volumebymainrotor
Vsensing =volumebysensingrotor
Vadjusted =adjustedvolume
=averagevalueofthefactorysensingrotor%adjustment
A=%deviationinfieldoperationfromfactorycalibration

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Dual-Rotor Turbine Meter

TheAutoAdjustselfcheckingIndicator:

V sensing
= 100 A
V main V sensing

TheparameterA(deltaA)isaselfcheckingindicatoroftheperformance
j j
ofanautoadjustturbinemeter.Itshowstheamountofadjustmentthe
meterismaking,therebywarningtheuserofmeterorflowconditioning
problems.

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication

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Performance Curve of an Ideal Gas Turbine Meter

1.0

0.5
R (%)

0
ERROR

0.5

1.0
0 25 50 75 100 125
CAPACITY (%Qmax)

AnidealturbinemeterhasaflaterrorcurveextendingfromQmin toQmax

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication

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Performance curve of a Real Gas Turbine Meter

1.0 Causesfornonidealturbine
meterbehaviours:
0.5
%)

Dirtygas
yg
Error (%

0
Mechanicalfriction
Pertubations
-0.5
Densityeffect
-1.0 Reynoldseffect
0 25 50 75 100 125
Capacity (%Qmax)

Typicalperformancecurveofaturbinemeter

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication

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Of course Nothing is Perfect

1.0

0.5
%)

Ideal turbine meter

Error (%

0 Real turbine meter

-0.5

-1.0
0 25 50 75 100 125
Capacity (%Qmax)

Performancecurveofarealgasturbinemeter

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication

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Of course Nothing is Perfect

The accuracy of a gas

turbine meter is
influenced by mechanical
friction at low flow rate
y
and Reynolds number at
high flow rate.

Recent research has

shown that relatively
large measurement errors
can occur if a turbine
Gas turbine meter
meter was not calibrated
at or near its operating
pressure.

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Impact of Dirt on Turbine Meter

Dirtaccumulatedontherotorbladeshasatendencytospeed
upaturbinemeter,thusresultinginoverestimatedflow
volume.

Dirtonthe
rotorblades

1%
Error

-1%
Flow rate Q

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication

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Impact of Dirt on Turbine Meter

Dirtaccumulatedinbearingsslowsdownaturbinemeter,
thereforeresultsinunderestimatedflowvolume.

1%

Good bearings
Error

-1%

Flow rate Q

Damaged bearings

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication 27

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Impact of Damaged Bearings

0
Ataconstantinlet
2 pressure,increasein
ERROR (%)

mechanical friction
mechanicalfriction
4
duetobearingwear
6 hasmoresignificant
effectonLOWFLOW
8 accuracy.
NEW INOPERATION
10
0 25 50 75 100
CAPACITY (% Qmax)
Q )

Damagedbearingsslowdownaturbinemeterconsiderably

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication

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Typical Turbine Meter Spin Time Decay Curve

Thespintimeofaturbinemeterisaverygoodindicatorofitscondition

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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Spin Time Effect on Proof

Percent Error %

Flow Rate SCFH x 103

EffectofspintimeontheproofofaT35MarkIIturbinemeter

Quote from Sensus Turbo-Meter Installation & Maintenance Manual MM-1070 R9

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Lubricating a Turbine Meter

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication 31

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Lubricating a Turbine Meter

TurboMeterOil

AlemiteFitting

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication

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Single K-factor Representation

A i l Kf
AsingleKfactorisoftenusedtoexpressthecalibrationofaturbinemeter.Itis
i f d h lib i f bi I i
simplebutdoesnotrepresenttheoperatingcharacteristicsofthemeter
throughouttheentireflowrange.

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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Meter Factors

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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Flow Weighted K-factor and Meter Factor

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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Typical Turbine Meter K-factors by Calibration

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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Shifting Error Curve by Change Gear

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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Fine Tuning K-Factor with Change Gear

Change Gear = 73/47

Calibrationadjustmentofthemechanicaloutputofaturbine
meteristypicallyaccomplishedbychoosinganappropriateset
ofchangegears.

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Linearization

Linearizationofflowmeter

, p
Iftheerrorofaflowmeterisknown,itcanbecorrectedfor.Someflowcomputers
havetheabilitytocarryoutthiscorrection.Firstthecorrectiondataresultingfrom
calibrationarefedintotheinstrument.Next,theappropriatecorrectionfactorat
theparticularflowrateisdeterminedandapplied.Theresultwillbeperfectly
linear.

39

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Typical Turbine Meter Calibration Certificate

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AGA-7

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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AGA-7

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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AGA-7

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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AGA -7 General Performance Tolerances

Repeatability: 0 2% from Qmin to Qmax

0.2%
Max peak-to-peak 1.0% above Qt
Error:
Maximum error: 1.0% from Qt to Qmax
1.5% from Qmin to Qt
Transition flow rate: Qt not greater than 0.2 Qmax

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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AGA 7 - Installation for In-line Meter

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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AGA 7 - Typical Meter Set Assembly

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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AGA 7 - Short-Coupled Installation

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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AGA 7 - Close-Coupled Installation

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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AGA 7 - Angle-Body Meter Installation

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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Low Level Perturbation

AstraightAGA7compliantmeterrunproducesanuniformflow
profilewiththesameflowvelocityacrossthecrosssectionofpipe

Anelboworteeintroducesalowlevelperturbationtotheflow

Material quoted in part from AGA publication 50

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Low Level Perturbation

Anadditionaloutofplaneelbowaddsswirltothealreadyunevenflowprofile

Material quoted in part from AGA publication 51

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High Level Perturbation

Anupstreamregulatorandoutofplaneelbowcauseahighlevelofswirland
jettingatthemeterrun

Material quoted in part from AGA publication 52

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HIGH Level Perturbation

Expanding from a smaller diameter pipe into a larger one introduces jetting
Expandingfromasmallerdiameterpipeintoalargeroneintroducesjetting
whichcannotberemovedbyatubebundleflowstraightener

Additionofanoutofplaneelbowupstreamcompoundstheproblembyadding
aswirlcomponenttotheflow

Material quoted in part from AGA publication 53

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AGA 7 - Flow Conditioning for Turbine Meter

19tubebundlestraighteningvanes

Flowconditioningplate

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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AGA 7 - Meter- Integrated Flow Conditioner

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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Turbine Meter with Integral Flow Conditioner

Integralconditioningplate
typicallyallowsaturbinemeter
tobeinstalledinanonideal
b i ll d i id l
meterrun(e.g.shortmeter
run,elbows.)andmaintainits
accuracy

Exampleofaturbinemeterwith
integralconditioningplate

56

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Pressure Loss Across a Turbine Meter

Thepressurelossofaturbine
meterisdirectlyproportionalto
theflowpressureandspecific
gravityandtothesquareofthe
flowrate:

Pm Pm G Q 2

Where
Constant Pm and G Pm = pressure drop across meter
Pm = absolute flow pressure
G = specific gravity of gas
Q = flow rate

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Pressure Loss Across a Turbine Meter

45 Rotor Meter Characteristics

Thepressurelossacrossaturbinemeteris
directlyproportionaltothelinepressure
andspecificgravityandtothesquareofthe
flowrate:

Pm Pabs G Q 2

Inwhich

Pm isthepressurelossacrossthemeter
Pabs istheabsolutelinepressure
Gisthespecificgravityofthegas
Qistheflowrate

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication 58

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AGA 7 - Recommended Blow Down Valve Size

Properlysizedblowdownvalvepreventoverspinning
ofturbinemeterduringlinepurgeoperation

Material quoted in part from AGA publication

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Effect of Rapid Rate of Pressure Change

Pipeline pressure vs Time

Turbinemetermanufacturers
oftenspecifyamaximumrateof
pressurechangeallowedfortheir
products.
P~ 240 psig

Exposure to rapid pressure

Exposuretorapidpressure
changecancausedamagetothe
electronicsensorsinaturbine
T~ 30 sec
meter.

Typicalmaximumrateof
pressure change rating for
pressurechangeratingfor
Rate of pressure change = P turbinemeter:
t

Where P = maximum pressure change 100psig/minute

t = time period during which P occurs

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Intermittent Flow Characteristic of Turbine Meter

TTurbineMetersdisplaydifferentresponsecharacteristics
bi M t di l diff t h t i ti
whilespeedingupandslowingdown.

Underestimated
volume on rapidly
increasing flow

Overestimated
volume on rapidly
decreasing flow
Flow Rate (ACFH)

Actual flow
Flow registered by
turbine meter

Time (in minutes)

IntermittentFlowResponseofTurbineMeter
Material quoted in part from iMeter publication

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Intermittent Flow Characteristic of Turbine Meter

Duetotheunsymmetricaltransientresponseofturbinemeters,theyare
susceptible to overestimating the flow volume of pulsating devices such as
susceptibletooverestimatingtheflowvolumeofpulsatingdevicessuchas
compressorsandregulators.

Turbine meter can

track the rising edge
of a pulsating flow
Flow Rate (ACFH)
Turbine meter cannot
track the falling edge of a
pulsating flow because of
the inertia of its rotor

Overestimated Actual flow

volume Flow registered by
turbine meter

Time (in minutes)

IntermittentFlowResponseofTurbineMeter

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication

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Reynolds Number

D
Reynolds Number =

= fluid density
= flow velocity
D = pipe diameter
= fluid viscosity

RecentresearchconductedatCEESIandSwRIonbehalfofAGA
Recent research conducted at CEESI and SwRI on behalf of AGA
hasdemonstratedthatcommerciallyavailablegasturbine
metershavemarkedlydifferentresponsestogivenvolumesof
naturalgasatdifferentReynoldsnumber.

63

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Turbine Meter Performance vs Reynolds Number

EffectOfFluidAndNonfluidRetardingTorquesOnGasTurbineMeterPerformanceForReynoldsNumberBelow
100,000(Source:InvensysMeteringSystems)

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Flow Profiles at Various Reynolds Number

Laminar if Re < 2000

Transient if 2000 < Re <
4000
Turbulent if Re > 4000
Reynolds Number examples:
12 Standard Capacity Meter at 350 psia
at 10% of capacity Re = 700,000
at 95% of
o capacity
capac ty Re
e = 6,800,000

Velocity Profiles in Laminar and Turbulent Pipe Flow

Flow Measurement Engineering Handbook R.W. Miller, McGraw-Hill

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Equation of State

TheStateofagas

Tocalculatequantityintermsofbaseorstandardvolumeoneneedsto
knowthequantityofmatter,e.g.thenumberofmoles,thatoccupies
theactualvolumemeasuredunderoperatingconditions.

ThisisdonebyusingasuitableEquationofStateforthetypeofgas
measuredandbyusingmeasuredpressureandtemperature.

66

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Equation of State Composition of Natural Gas

Compositionandcompressibility

ThecompositionofthegasinfluencestheconstantsintheEquationof
State.ThisismostlytranslatedintheCompressibilityfactororZ.

Material quoted in part from AGA publication 67

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Elevated Pressure Operation of Turbine Meter

45 Rotor Meter Characteristics

ElevatedPressureOperation

1.MaximumCapacityinSCFHincreasesdirectly
asdoestheBoylesLawpressuremultiplier
factor.

2.Minimum(LowFlow)Capabilitiesincreases
directlywiththesquarerootoftheBoylesLaw
pressuremultiplierfactor.

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication

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Calculating Rangeability

Rangeability calcculation example

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication 69

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Calculating Rangeability

PressureMultiplier =(LinePressure+AverageAtmospheric)/BasePressure*CompressibilityRatio

=(500psig+14.48psi)/14.73*1.0863

=37.942

MaximumFlowRate =MeterRating*PressureMultiplier

=18,000acfh*37.942

=682,956scfh=683,000scfhfromtable

MinimumFlowRate =MeterRating*SquareRootofPressureMultiplier

=1200acfh*(37.942)0.5

=7391scfh=7400scfhfromtable

Range =Maximum/MinimumFlowRater

=683,000/7400=92:1

Material quoted in part from Sensus publication 70

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Typical Turbine Meter Installation

NonhazardousArea
HazardousArea

I t i i ll safe
Intrinsically f
NAMUR sensor Pulse
Flow Computer / RTU
or dry contact Amplifier

Power

Turbine Meter

PulseamplifierconvertingNAMURsignaltoastandard24Vdigitalsignal

71

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NAMUR Signal

InductiveSensor CapacitiveSensor

Supply Voltage = 8
8.2
2 VDC

Source impedance ~ 1 k

Typicalsensorcurrentversussensingdistance

72

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Turbine Meter Output Signal Format mits

NAMUR Detection Lim

Low flow
LowFlow HighFlow

High flow
N

NAMUR Signal Digital Signal

Material quoted in part from iMeter publication

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Turbine Meter Pulse Signal Conditioning

Normal turbine meter signal

Turbine meter NAMUR pulse amplifiers

Incorrect turbine meter signal

Incorrectsupplyvoltageorsourceimpedanceresultsinmissedpulses

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Cost of Measurement Error

Turbine Meter Operating at 50 psig Turbine Meter Operating at 500 psig

Energy Delivered in Cost of 0.5% Energy Delivered Cost of Cost of 0.5%
Meter Cost of Energy Meter
a 6 year Calibration Measurement in a 6 year Energy Measurement
Size Delivered * Size
Cycle * Error Calibration Cycle * Delivered * Error

Inches MMBtu US$ US$ Inches MMBtu US$ US$

4 1 271 208
1,271,208 8 898 458
8,898,458 44 492
44,492 4 10 990 320
10,990,320 76 932 238
76,932,238 384 661
384,661

6 2,478,052 17,346,361 86,732 6 21,369,172 149,584,204 747,921

8 4,264,180 29,849,258 149,246 8 36,623,671 256,365,699 1,281,828

8 HC 6,388,224 44,717,567 223,588 8 HC 54,951,598 384,661,188 1,923,306

12 9,944,389 69,610,722 348,054

, 12 85,476,688 598,336,817 2,991,684
, ,

12 HC 16,332,613 114,328,289 571,641 12 HC 140,428,286 982,998,005 4,914,990

Note 1: Turbine meters operating at 30% of Qmax average

2. Energy content of natural gas based on 1.0205 MBtu/cu.ft.
3. Cost of energy calculated based on $7.00 USD per MMBtu (including delivery)

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Questions ?

Oct. 8 2008

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References: Sensus repair manuals.

Sensus Turbine Meter hand book.
iMeter Presentation on Turbine Meter
Instromet System Handbook
AGA Report #7
AGA Report #8

Oct. 8 2008

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