30 June 2020

FLOW METER FOCUS

Common Q&A’s from flow meter users

Can We Make Our Operation Safer?

In this issue:
• Risk Prevention “Safety is our number one concern”. At GM Flow, we
firmly believe that a good safety policy fully understands all
• Changing Orifice Plates the risks involved in a workplace and sets out a plan to work
• Accuracy and act in such a manner that the risks to personnel and
equipment are reduced to as low as reasonably possible
• Turndown Ratio (ALRAP). Preventative methods for risk mitigation are
normally represented by the image below left.
• Personnel
• Turndown Ratio

When considering a task, our first thought should be, can we

eliminate the risk? An example of risk elimination is the use
of Cordless drills to get rid of trailing cables. Next, if we can’t
eliminate the risk, can we substitute a less risky process for
the same result? Replacing ladders with tower scaffolds is
an example of risk substitution. If none of these methods are
suitable, can we engineer a solution to reduce or eliminate
the risk? Adjusta-Cone provides an example of an
engineering control used to eliminate a risk.

If a solution to a particular risk cannot be found with the above

methods, the next level of control is to use procedures and
administrative controls to try to prevent a risky situation arising. The
best-known administrative control is the work permit, where hazard
identification and recording, operational procedure, safety checks,
personnel competence and safety equipment are all required to be in
place and verified prior to work taking place.
Last and not least is PPE. Personal protective equipment normally
consists of steel toed boots, fire resistant coveralls, hard hat, gloves
and safety glasses. This level of control is your very last defence
against injury. It is not a suit of armour and will only provide some
protection in the event of a fire for example. The last two defence
mechanisms rely on people adhering to the procedure or wearing the
PPE properly. The very nature of people, means that these last two
controls might sometimes get bypassed, for example gloves or
glasses taken off to perform a difficult task can result in an accident.
Risks Involved in Orifice Plate Changing Operation

One operation which is regularly carried out on well testing operations is the changing of orifice plates within a dual chamber orifice fitting.
This operation has high levels of risks associated with it, relating to:
1) Hazardous gas releases under normal conditions of use.
2) Gas Leakage due to corrosion, erosion or poor maintenance practice
3) Inexperienced operators getting injured by ejected orifice plates
4) Mis-measurement due to incorrect plate sizing
5) Several attempts to install the correct size

Normally two or more people are required to be present to make an orifice plate
change, which happens for several reasons:
1) During the operation, a small amount of gas is normally released during the
plate retrieval process. This may contain deadly H2S, so two people act in a
buddy system in case one gets overcome by H2S1.
2) Poorly maintained dual chamber fittings can leak gas continuously during plate
changing operations. It is not uncommon for one person to have to pump
grease into the fitting, to stop or reduce the leak.
3) Should an inexperienced operator start to change the orifice plate, using the
wrong procedure, this can result in an orifice plate being ejected upwards, out
of the orifice carrier at high velocity. Many operators adopt a leaning back
stance, with their face well away from the top of the carrier, for this very
reason. Both operators are required to find and verify to the other, the orifice
hole size which is printed on the plate they intend to install. This will prevent
the wrong sized plate from being accidentally loaded into the carrier. As they
wind down the plate, into the fitting, they watch the differential pressure
carefully to make sure it stays within the limits set by their company - usually
20-80% or 25-75% of the DP range.
4) Operators must be very careful not to install a plate that is too small, which can
cause an excessive DP to be generated across the relatively thin and flimsy
orifice plate. If the DP is too high it can deform and bend the plate inside the
carrier, resulting in an expensive and time-consuming repair operation and at
the very least a measurement error2. This will result in many hours of downtime, which may lead to fines or penalties being incurred.
5) Since the operators are apprehensive about potentially installing a plate with an orifice hole which is too small, they invariably install
one which is at first too large. Thus, they may take several
attempts to install the correct plate size, to satisfy the DP
criteria. With each one taking 10 minutes or so to carry out, the
entire process of installing the correct and final plate may take
perhaps 30-60 minutes before any data is gathered.
6) Both operators are required to also double check that the plate
is installed into the carrier in the correct flow direction, so that
the reading will be correct. If the plate is accidentally installed
backwards, the calculated flow rate will be in error by some 15-
25%,3,4

“It wouldn’t be the first time

that I’ve seen a plate blown out
of the fitting”

1. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/f43987b8-1506-4afe-bc99-d27e496fef95/resource/28f7023a-b90a-459f-b73c-572f5060c10b/download/fr-
2008-03-07.pdf
2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258785318_The_impact_of_the_orifice_plate_deformation_on_the_differential_pressure_value
3. https://control.com/forums/threads/orifice-plate-installation.32146/
4. https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/gen-comm/info-notices/1990/in90065.html
Reduction in Personnel Intervention

Customers are constantly trying to reduce costs, from having fewer personnel on site, to
moving to unmanned, not normally manned and remote monitoring and control operations.
Additional social distancing requirements for Covid-19 prevention have added a new type of
risk during orifice plate changing operations. Remote monitoring, control and even to fully
autonomous operation of flowmeters is therefore seen as even more attractive to customers
in 2020. Utilising a flowmeter with automatic functionality reduces the risks to the operators,
since they are not present, making orifice plate changes or potentially making mistakes during
the operation. Social distancing can be maintained, and personnel are not pressured into
working closely, as they would while changing an orifice plate.

Operating Envelope

Turndown ratio is defined as the ratio of the maximum flow rate divided by the minimum flow rate, which can be measured by a flow meter.

A standard well test separator is normally fitted with parallel flow runs, to compensate for the very narrow operating range of an orifice
plate. Each plate has a turndown ratio of only 3 or 4:1 meaning that in order to cover a wide range of flows which could be expected, as
many as 27 orifice plates must be kept on site, in good condition and with clearly marked hole sizes.

An ideal flowmeter would be capable of measuring the entire flow range expected, with as few interactions as possible, while still
maintaining adherence with the relevant AGA/ISO standards. Given that test separators can operate normally between say 100 and 1350 psi,
the turndown required increases massively, to 250:1 in many cases, due to this pressure range fluctuation. A flowmeter should therefore be
able to operate successfully across this entire envelope.

Generally the second dual chamber fitting is at head hight or above, adding “working at height” risk to the equation, so a single flow meter
which could replace both meters would be attractive to users.

Stabilised Flow

When a well is initially opened, the flow can vary dramatically, until the reservoir fluids are being carried smoothly to surface without
surging, producing sand or behaving in some other desirable fashion. It is common to bypass the separator for this time, or to flow through
the separator without an orifice plate in situ.

A desirable flowmeter could start measuring immediately the well is opened up, gathering valuable data which may otherwise be missed. If
the same meter could be made to be automatically adjusting, so that it could be set to always start in a safe position (equivalent to having
a large diameter orifice plate installed) then automatically switch to a smaller range, if the flow was too small for the initial setting would
make it very attractive. Flow rates could be read, from the moment the well is diverted to the separator, resulting in perhaps 1-2 hours of
additional data which would otherwise be missed with an orifice plate meter. Similarly, when a choke setting is changed, the well may take
1-2 hours to stabilise enough to allow an orifice plate to be fitted. An automatic flow meter could detect the flow rate change and change
the flow range accordingly.

In the next article, of this series, GM Flow will discuss data accuracy, swirl, installation effects, pipework requirements, cost
of ownership, corrosion and erosion effects, and other considerations which should be taken into account when considering
a differential pressure meter for gas measurement.