NASA, Feb 2014

John Van Nostrand

Case Study: NASA / Portable measuring station

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Agenda

1 NASA needed a portable billing gas meter

2 Remote monitoring of Helium, Nitrogen, & Hydrogen

3 Portable metering cart

4 NASA can now bill form any location

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 Customer and Case

The Engineers at NASA must rapidly deploy a Flexim gas meter for billing
purposes.

The amount of time the meter must be deployed can vary.

Must be self sustaining

Accurate gas usage is paramount for billing purposes with rapidly changing
conditions

High volume

Low volume

It is important to acquire a lot of data in order to determine the system demand
at different stages of the measurement period.

For example, very low flow may be needed during leak detection

The demand for propellants increases dramatically when preparing for a
launch sequence.

There is a need for lots of data

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Agenda

1 NASA needed a portable billing gas meter

2 Remote monitoring - Helium, Nitrogen, & Hydrogen

3 Portable metering cart

4 NASA can now bill form any location

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 Application - Customer Motivation

Together NASA and Flexim engineers developed a self sustaining solution with
the following criteria:

Must be portable

Measure all necessary gases

Semi permanent applications

Need for lots of data

Remote locations over rough terrain

Sometimes used indoors

Rapid deployment

Flexible for data collection or Radio link

Solar and 110 VAC

Many of the applications would be in remote locations Atlas V Nitrogen demand test

Atlas V shown above is used to carry cargo to the International Space Station

Cargo must be sterile and pressurized with Nitrogen to keep germ free

Helium is used for leak detection

Hydrogen is a fuel source

Flexim meters used for testing the launch sequence

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 Application - Measurement Points

Remote locations with no electricity.

Indoor and outdoor locations

Many of the locations are across gravel parking lots,

Exposed to the elements; hot sun and lots of rain.

Line sizes and pressures vary.

Galley of the Atlas V launch pad

Pressurized feed lines

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Application - Measurement Points

Storage Bank

No power available

Pressure >3,000 PSI

Typical Flexim billing metering

station at launch pad

Portable meter used for
calibration verification

Pressure <150psi

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Agenda

1 NASA needed a portable billing gas meter

2 Remote monitoring of Helium, Nitrogen, & Hydrogen

3 Portable metering cart

4 NASA can now bill form any location

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Portable monitoring station

Modbus radio
85 Watt Solar

Flexim meter 12 VDC

Terabyte storage

Radio antenna

Deep Cycle battery

Panel fits inside

110 VAC input
Expandable
cables for
temp, 4-20,
and
transducers

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Agenda

1 NASA needed a portable billing gas meter

2 Remote monitoring of Helium, Nitrogen, & Hydrogen

3 Portable metering cart

4 NASA can now bill form any location

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Remote location

Customer comments:
“This is terrific, now we can see what the client is using
and log, or transmit real time data at one second intervals.”

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