I saw a tweet about “return-flow-from-rig capabilities” from Oil, Gas & Petrochem Equipment (OG&PE) publisher and editor, J.B. Avants. He points to a video where he interviews Emerson’s Denver Smart about applications for Micro Motion high-capacity Coriolis flowmeters. The video was captured at the recent Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2011.

In the video, Denver notes that the operating premise for Coriolis flow and density measurement is in applications up to 4-inch pipe diameters. The high-capacity extension to the Elite line increases the range to 12-inch diameter pipe applications.

He highlights some high-capacity applications where these meters were being place in service, including refinery crude oil receiving facilities, gas and oil pipeline systems, high-volume blending applications where precise flow and/or density measurements are required, and drilling fluid downhole and return flows from drilling rigs to help improve the safety and efficiency of those operations.

Denver shares some stats on capacity including flow rates between 6,600 and 15,000 barrels/hr (1050 and 2385 m3/hr) and mass flow rates up to 120,000 lbs/min (54,400 kg/min). The high capacity meters needed similar requirements to the original Coriolis meters to maintain the high accuracy on liquid flow, gas flow, and liquid density over a large range of flow turndowns. The meter has a 20:1 turndown for custody transfer applications and an overall 100:1 turndown capability.

A final point Denver highlights is the smart meter verification process, which allows online diagnostics to check the health of the meter and transmitter electronics while the meter remains in service. Uptime is usually critical in these large-capacity applications, so keeping these meters online and in service with in-situ meter verification is extremely important.