Real Life Experience With Multipath Ultrasonic Gas Flow Meters

Multipath ultrasonic gas flow meters are to be considered as newcomers among flow meters for large, high pressure gas flows. Although the advantages of this type of meters are many and obvious, the metering community is still hesitating to go for it mainly because of lack of experience. The objective of this paper is to present the experience of Statoil after more than six years experience with multipath ultrasonic gas flow meters. Our experience includes laboratory testing and operation in the field for a variety of designs and dimensions. This paper presents the accuracy achieved by such meters including comparison between ultrasonic meters and orifice metering systems in operation, the unique possibilities that this type of meter offers for on-line verification of performance and installation effects. Of particular interest should be noted that in the vicinity of low-noise control valves, such meters could stop functioning completely if no precautions are taken.