Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
John Lansing
1.6
1.4 ,- Expanded error limit +1.4% (CIj < q,)
1.2 l / _Repeatablhty O 4% (ql < ql)
1.0 - -_._-_._ .. _------------_ .. _---_ .. _--._----_._-_ .. --- Small meter error limit +1.0%
0.8
Large meter error limit +0.7%
0.6
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0.2
~ -0.0
0.4
r j
M(txirnurn po:!coio.-to--peaio. enor 0.7% (q, '" q,)
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Repeatability 0.2% (CIj ~ q,)
Large meter error limit -0.7%
Section 5 also discusses the potential effects of pressure, such as NIST, the National Institute for Standards and
temperature and gas composition on the USM. Here is Technology.
states '"'The UM shall meet the above flowmeasurement Individual meters are to be tested to strict tolerances for
accuracy requirements over the full operating pressure, leaks and imperfections. AGA 9 also specifies a Zero
temperature and gas composition ranges without the need Flow Verification Test and a FlowCal ibration Test
for manual adjustment, unless otherwise stated by the procedure (although a flowcalibration is not required).
manufacturer." There has been some concern about
calibrating a USM at one pressure and then operating at a If a flow calibration is perfonned, AGA 9 recommends
different pressure. Although there are a variety of the following flow rates: Qmin, 0.1 Qmax, 0.25Qmm
opinions on this, most feel the meter' s accuracy is not 0.4Qrnn' 0.7 Qmax and Qmn. These are simply suggested
significantly impacted by pressure [Ref 15]. data points, and the designer can specifY different. and
more, if they feel it is needed. Generally speaking
IjIr,' PlVIDUAL METER TESTIl\G REQUIREMENTS virtually all meters used for fiscal measurement are flow
Section 6 discusses how the manufacturer will perfonn calibrated.
tests on the USM prior to shipment. Many also call this After flow calibration, the user is given any number of
testing dry calibration. In reality dry calibration is simply options for adjustment. A flow weight mean error
an assembly process to help verifY proper meter operation (FWME) correction scheme is suggested for determining
prior being installed in the field. Since there were no a single meter factor. However, more sophisticated
calibration fac ilities in North America until the late techniques are also permitted such as polynomial and
1990' s, it was felt that if a manufacturer could precisely multi-point linearization.
control the assembly process, flow calibration would not
be required. Hence the tenn dry calibration has often If a USM is calibrated, AGA 9 discusses requirements the
been used to describe this section. calibration facility must adhere to. These include
documenting the name and address of the manufacturer
AGA 9 requires the manufacturer to document the and test facility, model and serial number of the meter.
internal diameter of the meter to the nearest 0.000 I fmnware revision and date. date of test. upstream and
inches. This is to be detennined from 12 separate inside downstream piping conditions. and a variety of other data
diameter measurements. This dimension is to be adjusted that is to be included in the test report. The test facil ity
back to 68 OF and reported on the documents. must maintain these records for a minimum of 10 years.
Measurements should be traceable to a national standard
INSTALLATION Rf.OUlRf.MEIIoTS a uni-directional installation. It states the thennowel1
Section 7 discusses many of the variables the designer should be at least 30 from the meter on a bi-directional
should take into consideration when using USMs. Some installation. This was based on some work done at SwRl
of the infonnation that went into this section was based under the direction of GRI in the 1990's. They found a
upon aClUal testing, but much was based upon a comfort slight influence at 20 upstream of USMs during some
level that was achieved with other electronic testing and thus the committee settled on 3D as a
measurement products such as turbine and orifice meters. reasonable distance.
In the environmental section basic infonnation that the A discussion on USMs must include flow conditioners.
designer should be mindful of is discussed. This includes The promise of the USM was they could handle a variety
ambient temperature, vibration and electrical noise of upstream piping conditions, and that there was no
considerations. pressure drop. However, today the users are looking to
reduce measurement uncertainty to a minimum value.
The piping configuration section is probably one of the Thus, most designers today do specify a high-
more important sections, and yet it was developed with perfonnance flow conditioner.
only limited empirical data. This is due in part to the lack
of test data that was available in 1998. For instance, No discussion on USMs would be complete without
Section 7.2.2 of AGA 9 discusses upstream piping issues. talking about how one gets from the meter's uncorrected
The intent here is to provide the designer with some basic output to a corrected value for billing. Since the USM is
designs that will provide accurate measurement. It states a linear meter, like a turbine, rotary and diaphragm (flow
"Recommend upstream and downstream pip ing rate is linear with velocity), the same equations used for
configuration in minimum length - one without a flow these devices apply to the USM. ThaI is, to convert
conditioner and one with a flow conditioner - that will uncorrected flow from a USM to corrected flow, the
not create an additional flow-rate measuremem error of equations detailed in AGA 7 are used.
more than {).3% due to the installation configuration.
This error limit should apply for any gas flow rate FIF.l.DVF.RtFiCATlON
between qmid and q...... The recommendation should be Section 8 briefly discusses field verification requirements.
supported by test data." In other words, the manufacturer Since each USM provides somewhat different software to
is required to let the designer know what type of piping is interface with the meter, AGA 9 was not too specific
permitted upstream so that the impact on accuracy will about how to verifY field perfonnance. Rather they left it
not be greater than 0.3%. up to the manufacturer to provide a written field
verification procedure that the operator could follow.
In 1998 most manufacturers fe lt their product was
Many papers have been given on this subject and to some
relatively insensitive to upstream piping issues. Much has
degree the field verification procedures are meter-
been published since that date, and, as a consequence of
manufacturer dependent [Ref 17 & 18).
this data, and the desire to provide the highest level of
accuracy, most users have elected to use a high- Typically today the operator would check the basic
perfonnance flow conditioner with their USM. Testing diagnostic features including velocity profile, speed-of-
has shown that the use of a 19-tube bundle, typical with sound by path, transducer perfonnance, signal to noise
turbine and orifice metering, will not improve the USM ratios and gain. One additional test is to compare the
perfonnance, and in most cases aClUally will degrade meter's reported SOS with that computed by a program
accuracy [Ref7]. based upon AGA 8 (Ref 19).
Some testing had been completed on step changes At the time of the first release there was no universally
between the USM and the upstream and downstream excepted document that discussed how to computer SOS.
piping [Ref 16]. The data basically showed the meter to However, in 2003 AGA published AGA Report No. 10,
be relatively insensitive to these changes. Based upon Speed of Sound in Natural Gas and Other Related
typical tolerances of pipe manufacturers, it was agreed to Hydrocarbon Gases [Ref 20]. This document, based
use a tolerance of I%. In reality the step change is much upon AGA 8, provides the foundation for computing SOS
less, espec ially if the designer specifies machine-honed that most software uses today.
pipe.
Regarding the surface finish and upstream lengths of AGA 9 - SECOND EDITION CHANGES
piping require, AGA 9 has been silent on this issue. A significant amount of testing has been perfonned since
Many customers prefer the finish to be less than 300 J.1 1998. More than two thousand USMs have been
inch (micro-inch) because they feel it is easier to clean installed, with the majority in fiscal measurement
should the piping become dirty. However, AGA 9 has no applications. For more than 5 years the TMC committee
such requirement. has been working on the second revision. Paul LaNasa of
CPL & Associates and Warren Peterson of TransCanada
Just like a turbine meter, a USM requires temperature Pipeline were the co-<:hainnen when the Second Edition
measurement. AGA 9 recommends the thennowell be was released in April 2007.
installed between 2D and 5D downstream of the USM on
The Second Edition adds more requirements for the USM. measurement section to have a conslant diameter within
These include changes and/or added discussion on meter 0.5%, effectively eliminating the use of out-of-round pipe.
accurac)', flow calibration, audit trail, meter and flow
A section on Quality Assurance has been added to require
conditioner qualification, pressure effects, transducer and the manufacturer to have a comprehensive quality
electronics change out, piping lengths, ultrasonic noise
assurance program in place.
from control valves, and a discussion on uncenainty
analysis. An option has been added to the Output Signal
Specifications Section that would permit selecting what
Section 2, Terminology, Units, and Definitions the frequenc y output should do in the event the meter is
This edition expands from Tenninology to provide to also over-ranged. That is, should the frequency go to zero or
include Units and Definitions. Many new definitions to some user-selected value if all signals are lost
were added to be more consistent with other AGA (simulating an over-ranged condition). This is important
documents. Significant additions include Accuracy, in the event the meter is over-ranged (traditionally the
Confidence Level, Discrete Error Values, Error, frequency would go to zero) and the output is used for
Maximum SOS Path Spread, Repeatability and automatic run switching. If the meter's output simply
Reproducibility just to name a few. The intent is to went to zero, the automatic run switching would not
provide the reader wilh a clearer understanding of the activate an additional run since the frequency would
various tenns used throughout the document. nonnally be zero.
1.6
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t
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0,6
0.6
0.'
0.2
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I-
l-
;
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-
-
L.-ge Meter I?: 12" NO)
Error LmI z -t{).1'" (q,?1\l
i\\SmoIM.,q~ ,,::1
C
~ .0.2 l- -
~ 0.4 l- I Max. peak-ro-peak EmIr
'-. " ....
Max. peak-lo-peak Error
0.6 I- i "1.0'll, (q,?1\l 0.7'110 (q,?1\l - Lqt Met I?: 12" NO)
EITOf li'ni1" ~.7'" (q,? 110)
.0.6 I- ,- 1:- MII...-...npeak~
'" 1."'" (q, < I\l
Error
s.n.I MeIef 12" NO)
-1.0 I- ..... ___ ,Repa, Error li'ni1 " .1.O'A. (110 ? 110)
-1 .2 I- !G.""" (q, < I\l L.-ge & Small Meter
-1 .4 I- - Error IiniI z 1 "'" (110 < I\l
q,~O. lq..
-1.6 l- I I I I I I I I I
,~ ~
Flow Rate (q j)
,-
Figure 2 - Performance Specification Summary for the Second Edition of AGA 9
BI-DIRECTIONAL
Section 8, Field Verification Tests times approaching $15 per thousand cubic feet. As a
consequence designers are challenged to further reduce
This section basically remains unchanged. It simply
uncertainty. Requiring flow calibration, providing
indicates the user should check their meter periodically to
recommendations on piping. and adding accuracy
insure proper operation. requirements for 50S are all intended to reduce
Section 9, Ultrasonic Meter Measurement Uncertainty uncertainty in the field.
Determination Today, in North America, most transmission and many
This is a new section that discusses the uncertainty of the distribution companies are using USMs for fiscal
USM. The types of uncertainties included are meter measurement. Even though ultrasonic meters have been
calibration, field, secondary instrumentation and a used for more than a decade, the industry is still learning.
reference to an analysis procedure that is included in an During the coming years certainly improvements by all
Appendix. This will help the designer understand all the manufacturers will continue. The second release of
various components that contribute to the total installed AGA 9, which was released in April, provides a
uncertainty of using a USM. substantial improvement in the document. However, just
like all AGA documents, there were features that did not
CONCLUSIONS make this release. Most certainly there will be a future
revision to address these and incorporate additional
During the past several years much has been learned
lessons learned about this technology.
about the use of ultrasonic meters. Testing has been
conducted not only by a variety of agencies such as GTI
(formally GRI), but by end users and calibration facilities. REFERENCES
This infonnation is be used to provide more guidance to 1. AGA Report No.9, Measurement of Gas by
the designer and user of USMs. Multipath Ultrasonic Meters, June 1998, American
Gas Association, 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington,
In the 1990' s metering accuracy was important, but today VA 22209
it is even more critical now that the price of natural gas is
consistently above $5 per thousand cubic feet, and at
2. AGA Engineering Technical Note M-96-2-3, 12. NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 1996 Edition,
Ultrasonic Flow Measurement for Natural Gas National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch
Applications, American Gas Association, 1515 Park. Quincy, MA 02269
Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209
13. John Lansing, Basics of Ultrasonic Flow Meters,
3. GERG Technical Monograph g (1995), Present ASGMT 2000. Houston, TX
Status and Future Research on Multi-path Ultrasonic
14. Klaus Zanker, Diagnostic Ability of the Daniel Four-
Gas Flow Meters, Christian Michelsen Research AS,
PoIh Ultrasonic Flow Meter, Southeast Asia Flow
the GERG Project Group and Programme Committee
Measurement Workshop, 2003. Kuala Lumpur,
No.2 - Transmission and Storage, Groupe Europeen
Malaysia
De Recherches Gazieres
15. Dr. Jim Hall, William Freund, Klaus Zanker & Dale
4. OIML R 6 General provisions for gas volume meters,
Goodson, Operation of Ultrasonic Flow Meiers at
1989 (E), International Recommendation.
Conditions Different Than Their Calibrolion,
Organization Internationale de Metrologie Legale,
NSFMW 2002, Scotland
Bureau International de Metrologie Legale, II, rue
Turgot - 75009 Paris - France 16. Umesh Kamik & John Geerlings, Effect of Steps and
Roughness on Multi-Path Ultrasonic Meters, ISFFM
5. OIML D II General requirements for electronic
2002, Washington, DC
measuring instruments, 1994 (E), Inlemational
Document. Organization Internationale de Metrologie 17. John Lansing, Smarr Monitoring and Diagnostics for
Legale, Bureau International de Metrologie Legale, Ultrasonic Meters, NSFMW 2000, Scotland
II , rue Turgot- 75009 Paris - France
18. John Lansing, Using Software to Simplify USM
6. AGA Transmission Measurement Committee Report Maintenance, AGA Operations Conference, 2003,
No.7, Measurement of Gas by Turbine Meters, Kissimmee, FL
American Gas Association, IS IS Wilson Boulevard,
19. AGA Transmission Measurement Committee Report
Arlington, VA 22209
No.8, Compressibility Factors of Natural Gas and
7. T. A. Grimley, Ultrasonic Meter Installation Other Related Hydrocarbon Gases, American Gas
Configuration Testing, AGA Operations Conference, Association, 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA
2000, Denver, CO 22209
8. John Lansing, Dirty vs. Clean Ultrasonic Flow Meter 20. AGA Report No 10, Speed afSound in Natural Gas
Performance, AGA Operations Conference, 2002, and Other Related Hydrocarbon Gases, July 2002,
Chicago,IL American Gas Association, 151 5 Wilson Boulevard,
Arlington, VA 22209
9. John Stuart, Rick Wilsack, Re-Calibration of a 3-
Year Old. Dirty, Ultrasonic Meier, AGA Operations 21. John Lansing, Ultrasonic Meier Station Design
Conference, 200 1, Dallas, TX Considerations, Western Gas Measurement Short
Course, 2003, Victoria, BC, Canada
10. James N. Witte, Ultrasonic Gas Meters from Flow
Lob to Field: A Case Study, AGA Operations 22. John Lansing, Benefits of Flow Calibrating
Conference, 2002, Chicago, IL Ultrasonic Meters, AGA Operations Conference,
2002, Chicago, IL
II. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49
Transportation, Part 192. (49 CFR 192),
Transportation of Natural Gas and Other Gas by
Pipeline: Minimum Federal Salety Standards, U.S.
Government Printing Office. Washington, DC 20402