Ultrasonic Flow Meters Gain Traction As A Robust Tool For Measuring Hydrocarbon Vapors

Oil and gas companies rely on accurate flow measurement anywhere that hydrocarbons are being stored — including terminals and loading/offloading facilities — as well as upstream, where crude oil is pulled from the ground and small amounts of gas byproduct are commonly flared.

In all these scenarios, metering reliably is critical to addressing regulatory requirements, and with the increasing pressure to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, improved measurement accountability also helps to achieve corporate environmental stewardship and sustainability goals.

Until now, thermal mass flow meters were the primary choice for hydrocarbons. While these devices work well with known pure gases, the changing mixtures that occur with hydrocarbon gases can make metering them a more complex task. As a result, thermal mass meters are subject to inherent errors due to changing compositions. Newer ultrasonic flow meters, by comparison, can handle the task with an additional sensitivity to low flow rates.