The metering of crude oil is an important application for all phases, from exploration to production to refining. There are some challenges to measurements such as accuracy, repeatability, viscosity change, and turnaround.

Inline ultrasonic flow metering technology offers a comprehensive crude oil metering solution with unique features that make this technology the best.

The oil flow from the extraction well or production facility to a refinery must be measured at different locations on its route. These locations are:

• After separators
• Cross-country pipe line inlet or outlet
• Ship loading and unloading
• Refinery crude oil supply line inlet
• Crude oil metering system
• Refinery internal circulation
• Production column inlet
• FCC feed.

What makes inline ultrasonic flow technology the most appropriate measurement for crude oil metering?

The main reason behind using ultrasonic flow technology for crude oil metering is that there won’t be any pressure drop in the meter as it has a multi-beam design and not an intrusive in-line spool.

There are no moveable parts and therefore, no wear and tear, no loss of pressure, no clogging. The technology uses bi-directional flow measurement. Fluid properties have no effect on the performance of the crude oil meter. It can therefore be used for multi-viscosity and varying crude oil density.

Crude oil metering at various applications using ultrasonic flow meters

Pipeline transport and storage – crude oil is transported to intermediate storage and refineries from production. There is a possibility of very high pressure building up in the line during further transport in case of emergencies.

Crude oil often has a high wax or paraffin content while different viscosities are also a challenge for measuring crude oil metering.

Coagulation of this wax on the walls of the flow meter and different viscosities cause enormous problems for mechanical meters.

Custody transfer metering of crude oil using ultrasonic flow meters

Custody Transfer metering is an application in which the most important parameters are precision and repeatability. Ultrasonic flow meters handle multiple crude oil viscosity without affecting precision and repeatability.

The meters do not drift, and therefore for these meters, no recalibration is required. These are some of the features of the inline ultrasonic flow meters that make it the perfect solution for the crude oil metering of custody transfer.

Key points

Ultrasonic flow meters fitted to the outside of the pipe to measure corrosive liquids without damaging the sensors and the flow velocity in a pipe. Ultrasonic flow meters are best used with clean water or oil. Hence, flow meters are used in crude oil metering.