Most equipment in a refinery doesn’t die of old age because it has been built to stand up to temperature and pressure extremes for decades. It these unforgiving environments, shoddy design or construction simply won’t survive.
This understanding shows in the design of the Rosemount 9295 Process Flow Meter, which Dan Cychosz discusses in his article in the AFPM 2019 Annual Meeting Program, Optimizing DP Flow Applications in Refineries. It’s a quick read, but Dan digs into many design trade-offs common to flow meters in refinery environments.
Best practices call for relatively long, straight and smooth pipe sections upstream and downstream from the primary element. Standards specify that as much as 44 pipe diameters upstream and five diameters downstream are required to achieve maximum accuracy. This can make mounting a DP flow meter in complex and congested piping a challenge.
And another point:
DP flow meters usually have impulse lines between the transmitter and both sides of the primary element. The design and construction of the impulse lines have a major influence on the success of the installation. If poorly executed, they can be prone to many problems including clogging, freezing and slugs of gas or liquid. In refineries, they are governed by strict piping requirements that specify welding techniques, isolation valves, etc.
Rosemount has taken these and other critical needs into consideration in the design of the 9295. Dan explains several of the features, such as the Conditioning Orifice Technology, and how applying them resulted in the final configuration of the 9295. All the elements work together to ensure the flow meter meets relevant piping requirement standards, along with the practical needs learned from decades of experience. Everything works together for a common purpose.
This product represents a combination of proven technologies optimized for use in harsh environments. It is built to provide a long and reliable life in refineries, and the electronic components can be replaced on the fly without shutting down the line. Effective process control and safety in a refinery or petrochemical plant depends on effective instrumentation. Instrumentation provides the eyes and ears into a process, letting operators know what is happening inside pipes and vessels. DP transmitters capture much of the data necessary to keep production units working correctly and safely, and with today’s technologies, they can do a better job than ever.
You can find more information like this and meet with other people looking at the same kinds of situations in the Emerson Exchange365 community. It’s a place where you can communicate and exchange information with experts and peers in all sorts of industries around the world. Look for the Pressure and Flow Groups and other specialty areas for suggestions and answers.