Emerson’s new ultrasonic flow meters improve accuracy

Emerson Process Management has introduced new Daniel multi-path gas and liquid ultrasonic meters that feature a next-generation electronics platform.

The accuracy, line size breadth, and flexibility make the new JuniorSonic one-path (3411) or two-path (3412), and SeniorSonic four-path (3414) gas ultrasonic meters ideal for a number of flow measurement applications. In addition, the new four-path (3814) liquid ultrasonic meter expands on the functionality and performance of its predecessor, the 3804 liquid ultrasonic meter, to offer improved reliability for custody transfer applications.

With faster flow sampling rates, the new electronics platform significantly increases the data set used to calculate average velocity, allowing rapid recognition of changing flow dynamics. Users will have access to high-volume data capture as well as detailed flow parameters, including pressure, temperature, and gas composition, allowing the meter to act as a redundant flow computer.

Improved calculations for auditing or invoice resolution are enabled by the electronics’ fast delivery of key data from the meter’s audit trail. The audit trail complies with American Petroleum Institute Standard 21.1, and is supported by a standard 128 MB non-volatile memory. Access to alarms, events and configuration changes is provided in a matter of seconds.

Additionally, the meters’ electronics feature a compact circuit board for increased reliability and maintainability, simplifying field removal and reinstallation. The electronics retrofit Daniel legacy ultrasonic meters and are expandable, enabling future upgrades to help meet changing customer needs. The electronics support remote access as well as true 100BaseT Fast Ethernet connectivity to facilitate enterprise-wide communication and integration.

To further improve reliability and uptime, each Daniel gas ultrasonic meter is supplied with new, rugged T-20 Series transducers that are engineered for wet, rich and/or dirty gas applications.  The transducers facilitate troubleshooting by enabling operators to quickly detect and isolate problems, preventing unnecessary depressurization of the meter.

The new Daniel gas and liquid ultrasonic meters are also equipped with an updated version of MeterLink (v1.10), a configuration and diagnostic software that utilizes an intuitive interface to improve overall functionality and ease of use.  MeterLink displays abnormal flow profiles, upstream blockage, deposit build-up within the meter, and the existence of liquid hydrocarbon in gas.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Blockline and Associate Ltd Nigeria Ltd, online.

API-PA: Over $224 million invested in Pennsylvania communities by energy producers this year

API-PA, a division of the American Petroleum Institute, approved of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) statement that more than $224 mn will be distributed to local communities through the fees paid by natural gas producers under Act 13.

“Shale energy production is generating huge revenues for Pennsylvania in addition to driving job growth,” said Stephanie Catarino Wissman, Executive Director, API-PA.“Pennsylvania has collected more than $220 mn dollars from shale development fees for 2013 production. That translates into better roads, better housing, and better services for families and communities across the state.”

Under Act 13 of 2012, natural gas producers are required to pay a local impact fee which is deposited into the Unconventional Gas Well Fund. More than $630 mn has been collected from 2012-2014, according to the PUC. These revenues have supported housing initiatives, highway and bridge improvements, and environmental programs.

“Shale energy development, made possible by hydraulic fracturing, has transformed Pennsylvania’s economic future,” said Wissman. “The oil and natural gas industry is investing in communities, providing new revenue for the government and delivering a long-term path to new jobs for Pennsylvania workers. With the right policies moving forward, energy development will mean good news for the commonwealth for many years to come.”

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Blockline and Associate Ltd Nigeria Ltd, online.

Age of gas seen as sideshow as producers look to oil

The “golden age of gas” that the International Energy Agency foresees as a result of the U.S. energy boom is hardly the future being embraced by industry executives.

At least based on comments from company officials presenting at the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s conference in New York yesterday. For them, oil is still the prize. Gas is almost an afterthought.

Abraxas Petroleum Corp. CEO Bob Watson boasted about how much of his company’s proved reserves are oil and liquids rather than gas (74%). PDC Energy Inc. said it’s sitting on huge leases in gas fields that aren’t worth drilling. Whiting Petroleum Corp. Chairman and CEO James Volker explained why: oil sells for three times as much as the equivalent amount of natural gas.

That’s no knock against the producers for chasing oil - the commodity that makes the best return for their shareholders. Still, at a time when President Barack Obama is saying natural gas will be a bridge for the U.S. economy from fossil fuels to clean energy, the industry’s views put some realism into the discussion about what energy resources get unlocked by fracing shale rocks.

U.S. natural gas futures have plunged 72% from their 2005 peak to $4.476 as supply expanded to a record. Even after the coldest winter in decades drained stockpiles, the fuel costs about half as much as in Europe. Crude oil, by contrast, is stuck at around $100 a barrel. Even as the growth of U.S. oil supplies has brought the domestic price below the international benchmark, it’s still 7.6% higher than a year ago.

The U.S. is still very much addicted to oil. Consumption will inch up to 19 MMbbl a day this year, more than Europe and China combined, the IEA estimates. Even as expanding domestic supplies reduce imports, they haven’t curbed reliance on oil outright.

If natural gas is to be a bridge fuel, the transition can’t depend on supply alone.

Now that natural gas is so abundant, it needs more uses. While power plants are switching to gas, the U.S. still gets more electricity from coal.

Billionaire T. Boone Pickens wants trucks and buses to run on natural gas. The chemical industry is investing more than $100 bn in expansion projects spurred by cheap shale gas, according to the American Chemistry Council in Washington. And the Energy Department has approved seven projects to export about 9.3 Bcf a day of natural gas in liquid form.

In the time it takes for those new demand sources to develop, making natural gas more valuable in its own right, its role as a byproduct of oil drilling is contributing to more pollution. In North Dakota, drillers pumping oil in the Bakken shale formation are burning off about $1.4 million worth of natural gas every day.

While politicians and industry may pay lip service to natural gas as the clean fuel of the future, the companies out exploiting America’s oil fields leave no doubt that they’re interested in the same fuel as 100 years ago.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Blockline and Associate Ltd Nigeria Ltd, online.