I have nasty little dilemma - in our newly continuous operation we do not have a way to safely add inline or in pipe flow transmitters. As an older plant designed around periodic shut downs and boiler outages, isolation valves were not part of steam header's design. We therefore can't safely open these lines to add 'conventional' steam flow transmitters during our operations.

Any suggestions (- other than shutting down the plant!)?

Thank you in advance.

 

Mike: Do your plant procedures allow for making connections on a live steam line? This type of connection may be called a "Hot Tap". An isolation valve is installed during the process. Depending on the pipe size an insertion type of flow meter may suit your application.
These flow meters only require connections on the side of the pipe. There are insertion Vortex, Ultrasonic, Turbine, Thermal, etc. flow meters. The same type of tap can be used for pressure measurement for pressure
compensation.

I'm not sure if a temperature probe can be inserted through an isolation valve but a clamp-on style of RTD temperature sensor could be installed for temperature compensation.

Regards,
Brian Smith

 

You might consider hot tapping a flow meter in like a annubar (averaging pitot tube) or possibly an insertion vortex meter. You can find some information on these types of meters and hot tapping at:

http://www.hong-in.co.kr/flowmeter/down/brewery.pdf
http://www.rosemount.com/document/pss/4809pss.pdf
http://www.topazinc.com/info.htm
http://www.flowserve.com/srvnrepair/hot_tap.asp
http://www.plantservices.com/Web_First/ps.nsf/ArticleID/CBOH-5CZS3R/
http://www.aaliant.com/specsheets/vortex_insertion.pdf
http://www.prime-measurement.com/detail.php?ProductID=249&st=0&maxrows=5

The information provided above is for information purposes only and does not represent a recommendation for any products or services at these websites.

Bill Mostia
=====================================================
William(Bill) L. Mostia, Jr. P.E.
Partner
exida.com
Worldwide Excellence in Dependable Automation
[email protected] (b) [email protected] (h)
www.exida.com 281-334-3169
These opinions are my own and are offered on the basis of Caveat Emptor.

 

For a saturated steam measurement without the possibility of shutting down the line we are offering a flow meter that can be installed under pressure.

It is an Itabar averaging pitot tube with a flo tap option.

Please take a look at our webpage www.intra-automation.com or contact us at

303-410-9414 for further details.

 

There are a number of vendors that offer "Insertion" type meters for this service. These meters can be inserted into the system under pressure without system shut down. We offer a turbine meter for steam service in 2" and larger line sizes. In addition, there are averaging pitot tube type meters available for these same sizes from a number of companies such as Veris, etc. Please contact me for more info.

John Catch
http://www.inflowinc.com

 

Vortex flow meters are a very simple solution for your needs. No moving parts, easy to install. The overall best solution.

Michael Scoon
AW Company