Flowmeter Calibration: How, Why, and Where

Here's What Happens When You Send Your Flowmeter Out to a Major Calibration
Lab
By Jesse Yoder
August 01, 2000

So you just got that new flowmeter and you are about to install it. How do you know it's accurate? How accurate?
Flowmeter calibration answers these questions. But what is calibration, and how is it applied to flowmeters? One
dictionary defines "to calibrate" as "to standardize (as a measuring instrument) by determining the deviation from
a standard so as to ascertain the proper correction factors." There are two key elements to this definition:
determining the deviation from a standard, and ascertaining the proper correction factors.

Deviation From a Standard

To measure deviation, it is first vitally important to determine the actual flowrate. In flowmeter calibration, this is
normally done by one of two methods: using a master meter, or weighing the flow to get a gravimetric reading of
mass flow.

A master meter is a flowmeter that has been calibrated to a very high degree of accuracy. Types of flowmeters
used as master meters include turbine meters, positive displacement meters, venturi meters, and Coriolis
meters. In the U.S., master meters are often calibrated at a flow lab that has been certified by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST certification of a flowmeter lab means that its methods have
been approved by NIST. Normally, this includes NIST traceability, meaning that the standards used in the
flowmeter calibration process have been certified by NIST or are causally linked back to standards that have
been approved by NIST.

The second method involves gravimetric weighing of the amount of fluid (liquid or gas) that actually flows through
the meter into or out of a container during the calibration procedure. This is normally done using a weigh scale
that has a very high degree of accuracy. Just as a master meter needs to be traceable to NIST, the weigh scale
must be approved by NIST or calibrated using standards traceable to NIST. The gravimetric method is generally
regarded as the most accurate way to measure the actual amount of flow.

Correction Factors
The second component of calibration is determining the proper correction factors. It is easy to think of flowmeter
calibration in terms of adjusting a bathroom scale, where we simply use a knob to zero the scale when there is
no weight on it. Once this adjustment is made, the scale is "calibrated" and we may then assume that it reads
correctly. But you may notice that you always seem to weigh more on your own scale than you do at your health
club. Both scales may be zero-adjusted, yet one may consistently give higher weight readings than the other.

It is easy to see how to resolve a dispute between two scales. Bring them both together, and compare them to a
certified scale that you know is highly accurate. But suppose one scale consistently weights two pounds heavy?
Or, perhaps it weighs one pound heavy up to 80 pounds, 1.5 pounds heavy up to 130 pounds, and two pounds
heavy beyond 130 pounds. How do you correct this scale?

There are some parallels to flowmeter calibration, since getting a flowmeter to read zero flow under no-flow
conditions may be part of the calibration process, and is not always as simple as it sounds.

There is often no simple hardware adjustment to make the flowmeter start reading correctly. Instead, the
deviation from the correct reading is recorded at a variety of flowrates. The data points are plotted, comparing
the flowmeter output to the actual flowrate as determined by the master meter or weigh scale.

In many cases, the data reflecting flowmeter performance at a range of flowrates is made available to the end
user. This data may also be used to create a compensating formula so the user can determine the flowrate
within a specified range of accuracy. This compensating formula is parallel to the instruction, "Add two pounds to
the weight of the scale," which represents a simple correction formula for a scale. But usually it will be more
complex, since flowmeter performance often varies at different flowrates. For example, many flowmeters have a
more difficult time accurately measuring low flowrates than they do higher flowrates.

Your Calibrated Flowmeter

Once your flowmeter is calibrated, it may still read exactly the same under the same flow conditions as it did
before it was calibrated. The difference is that you will know exactly how close those values are to the true
values, and you will have a formula to use to calculate the true values from the actual values read by your
flowmeter.

Of course, if your flowmeter was inaccurate because of some correctable hardware problem or because it was
programmed incorrectly to begin with, your newly calibrated flowmeter may read much more accurately than it
did before. This could happen to an orifice-plate flowmeter if the plate was positioned improperly or to an
ultrasonic flowmeter if one of the ultrasonic beams was not being included in the flowrate calculation.

There are many different reasons why a flowmeter might read improperly, and some are correctable. But even if
a deviation is not correctable by a hardware adjustment or by reprogramming, your flowmeter can still provide
highly accurate readings once it has been calibrated so you can make the necessary adjustments to the output
values.

When and Why

There is no simple rule to determine when to calibrate a flowmeter, since calibration factors are highly relative to
the specific flowmeter technology. For example, orifice plates are subject to wear and need to be checked
periodically for accuracy. This period could be once a year, but it depends on the type of fluid being measured
and whether the fluid is clean or dirty.

Flowmeters with moving parts, such as turbine and positive-displacement meters, need to be calibrated
periodically to determine the effects of wear on the meters. Many experts believe that ultrasonic flowmeters used
to measure natural gas should be calibrated before they are put into service. Once they are in service, however,
calibration requirements are minimal since these meters do not have moving parts and are not subject to wear. If
you are in doubt about your type of flowmeter, check with your supplier or a flowmeter expert for advice about
calibration. Table I lists different types of flowmeters and gives reasons why each type may need calibration.

A Sampling of Labs
Many flowmeter suppliers maintain an onsite laboratory for calibration purposes, and some end users maintain
their own facilities and perform their own flowmeter calibration. But if you need to send a flowmeter to an outside
laboratory for calibration, there are some excellent facilities in the U.S. Three of the best are Colorado
Engineering Experimental Station (CEESI), Nunn, Colo.; CEESI Iowa, Clear Lake, Iowa, and Southwest
Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas.

I recently visited these three facilities to get a better perspective on flowmeter calibration. I found that each lab
has its own history, its strengths, and its areas of specialization.

The history of CEESI Colorado begins in 1951, when it began operation as a program of the College of
Engineering of the University of Colorado at Boulder. The program was concerned with researching and testing
small rockets for the Naval Ordinance Test Station at China Lake, Calif. In the 1950s, the station was the only
one used by the military to test turbine flowmeters. In 1966, CEESI moved to its present location, which is an
abandoned Atlas missile site. In 1986, Steve Caldwell and Walt Seidl purchased the facility and turned it into a
commercial calibration laboratory.

CEESI specializes in testing and calibrating a variety of types of flowmeters including ultrasonic, Coriolis,
magnetic, positive-displacement, turbine, vortex, and differential-pressure (Figure 1). The facility also tests many
types of valves, including control, ball, safety relief, check, and plug valves. CEESI can test and calibrate both
liquid and gas flowmeters. A Brooks Compact Prover is used for volumetric liquid tests, while turbine meters are
used as transfer standards. CEESI also has three different gravimetric water systems: low range weighs 50
pounds of water, midrange weighs 1,200 pounds of water, and high range weighs 16,000 pounds of water
(Figure 2).
 Lot

Colorado Experimental Engineering Inc. The high-range CEESI's Iowa facility

(CEESI) is equipped to calibrate many gravimetric weigh includes a natural gas
types of flowmeters and valves. tank system at custody-transfer station.
CEESI can weigh The author stands in
more than 16,000 front of the 42 in. supply
pounds of water. pipeline.

For gas flow, CEESI has numerous test areas to accommodate varying test conditions. In addition to the
numerous secondary systems, three primary systems are currently in use. A fourth system that combines the
PVTt and Mass Time methods will be operational this year.

The CEESI Iowa facility was built recently to provide a location for testing and calibrating ultrasonic natural gas
flowmeters. It's on a custody-transfer station where ownership of natural gas from Northern Border Pipeline of
Canada is transferred on its way to customers in Chicago and other cities. The natural gas is delivered in a 42-in.
pipeline, diverted to CEESI Iowa's flow lab facilities, then returned to the pipeline (Figure 3). Twelve turbine
meters serve as the transfer standards (Figure 4). CEESI Iowa calibrated its first flowmeter in March 1999, a 12
in. Instromet ultrasonic flowmeter. Soon after, a 30 in. Instromet ultrasonic meter was calibrated.
Figure 4: Measuring Up Figure 5: Takes High Pressure

Some of the 12 turbine flowmeters that serve as the The high-pressure loop at Southwest Research
transfer standard at CEESI Iowa. Institute circulates gas with a turbine-driven
compressor at up to 30% of the capacity of a 12
in. ultrasonic meter.

The unique aspect of CEESI Iowa is the high natural gas flowrate. From one to two billion cubic feet of natural gas
flow through this facility every day. The high flowrate makes it possible to calibrate large natural gas flowmeters,
from six to 30 in.

It would be very expensive to artificially generate such high flowrates, and CEESI Iowa is currently the only facility
in the U.S. where ultrasonic flowmeters more than 20 in. in diameter can be calibrated. Prior to the opening of
CEESI Iowa, users had to ship their large natural gas ultrasonic flowmeters to Europe for calibration. "Even though
most of our calibrations so far have been ultrasonic, we can calibrate flowmeters ranging in size from four to 30
inches," says Steve Caldwell, CEESI vice president. "Between our two facilities in Iowa and Colorado, we are
equipped to calibrate almost any type of meter, liquid or gas."

Tom Slick Jr., a wealthy oilman, founded Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in 1947. Slick donated a 750-acre
tract to get the institute started. Operations began in the Cable House, formerly a ranch headquarters building. In
the early years, scientists conducted research in gas mixtures, engines, fuels, lubricants, loop antennas, and other
areas. Today SwRI occupies 1,200 acres and is carrying out ongoing research in a wide variety of areas including
materials research, space sciences, engineering dynamics, nuclear waste, fluid dynamcs, nondestructive testing,
and pharmaceutical research. SwRI has ongoing contracts with many different private and government agencies
(including NASA) to carry out specific research projects.

The Gas Research Institute (GRI) established the Metering Research Facility (MRF) on the grounds of SwRI in
1991. The Metering Research Facility is owned by the Gas Research Institute and operated on its behalf by
Southwest Research Institute. The facility consists of a high-pressure loop for large-diameter, high-pressure
applications and a low-pressure loop for lower-pressure and lower-volume applications (Figure 5). The high-
pressure loop is a recirculating flow facility that uses transmission-grade natural gas purchased from a local gas
supplier. The gas is circulated by a turbine-driven compressor that limits the flowrate to roughly 30% of the
capacity of a 12-in. ultrasonic meter. The closed-loop arrangement allows precise control of temperature and
pressure over a range of about 160 to 1,000 psig.
Figure 6: Testing

A Daniel ultrasonic natural gas flowmeter inline for

calibrating at Southwest Research Institute.

It takes several million dollars worth of equipment to generate the correct amount of pressure and temperature to
calibrate large flowmeters. This facility can handle ultrasonic flowmeters from six to 20 in. diameter (Figure 6).
More than half the available time at the Metering Research Facility is used for commercial testing and meter
calibration, with the remainder devoted to GRI-sponsored research. The GRI-funded component of the MRF
program is scheduled to end in 2004, at which time the MRF will rely solely on funding received directly from the
natural gas industry and its suppliers.

Get It Done
No matter what kind of flowmeters you have, they need to be checked and possibly recalibrated periodically. How
often depends on the type of flowmeter and the operating conditions. Even though calibration may seem like a
complex process, it has the potential of saving you many dollars and also the headaches that can arise from have
a meter that does not read accurately. While your flowmeter supplier is one possible calibration source, there are
also a number of flow labs in the U.S. that can calibrate your meters.

Table I: Reasons to Calibrate Different Types of Flowmeters

Type Technology Reasons
Differential pressure The flow path is obstructed with a Orifice plates, cones, and venturis
primary element and the difference wear; pitot tubes dirty; transmitter
in pressure is measured before failure
and after the primary element.
Magnetic The voltage generated by Electrode coating, liner damage,
electrically condudctive material electronic failure.
passing through a magnetic field is
measured to calculate flowrate.
Coriolis Fluid passes through a vibrating Wear and coating of the flow
tube. The vibration amplitide is tubes; electronic failure.
proportional to mass flow.
Open channel Some use liquid levels at flumes or Accumulated debris; level
weirs; others calculate flow from transmitter calibration; electronic
velocity, depth, level, and/or failure of transmitter.
diameter data.
Positive-displacement Fluid is captured in a known Corrosion, dirty liquids, and
volume and released--flowrate is abrasion change the volume;
calculated by counting volumes. bearing wear degrades accuracy;
solids can cause plugging; gear
service affects calibration.
Thermal mass Heat loss or temperature rise is Sensor wear or failure, leaks.
measured when the fluid passes
over a heated wire thermistor or
over a heater.
Turbine Fluid passes over a rotor--flowrate Bearings dirty or affected by
is proportional to rotor speed. chemicals, rotors wear; bearing
service affects calibration,
electronic failure.
Ultrasonic Fluid speed measured by the time Calibrate before placing in service,
it takes an ultrasonic wave to changes in fluid sonic properties,
travel a specified distance. electronic failure.
Variable area Flowrate proportional to the height Plugging, material buildup,
of a float in a metering tube. metering tube failure.
Vortex A shedder bar generates vortices Vibration, expansion due to
proportional to the flowrate. temperature variations, flowmeter
off-center in pipe,
electronic failure.

About the Author

Jesse Yoder, president of Wakefield, Mass.-based Flow Research, has 13 years experience as
an analyst and writer in process control, specializing in flowmeters and other field devices
including level, pressure, and temperature instrumentation. He has written more than 25 market
research studies in industrial automation and process control, including the recent World Market
for Infrared Thermometers and Thermal Imaging Systems. Yoder may be reached at (781) 224-
7550 or mailto:[email protected]. For more information on Flow Research, visit
http://www.flowresearch.com

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