Applying Density Meters in Liquid Hydrocarbon Measurement

Posted Today, under Flow
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Emerson's Dean Minehart


We often discuss aspects of some of the basic measurements in process control—flow, temperature, pressure, level, etc. Some other very important measurements in applications such as custody transfer, liquid interface detection, blending, separating, evaporating and product change—are density and viscosity—due to the changing composition of hydrocarbon liquids.

In a whitepaper, Application of Density Meters to Liquid Hydrocarbon Measurement, Emerson’s Dean Minehart highlights passages from the American Petroleum Institute (API) Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards (MPMS) that give guidance on online density meter selection/operation, sampling system design and field proving methods.

He opens noting:

Continuous density measurement may be accomplished with a device located in the main flowing stream or in a slipstream. Density measurement is utilized in both volumetric and mass measurement systems. Volumetric measurement requires the use of density to determine correction factors for temperature and pressure on a flowing liquid. Inferred mass measurement systems require density measurement at meter conditions to determine mass flow. Direct mass measurement systems require online density measurement at a meter prover to determine prover mass and calculate a mass meter factor.

The application will determine the selection of the right density meter to use. Continue Reading ▶

Growing Offshore Oil and Gas Reservoir Recovery Rates

Posted Yesterday, under Oil & Gas
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Emerson's Garrett Leahy


Emerson's Indy Chakrabarti


While oil prices continue to recover after a long industry slump, the challenge has now shifted to finding experienced people to plan and execute projects after so many have left the oil & gas industry.

One way to address this skills and experience shortage is to increase productivity among the current staff. In an Offshore magazine article, E&P software can be profit enabler in tough times, Emerson’s Garrett Leahy and Indy Chakrabarti open describing this challenge:

The result is that operators are now struggling to both quantify the value of potential opportunities and put in place the right strategies to deliver profitable production again.

Continue Reading ▶

Creating Pressure Relief Valve Fugitive Emissions Testing

Posted 2 days ago, under Oil & Gas
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Emerson's Amr Gado


Emerson's Calvin Deng


Globally, oil and gas producers seek ways to lower fugitive emissions for safety, environment and economic reasons. These are the unintended emissions of gases from pressurized parts of the production process.

At the upcoming April 30-May 3 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Emerson’s Amr Gado and Calvin Deng will present a paper, Pressure Relief Valves Fugitive Emissions Testing, on Thursday May 3 at 2:45pm as part of the Technical track, Striving Toward Safety Excellence in Offshore and Subsea Environments.

Emerson's D. Emile Tezzo


Their paper, written with Emerson colleague D. Emile Tezzo, provides an overview and look at the importance of fugitive emissions. They’ll review the existing emissions standards, and specifically their work with a leading oil & gas producers and third-party testing laboratory to develop a first-of-its-kind fugitive emissions testing program for pilot-operated pressure relief valves.

The major sources of regulations around fugitive emissions are the United States’ Clean Air Act and Germany’s TA-Luft. Valves are some of the most important devices to consider in a process when seeking to control and reduce emissions.

In the effort to create the testing program they looked to existing standards for valves with stems including: Continue Reading ▶

Technology Trends for Life Sciences Manufacturers

Posted 3 days ago, under Life Sciences
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We seem to be fully in the swing of industry conferences. This week is the pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing industries’ INTERPHEX conference in New York City. It:

…brings over 11,000 global industry professionals and 650+ leading suppliers together to “Learn It, Experience It, Procure It” through a combination of no cost technical conference, exhibits, demonstrations, and networking events to leverage quality, efficiency and cost effectiveness in today’s ever-changing global market.

If you’ll be there, make sure to catch these presentations:

  • Automation Trends Facing the Industry – Wed, 4/18, 11:15am-12:00pm – Interphex Live, Crystal Palace CP-2 – Featuring Peter Zornio, Chief Technology Officer Emerson Automation Solutions
  • Technology Keynote Series: Information Technology Trends and Best Practices – Data Integrity and Process Security – Wed, 4/18, 11:45am – 12:30pm – Interphex Innovation Stage – Featuring a panel of industry experts including Bob Lenich, Life Sciences Marketing Director Emerson Automation Solutions
  • Predictive Maintenance Leveraging IIoT Technology Can Become Your Competitive Advantage – Thurs, 4/19, 11:30am – 12:15pm – Technical Conference Stage 1, Booth 1076, Exhibit Hall – Featuring Niv Weisenberg, Sr. Reliability Consultant, Emerson Automation Solutions

Emerson's Bob Lenich


Emerson's Michalle Adkins


Emerson’s Bob Lenich and Michalle Adkins will also be at the Interphex conference. They’ve recently written an article for Pharma Bio World, Leverage the Industry 4.0 Revolution to Meet Market Challenges.

They open describing changes in the markets for manufacturers in the Life Sciences:

But with increasing levels of complexity and increased competition in the market, Life Sciences manufacturing is going through a transformation.

More flexibility is required: Continue Reading ▶

Digital Transformation for Refiners and Petrochemical Producers

Posted 4 days ago, under Refining, Wireless
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At the recent 116th American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) Annual Meeting, they discussed the many changes brought about by U.S. tax and regulatory policy changes, as well as the application of the advancing technology landscape.

Emerson's Marcio Donnangelo


In the conference daily publication, published by Hydrocarbon Processing magazine, Emerson’s Marcio Donnangelo highlighted one area of technology advancement in an article, Industrial apps simplify data analytics (p10).

He opened describing the business drivers for incorporating new technologies:

Refinery operators must focus on process optimization and blending crudes to achieve the most profitable operations. Asset and equipment failure can lead to downtime, spoiling these and other strategies, so operators are constantly searching for ways to improve uptime.

While real-time control has been a longstanding part of refining and petrochemical processes, wireless instrumentation has enabled additional monitoring applications that were not economically or technically feasible. For example:

New non-intrusive instruments technologies—such as inside-of-pipe temperature, corrosion, acoustic and others—eliminate leak points and further reduce the overall cost and time of installation by removing the need for pipe cutting, drilling or welding.

Once a wireless infrastructure is set up to monitor one or more pieces of equipment, additional wireless instruments can be added and joined to the existing network for very little marginal cost.

From a software application standpoint: Continue Reading ▶

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