According to the Energy Institute’s 2025 Statistical Review of World Energy, which includes data up to the end of 2024, energy from oil accounted for a third of global energy consumption. Oil refineries receive crude oil from producers and transform it into usable energy sources, including transportation fuels, residential & commercial heating, industrial production, petrochemicals, and other non-energy uses.
The refining process begins with crude oil being received into storage tanks, then sent to the desalter unit to remove naturally occurring salts. It’s important to significantly reduce these salts to minimize corrosion, enhance process efficiency, improve production quality, and reduce environmental contamination.
I share this as background for a Fluid Handling Pro article, “Achieving Precision Measurement with the Roxar Watercut Meter from Emerson.” In the article, Emerson’s Kelda Dinsdale shares the story of a Chinese refinery that needed to monitor and analyze the crude oil and water going into the desalter unit.
The customer previously had no measurement check and was relying on supplier’s metering data regarding the quantity and quality of the crude oil being transferred. Emerson provided a mass and water cut metering system at the refinery, enabling the customer to measure, monitor and analyze the crude oil variability. The metering system utilizes the Roxar Watercut Meter and the Micro Motion™ ELITE Peak Performance Coriolis Flow and Density Meters.
Kelda referenced the case study, “The Roxar Watercut Meter Enables Process Efficiency in a Large Refinery in Tianjin, China.”
This case study shares additional information about this successful application.
The refinery has limited crude oil tank storage available. The purchased crude oil is transferred from the supplier’s storage tank directly into the desalting unit by pipeline. In the past, there was no measurement check at the site, which meant the customer had to rely on the supplier’s metering data regarding the quantity and quality of the crude oil being transferred. Periodic manual sampling was performed to verify supplier metering data, however, this was felt to be insufficient verification.
A challenge in this business is the crude oil variability and the fact that the refinery deals with a wide range of frequently changing crude oil compositions and water contents, which are critical parameters to monitor. Manual sampling methods have limitations. The refinery tested some measurement options, however, did not achieve the accuracy and performance required. The customer was keen to find a successful measurement solution and remove reliability on the measurement provided by the crude oil supplier.
The refiner installed a 20-inch full-bore inline Roxar Watercut Meter (WCM) to achieve highly accurate, sensitive water-cut measurement. Four 12-inch Micro Motion ELITE Coriolis mass-flow meters were installed, with three continuously used for measurement and the fourth for calibration purposes.
The Result?
The Micro Motion Coriolis meters provide mass flow rates, giving the customer control of total liquid rates. In addition, the Coriolis meters provide density measurement input to the Roxar WCM. This enables a unique feature, called AutoZero, within the Roxar WCM. AutoZero ensures that changes in density are accounted for, ensuring high quality water cut measurement is automatically maintained, despite changes in oil properties, with no manual intervention.
Visit the Roxar Watercut Meter page and the Micro Motion ELITE Coriolis Mass Flow Meters section on Emerson.com for more on these essential solutions in the refining industry.
