Product category:
Flowmeters and Flow Sensors
News Release from: Emerson Process Management - Flow Division | Subject: Micro Motion R Series mass flowmeter
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 21 August 2001
Mass flowmeter helps oil blending
efficiency
When D.A.Stuart Oil Co had to improve the efficiency of its delivery and blending operations, the Micro Motion R Series mass flowmeter was an integral part of the solution
Faced with the task of consolidating the work of two oil blending facilities onto one site in Wolverhampton, D.A.Stuart Oil Co had to improve the efficiency of the delivery and blending operations, to increase total plant output by 400% The main area for possible improvement was in the handling and delivery of the various oils to the blending tanks, where one main delivery line required cleaning between the different oils by air blowing in the reverse direction
The system adopted provides 17 separate supply lines, each dedicated to one oil type, with the batch quantity required for each blend being called up via a PLC based system.
Each line is equipped with a Micro Motion R Series mass flowmeter, which measures the correct mass of that oil required for the blend.
Meter sizes range from 0.75" to 2" depending on the capacity needed.
For higher viscosity oils the lines are heat traced and lagged, which includes the flowmeter bodies.
D.A.Stuart Operations Director Sam Smallman had six months to plan and implement this task, without affecting production, utilising the existing storage and blending tanks.
Additional storage tanks had to be added to hold all the oils needed, and a direct tanker delivery point was added, which uses the Micro Motion flowmeters to control and measure the delivery of oils from the tanks directly into tankers.
"The overall objective was ease of use for the operators, and ease of maintenance" commented Smallman.
"An in-line mass flowmetering approach provided the best option, because the blending tanks are jacketed, with no clearance available, and also they allow delivery of several streams simultaneously: plus our plants in the USA had successfully installed similar Micro Motion flowmeters.
The system has increased the production capacity available, but also improved the operator interface and given increased flexibility.
Our plant capacity has increased 400%, with better control and less possibility of cross contamination." The Allen Bradley PLC based control system provided by Capley Marker of Warrington allows operators to define batch quantities and choose standard blends, taken from the extensive range of oils produced by D.A.Stuart.
"Using the Micro Motion R Series meters the overall system accuracy and long term batch consistency is expected to be within ñ0.5%.
Meter performance monitoring and checks are achieved when each production batch of blended oil is delivered to separately weighed containers and drums, and over the first three months operations no significant discrepancies have been reported", according to David Hopley, Director and Project Manager from Capley Marker.
"The Allen Bradley PLC unit utilised the pulsed output from the R series units to monitor the flow rate, and give an accurate totalised flow reading.
After loading each ingredient into the blending tank, the actual delivered quantity can be shown compared to the originally programmed quantity, and any significant under- or over-run is used to adjust the programme cut-off point.
Electronic records are kept of the data from each batch for traceability and quality control purposes." Main contractor for the project was Domestic and Industrial Pipework, and Estil Control Panels designed the system to have independent operator stations at the blending and delivery points.
Provision in the pipework has been made for further expansion with more blending tanks in the future.
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