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News Release from: Mobrey Measurement | Subject: Hot-duty/standby option
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 14 March 2002
Redundancy provides continuous flow
control
Solartron Mobrey's leading multistream liquid and gas flow computers are now available with a hot-duty/standby option.
Solartron Mobrey's leading multistream liquid and gas flow computers are now available with a hot-duty/standby option The new feature allows full redundancy to be built into the system using just two flow computers for up to four meter runs, and is ideal for both fiscal and custody transfer monitoring applications
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 20 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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European and North Sea operators have traditionally monitored flows using multiple meter runs, each with its own single stream flow computer.
The advantages of the US practice of using just two multistream computers in a duty/standby configuration are now being recognised elsewhere.
This system provides full redundancy with no loss of data in the event of failure, and easier, more efficient data processing.
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Indeed, this approach is included in the recently released DTI Guidance notes for petroleum measurement (draft) Issue 6th October 2001 which says: "If multiple meter runs are computed by one machine, a "hot" operating standby should be provided to allow maintenance or replacement to be carried out without interruption of flow".
Solartron Mobrey's hot-duty/standby feature synchronises the logging of flow data between two multistream flow computers, for seamless handover in the event of a failure.
Both computers are connected to each metering point.
One computer is designated as the main monitoring device (duty) and the other as the back-up (standby).
Automatic synchronisation of the two machines takes place at startup and at user defined intervals throughout operation.
In the event of a failure of the duty computer, alarms are raised, a handover takes place and the standby system becomes the duty device automatically.
The accuracy and integrity of the flow data is maintained without losing any flow.
The system is highly efficient, accurate, and - especially for metering systems with many metering points - highly cost-effective.
Unlike some competitive offerings, the new Solartron Mobrey hot-duty/standby feature includes high integrity communications functions which ensure error-free handover.
Further, system integration is kept simple because the software handles all communications addressing issues, so the address of the duty computer remains constant, even after handover.
In addition, the use of multistream flow computers aids the management and analysis of flow data.
Rather than having to collect results from a number of different single-stream computers, totalised flow data are available immediately for analysis and reporting.
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