Research into the viability of carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) in contributing to global climate reduction targets will benefit from a specially modified prover produced by Flow Measurement Devices (FMD), a unit of IDEX based in Phoenix.
FMD recently developed and produced the prover – a system that provides calibration for flow meters – for TÜV SÜD National Engineering Laboratory, which is building the first UK national standard liquid dense phase CO2 calibration facility in East Kilbride, Glasgow, Scotland.
While this carbon capture application may be an emerging market, the development of provers capable of measuring at lower temperatures also has applications in the growing market of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG).
“The TÜV SÜD focus will be on building a facility to run accurate R&D tests with CO2-rich mixtures for flow measurement and sampling systems. This will provide the necessary traceability and research capabilities which will ensure accurate fiscal flow measurement across the CCUS chain,” according to TÜV SÜD.
Accurate measurement of transported and stored CO2 is key to potential viability of carbon capture. CO2 can be captured from sources like chemical plants or other industrial sources. Properly compressed, CO2 becomes “dense phase,” which demonstrates properties of both a liquid and a gas. Transported by pipeline, ship, rail or truck, it can be used in various applications, or injected into deep geological formations, such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers.
The FMD-007 prover features flow rates up to 700 gallons per minute (GPM) and is designed for proving standard liquid dense phase CO2, or calibrating meters under flowing liquid CO2 conditions. CO2 needs to be chilled and/or pressurized to maintain its liquid state. TÜV SÜD will perform meter testing/verifications in a lab that is capable of both high pressure and low temperature CO2 testing.
FMD-007
Prover Temperature Range: -50° to 120°F (-45° to 49°C)
Prover Pressure Rating: 1500# ANSI = 3600PSI (248.2BAR)
Flow MD engineers and manufacturers technically differentiated “unidirectional captive displacement provers,” also called “small volume provers.” In a market where slight inaccuracies in flow meter measurements at transfer points can result in enormous payment discrepancies for customers, Flow MD’s calibration products serve a critical application.