First Meeting of the Flow Recalibration Working Group (FRWG) Held in San Antonio on June 23, 2016

The first meeting of the Flow Recalibration Working Group (FRWG) was held at the North American Custody Transfer Measurement Conference in San Antonio, Texas on June 23, 2016. In attendance were representatives of some of the leading flowmeter manufacturers, along with members from some of the leading flow calibration facilities worldwide, including CEESI and NMi Euroloop. Several more companies joined the FRWG at the Conference. For a statement of purpose and list of members, go to www.frwg.org.

The idea for the FRWG arose out of three visits I made to the Middle East in 2009, interviewing onsite a number of oil and gas companies such as Oman Gas and Saudi Aramco (15 in all). All these companies use flowmeters for custody transfer measurement. Mostly they use ultrasonic and turbine meters for this purpose. They expressed a desire for guidance in determining when their flomweters need to be recalibrated, since there is no generally accepted industry standard to determine when a flowmeter needs recalibration. They asked me if I could help. I began forming the FRWG about a year ago.

The initial efforts of the FRWG will be to assemble a body of knowledge on the subject of flowmeter recalibration by assembling existing knowledge in the form of papers and accounts of experiences on this subject. We also plan to do a survey of end-users in multiple industries to ask for their input and experience on this subject. Our initial focus will most likely be in the oil and gas industry. We also plan to contact multiple calibration facilities around the world for their input.

This is an industry wide effort that has the support and participation of many of the leading flowmeter manufacturers and flow calibration facilities. We would like to hear from others in the industry with experience in this area. We would like to arrive at a list of criteria that end-users can employ to determine whether their flowmeter needs to be recalibrated. This is likely to vary by flowmeter type, and also by whether the meter is measuring liquid, gas, or steam. The list of criteria may include diagnostic software, using a check meter, running tests on component parts, having an onsite calibration, and other options. How do you decide whether your flowmeter needs to be recalibrated? Please let us know.

Please respond to this blog post using the form below, or send your comments or papers to jesse@flowresearch.com, so they can be considered by the FRWG as a whole. Thank you!

Thank you!

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