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McCrometer Newsletter for June 2002

Making Progress on International Flow Measurement Standards
by Dr Bob Peters, who retired as Chairman of ISO/TC 30 "Measurement of fluid flow in closed conduits" in April this year

As a native Scot and consequently a UK and European citizen, married to a Finn and now working in the United States, I am a committed believer in the need for international standards. During my period as chairman, there has been a lot of progress in the preparation of ISO standards for flow measurement. There have also been a number of frustrations.

On the plus side, standards have been prepared to cover several new technologies including Coriolis meters and ultrasonic meters for oil and gas. Much work has also been completed for water metering, as well as in updating existing standards. On the other side, the effort between ISO and API/AGA to unify the Orifice standards have been frustratingly slow.

Another positive is the possibility of common standards between the USA and ISO. API is currently preparing a document entitled " Testing Protocol for Differential Pressure Flow Measurement Devices", which ISO have agreed to look at with a view to adopting as an ISO document. The Protocol has been prepared by API to overcome the difficulty of not being able to produce a standard for a patented flowmeter such as McCrometer's V-Cone.

While the USA and ISO are working to reach commonality, I believe it is very unfortunate that the European Community has developed CEN Standards. There are technically very close ties between CEN and ISO, but the additional effort required internationally to accommodate this work seems to be a retrograde step, when there are already too few technical experts given the time to work in the area of standards.

However the author’s primary frustration has been the time it takes to get ISO documents to final publication. The very long time period includes numerous voting activities internationally and the requirements for translations, at least into English and French. This needs to change. The few technical experts available cannot spend 5 to 6 years revising a standard, only to have more changes made as new members come into the process with fresh views. Soon it is forgotten why certain existing statements were in the document!

In spite of the disappointments, I am still convinced that international standards are essential for the flow measurement industry and must be further developed in a timely manner.
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Copyright 2002 McCrometer