| Vol. 6 No. 3 Subject: Flow Measurement News Date: 7-29-04 From: McCrometer, "The Flow Measurement Specialists" ........ http://www.mccrometer.com ........ **************************************************************** McCrometer Newsletter - July 2004 Special Notice - McCrometer is pleased to announce the addition of guest authors for our monthly newsletter. This month we feature Ann McIver and Dr. Robert Peters. Ann McIver is the Environmental Coordinator.for the Citizens Thermal Energy in Indianapolis, Indiana and Dr. Peters is the Flow Measurement Technology Manager for McCromter, Inc. Together they authored the following paper which McIver presented to the International District Energy Association (IDEA) Annual Conference & Trade Show in June of 2004. The Use of a V-Cone Fuel Flow Meter to Measure the Coke Oven Gas and Natural Gas Flow in a Combined Heat and Power Plant* Authors: AnnMcIver,QEP Environmental Coordinator Citizens Thermal Energy Indianapolis, Indiana Dr. R.J.W. Peters Flow Measurement Technoloy Manager McCrometer Hemet, California *The contents of this newsletter are taken from a Technical Paper presented by Ann McIver of Citizens Thermal at the International District Energy Association 95th Annual Conference & Trade Show, Seattle, Washington - June 27th to 30th, 2004 The C.C. Perry K Steam Plant The C.C. Perry K Steam Plant (“Perry K”) was constructed in 1893 for purposes of providing electricity to downtown Indianapolis. While the plant was originally built as an electric generating station, the plant’s principal product evolved to steam as the city of Indianapolis grew. Approximately 5.3 billion pounds of steam is produced for sale to district steam customers each year, distributed at a nominal pressure of 250 psig at 550 degrees Fahrenheit through 24 miles of underground steam lines. Approximately one-half of the steam sold to the district steam customers each year is produced from the incineration of municipal solid waste (trash) at the Indianapolis Resource Recovery Facility operated by Covanta Energy Systems. The variety of fuels has allowed the Indianapolis steam system to provide a low-cost energy source to businesses in Indianapolis. A major pharmaceutical manufacturer utilizes the steam for electric generation and the production of chilled water, in addition to process use of the steam. The local university utilizes steam for building heat, and the five (5) hospitals located within the university campus utilize the steam for a wide variety of purposes, including sterilization and humidification. Other industrial users include a corn processing facility and an automobile fabrication plant. Hotels, office buildings and apartment buildings are also customers of the steam system, relying on the system for heating and hot water purposes. In 2002, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management completed adoption of regulations to implement the provisions of the NOx SIP Call. These rules impose continuous monitoring requirements on the large boilers at the C.C. Perry K Steam Plant in accordance with the provisions of 40 CFR 75, Subpart H. For the gas-fired boilers at Perry K, fuel flow metering is an option which may be utilized to determine the mass emissions of nitrogen oxides, NOx, from the boilers, in lieu of a flue-gas volumetric flow measurement device. These provisions outline initial certification and calibration requirements, as well as on-going quality assurance / quality control provisions. The requirement says, in part: “For the purposes of initial certification, each fuel flowmeter used to meet the requirements of this protocol shall meet a flowmeter accuracy of 2.0 percent of the upper range value (i.e. maximum fuel flow rate measurable by the flowmeter) across the range of fuel flow rate to be measured at the unit. Flowmeter accuracy may be determined under section 2.1.5.1 of this appendix for initial certification in any of the following ways (as applicable): by design (orifice, nozzle, and venturi-type flowmeters, only) or by measurement under laboratory conditions; by the manufacturer; by an independent laboratory; or by the owner or operator. Flowmeter accuracy may also be determined under section 2.1.5.2 of this appendix by in-line comparison against a reference flowmeter.” Experience had shown that for the Coke Oven Gas an orifice, nozzle or Venturi meter could be adversely affected by volatile and particulate carry over, building up in the meter, resulting in significant errors in the results. For this reason Citizens Thermal Energy decided to use the V-Cone meter which enables liquids and particulates to be driven down through the opening around the cone by the gas. THE V-CONE FUEL FLOW METER The V-cone® flowmeter has been designed to measure the flow of fluids in a closed conduit by generating a Differential Pressure as the fluid passes through the meter. The Differential Pressure is measured between an Upstream High Pressure Port and a Downstream Low Pressure port that is located in the center of a cone. This cone establishes: a differential pressure, conditions the fuel flow, and sheds vortices from it. The fuel flowmeter performs significantly better than many other meters when there is a restriction in the length of long straight pipework where a meter may be installed, and also when there is liquid or particulate associated with the gas. The V-cone fuel flow meter behaves in a very consistent manner even in the Coke Oven Gas application over an extensive period of flow. Through a boroscope inspection of the line while the meter is in-situ, the authors believe that it can be determined whether the meter has any material build up and consequently should be removed, cleaned and recalibrated. Based on the data, it would appear that the annual calibration requirement (notwithstanding the use of fuel flow to load testing) could be considerably extended without compromising the integrity of the data generated by the fuel flowmeter. Addressing the Regulatory Limitations The fuel flow meter calibration and quality assurance guidelines found at 40 CFR 75, Appendix D, were written for long established technologies which have had standards written for them, albeit these standards continue to be revised even for the basic equations. Newer fuel flow meters based on technologies which have no standards written for them are subject to more stringent requirements. In the case of the V-Cone, because it is a patented technology, the fuel flow meters are subject to administrative burdens which may have no additional value. In the light of the results of calibrations presented herein, the authors believe that EPA should allow the V-cone fuel flow meter to meet the requirements of 40 CFR 75, Appendix D, in the same manner as other differential pressure meters. To find out more about McCrometer's line of flow meters, including the V-Cone®, Wafer-Cone®, the V2-Municipal™, Water Specialties Propeller Meter™, Mc® Propeller, Ultra Mag®, and SK® Variable Area Meters, please contact McCrometer at 951-652-6811 or visit our website at http://www.mccrometer.com ******************************************************************************* Copyright 2004 McCrometer If you have comments or suggestions for newsletter topics you would like to see, please address them to: Bob Peters or Richard Steven mailto:newscomment@mccrometer.com ******************************************************************************* Know anyone looking for a steady dose of flow measurement information? 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