Both oil & gas producers and industrial facilities can achieve significant energy savings, improve productivity, and enhance competitiveness with natural gas flow meters from Fox Thermal. Gain insight into fuel usage with accurate thermal mass flow meters for natural gas flow measurement.
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Fox Thermal natural gas mass flow meter technology provides direct flow readings in mass units, including Standard Cubic Feet per Minute (SCFM), Normal Cubic Meters per Hour (NM3/Hr), Pounds Per Hour (lbs/Hr) or Kilograms per Hour (Kg/Hr).
Changes in process pressure and temperature can cause significant measurement errors in volumetric flow meters., which require additional temperature and pressure compensation for accurate readings. Thermal gas mass flow meters require none.
Fox Thermal’s thermal mass flow meters provide wide turndown for accurate and repeatable measurement over the entire operating range of the boiler or burner to maintain optimum combustion. Up to 1000:1, 100:1 typical.
In the Oil & Gas industry, accurate measurements of natural gas flows are required for many operations across the extraction and refining process, including:
For these and other Oil & Gas flow measurement applications, users can manually input the percentage of each individual gas found in the pre-refined natural gas in the Gas-SelectX® Oil & Gas menu.
Industrial facilities and organizations with multiple buildings or processes use natural gas submetering in order to improve efficiency, detect natural gas leaks, reduce emissions, and meet regulatory reporting requirements.
Unlike volumetric flow meters, Fox Thermal’s flow meters deliver a direct reading of gas mass flow rate — without needing temperature and pressure compensation — and provide a simple, reliable, and cost-effective method for tracking and reporting fuel consumption.
Direct mass flow monitoring of natural gas and other fuel gases is the key to optimizing combustion processes and streamlining accounting procedures.
Non-oil & gas applications include:
When measuring natural gas flow, it’s important that the flow meter is calibrated to the actual gas composition. Fox Thermal has developed the Gas-SelectX® gas selection feature to allow flexibility for measuring natural gas flows in different types of applications.
While the largest component of natural gas is methane, not all natural gas contains the exact same chemical composition. For industrial processes, utility companies deliver an NAESB standard natural gas composition that is achieved from a refining process.
But “natural gas” is a term that is also used to describe the mixed gases that come from the upstream oil and gas sector before they go through refinement. The reality of natural gas composition is that it can differ widely from one source to another.
Natural gas users in the industrial market can choose the Gas-SelectX® pure gas menu choice for “Natural Gas” which is set to the NAESB standard composition. For applications in the oil & gas sector, users can select the mixed gas or oil & gas menu of Gas-SelectX® and enter the gas composition of the pre-refinement natural gas in 0.1% increments of each component for a more accurate reading.
If you’re not sure which natural gas flow meter is right for your needs, our Help Me Choose app walks you through a short series of questions to help you choose the ideal meter.
Next, enter your process data and measurement requirements into our automated product configurator. Drop-down menus and Help icons will guide you to answer each question.
Save the data you entered into the configurator to create a PDF with a model code and application ID. When you're ready, submit your application to Fox Thermal, and one of our experts will contact you with a quote.
The Model FT1 thermal flow meter is available with Gas-SelectX® and can be easily reprogrammed in the field with the help of DDC-Sensor™ for calculating accurate gas correlations. It can measure a single gas or a mixture of up to 5 specified gases. The CAL-V™ Calibration Validation test feature that ensures the meter retains its original NIST calibration.
Fox Thermal Model FT2A meters measure process gas flow rate/total and temperature. This flow meter is available with a large selection of communication protocol options without requiring additional equipment. Options include BACnet MS/TP, RS485 Modbus RTU, Profibus-DP, DeviceNet, or Ethernet Modbus TCP.
The FT3 thermal mass flow meter can operate over higher temperatures and measure a wide range of dry pure gases and gas mixes. Comes with CAL-V™ and Zero CAL-CHECK® to ensure the meter retains the NIST calibration in the field. An optional Data Logger is available.
This versatile gas flow meter is available with CAL-V™ Calibration Validation, DDC-Sensor™, and Gas-SelectX®. These features allow it to be reprogrammed in the field to measure any combination of gases in the gas mix menu in 0.1% increments to create a custom gas mix.
The Model FT4X features CAL-V™ Calibration Validation, DDC-Sensor™, and Gas-SelectX®. For oil & gas applications affected by BLM 3175 and API 14.10, the FT4X is accuracy compliant. It also comes with a built-in data logger for advanced record-keeping and data retention that maintains a 7-year history.
Better accuracy, wide rangeability (turndown), reliability, very low-pressure drop, Calibration Validation and the Gas-SelectX® gas selection feature make Fox Thermal flowmeters the best choice for natural gas applications.
It is important to understand what makes different types of flow meters unique and the features that are most important for your needs. Fox Thermal offers both insertion and inline natural gas flow meter models.
For more information on Fox Thermal natural gas flow meters, download product sheets, whitepapers, case studies, application optimizers and more.
