Sierra Instruments, a manufacturer of fluid flow measurement and control technologies, has announced the launch of its QuadraTherm qMix RealTime flare measurement system (FMS).

According to Sierra Instruments, the FMS is reportedly a first of its kind system based on thermal mass flow meters that can modify flow readings when flare gas composition changes within seconds of when they are encountered to accurately match real-time readings from a gas analyzer and without factory recalibration.

The system reportedly enables oil and gas engineers to comply with EPA Refinery Sector Rule 40 CFR 63 rule, which demands refineries to measure and report flare gas measurement at flow rates as low as 0.1 sfps (0.03 smps) in instances where standard multi-path ultrasonic flow meters cannot.

The qMix RealTime FMS leverages the accuracy and computational capabilities of QuadraTherm’s thermal mass flow meters and the qMix RealTime software app. QuadraTherm features four sensors — three precision platinum temperature sensors and one no-drift DrySense mass velocity sensor. According to Sierra Instruments, the sensor technology accuracy is now twice that of standard thermal meters at +/- 0.5% of reading. Likewise, flow range extends to ultra-low flows down to 0.1 sfps (0.03 smps) to extreme high flows to 120,000 sfpm (600 smps) with a 1,000:1 turndown.

The qMix RealTime integrates with customers’ current compositional gas analyzers, offering accurate flows across a significant turndown. In the event of gas composition changes, the qMix RealTime App reviews the gas analyzer outputs for updated flare gas composition. Meanwhile, the qMix RealTime devises a new gas composition to match the gas analyzer composition and automatically updates the 640i/780i thermal mass flow meter to modify the flow rate to account for the new gas composition.

To learn more about the qMix RealTime FMS, visit Sierra Instruments.