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Flow Meters for Water Transfer and Produced Water

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Flow Meters for Water Transfer and Produced Water 

Protect Your Bottom Line with McCrometer Meters

Water transfer operations in the oil and gas industry often involve numerous water wells or groundwater sources, stakeholders, and multiple ponds or tanks to store the water, all of which  necessitate multiple meters to monitor the pumped water.

Accurate meters providing repeatable, reliable flow data is the optimal method of quantifying and validating purchased water. Multiple flow meters also assist with pinpointing issues with pumps, leaks in lay flat hose, and other equipment malfunction.

More and more oil companies are recycling flowback fluid and produced water, saving money on purchased groundwater, and contributing to conservation. An added benefit is that it also keeps the reinjected water closer to the source waters chemical composition and can make the injection more effective. The more accurate the flow meter, the more accurate the blend, the more accurate the savings.

Consider this:

From afar, two men in hard hats leaning over equipment, black hoses, near a white truck.

3 Benefits of the Field Mag Meter for Water Transfer Applications

 

1. Transportability

The Field Mag® series is available with grooved end connections, easily installed using simple two bolt couplings. This installation process is simpler, faster, and more cost-effective compared to traditional flanged flow meters that require bolting on additional flanges with grooved connections welded or threading to attach to the pipe. The weigh differential becomes a very important factor especially in the larger line sizes. By moving to a grooved end connection, we are removing over 125 lbs from a 12” meter. McCrometer is the only flow meter manufacturer to offer a full-bore electromagnetic flow meter with grooved ends, wholly due to the fusion-bonded epoxy UltraLiner™ which eliminates the tearing and delamination seen in traditionally lined mag meters. Additionally, the Field Mag also comes with removable feet, easy to remove and replace when needing to transport and utilize the same meter for numerous water transfer projects.

2. Cost Effective

The Field Mag offers an overall low cost of ownership and requires minimal-to-no maintenance, making it a smart investment. The Field Mag also has a long lifespan, saving on replacement costs over time. Overall, the meter’s incredible durability is what contributes to the meter’s long lifespan, offering an unprecedented resistance to pipeline corrosion, scaling, and any water deposits that typically accumulate on the inner walls of the pipeline.

3. Customization Available

The Field Mag offers more than just a comprehensive list of output options and communication protocols to choose from. Customers can choose between the standard stainless-steel electrodes and optional Hastelloy, which benefits users dealing with saltwater disposal or wanting to treat a high salinity produced water to recycle it for reuse. Power options are also available, including battery, AC or DC with a battery backup option, and even solar power! For users metering many miles of lay-flat hose between water source and storage ponds, having an array of power options removes the challenge of finding a reliable power source for flow metering points. Additionally, for customers retrofitting a flow meter into an existing pipeline project, custom lay lengths are especially helpful. Many operators have skid systems containing pump, water quality probes, and level measurement among other monitoring equipment, and implementing a custom lay-length flow meter with minimal straight-run requirements eliminates the need to replace the whole skid.

 

 

Water Meters for the Oil and Gas Industry

A stock image of pipelines and heavy industrial facility in the background

Produced Water Management in Oil and Gas

In produced water applications, flow measurement is necessary to monitor the flow rate of water that is extracted from the well along with oil and gas. Produced water is typically contaminated with oil and other chemicals and must be treated before it can be reused or disposed of safely. Accurate flow measurement of produced water is essential to ensure that the extracted water is being treated properly for reuse, remediation, and reinjection.

McCrometer’s  Field Mag 5000 flow meter offers ±0.5% accuracy, providing operators and technicians with reliable data and system integration through the many outputs available with the sophisticated ProComm™ electronics that is also Class I, Div II capable. The meter’s durable UltraLiner eliminates any worries of meter failure or fouling and resists the highly corrosive and debris-filled produced water. The Field Mag series meters utilize a high temperature epoxy rated at 200°F for those higher temperature produced water applications.

Blue pipes, green flow meters, white electronics

Flow Meter Data Output and Seamless System Integration 

Water transfer and produced water operations with sophisticated monitoring software require flow meters with adequate flow data output and recording. For some operations, flow data is only one of perhaps 10 data points collected in the overarching connected system being analyzed for efficiency; yet without the flow data, the operation is crippled.

Implementing McCrometer’s Field Mag 5000 ensures that water transfer customers have a multitude of communication protocols ready to seamlessly integrate with SCADA systems and other software platforms. For many transfer operations currently deploying field operators to monitor the miles of lay flat pipe and pumps from source water to storage facility, automating flow data can save an incredible amount of time while providing high level metrics of the transfer remotely for the customer. No more physically monitoring pipe for leaks, or manually keeping records of transfer volumes. With output options such as pulse, 4-20mA, Modbus, AMI/AMR capability and more, flow data is available in the palm of your hand.

For additional peace of mind, the Field Mag’s electronics also offers a built-in datalogger recording up to 5 years of flow data, ensuring that technicians and operators always have the data they need to verify purchased water and meet any local and federal regulations.

 

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Further Reading

Check out the variety of information available about the water transfer and produced water product suite.