USE OF GASEOUS RADIOTRACER TO STDY THE FLOW VELOCITY PROFILE IN A NATURAL GAS PIPELINE

Resumo

The quality of the flow rate measurement in a gas pipeline can be assured only when the fluid flow profile at the flow meter's operating location matches the parameters set forth during the sensor calibration process. If the fluid flow profile deteriorates, the measurement set's accuracy will deteriorate as well, and this work shows a methodology used to evaluate the flow profile inside a gas pipeline. The measures were done in a 12" diameter natural gas pipeline where there is a Senior Sonic 3400-MARKIII ultrasonic meter installed upstream of a ZANKER type flow conditioner. The pipeline operates at a pressure equal to 50 kgf/cm². The goal of this work was to create a methodology employing a gaseous radiotracer to evaluate the performance of the flow conditioner. In order to do this, three measurement sets with three (1" x 1") NaI scintillator detectors fitted with their lead collimators and positioned at a 120° angle were installed and used to monitor the fluid flow profile