Vortex flowmeters are highly versatile devices that can measure the flow of liquids, gases, and steam across a wide range of temperatures and pressures. Their unique advantages make them particularly well-suited for measuring steam flow, offering benefits over other types of flowmeters.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 40 CFR Part 60 Subpart OOOO, or Quad O, is a federal regulation under the Clean Air Act for reducing harmful air quality emissions from oil and gas facilities.

The EPA issued a final rule effective May 7, 2024, containing new source performance standards (NSPS) regulating greenhouse gases (GHGs) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions for the oil and gas industry. It also finalized guidelines for states to follow in developing their emission reduction standards for limiting fugitive emissions from existing sources.

What is “Quad-O”?

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 40 CFR Part 60 Subpart OOOO is colloquially known as “Quad-O”. It is a regulation under the Clean Air Act meant to identify emissions sources in oil and natural gas operations contributing to pollution and reduce emissions. The emissions of methane and VOCs from oil and gas equipment used in the production and processing and the transmission and storage of natural gas are affected.

Flowmeters play a critical role in today’s process world. As technology has advanced through the decades, a variety of flowmeter technologies has expanded the ways, customers, control and monitor their utilities, steam, fiscal metering, etc. Today, a few of the top flowmeters on the market are the Coriolis, magnetic, vortex, ultrasonic, differential pressure, and variable area meters. Several other technologies, such as turbine, thermal mass, and positive displacement, are also available. Since each flowmeter has positive and negative attributes, careful consideration is required to avoid purchasing a technology that is inappropriate to the application.

QuadraTherm with qMix is like no other thermal flow meter on the market. Patented sensor design coupled with an advanced algorithm set in the QuadraTherm brain delivers all the data you need in one flow meter. Learn 5 revolutionary ways QuadraTherm sets you apart and makes you and your process smarter.

Although there are many different hydrogen production types including black, pink, turquoise, and yellow, the most common type is from “grey” sources (95%). The steam/methane reforming process is used to convert natural gas or methane into hydrogen. A pollutant by-product of this process is CO₂.

Flare gas stacks and combustors are used in many industries including oil & gas, industrial, biogas, and wastewater treatment. These systems are important for burning waste gases produced during operations such as drilling, chemical processing, or biogas reclamation.

In some locations, drilling for oil or natural gas releases hydrocarbon gases that can’t be captured and used, so a gas flare or combustor is needed to relieve excess pressure in the system. Flaring is also used during construction, testing, and maintenance of newly drilled wells or fracking sites.

Digesters used in landfills or wastewater facilities break down waste and produce methane and carbon dioxide, two greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are typically flared, collected for use as a fuel gas in equipment used at the facility, or stored for sale. Flares burn the biogas or waste gases to minimize harmful GHG emissions when flaring becomes necessary due to pressure release events. 

The accuracy of a thermal mass flow meter is dependent upon the technology type and the quality of the materials used for the meter’s sensor design. A well-designed sensor is made to measure flow accurately over a long period of time with minimal drift, independent of recalibration and calibration validation diagnostics. For a thermal mass flow meter, the materials used in the manufacture of the sensor play a vital role in the overall performance of the sensor. The materials must create the best environment for heat transfer - the essential principle of thermal mass flow measurement - or the accuracy and response time suffer.

Ski resorts in North America depend on snowfall for enthusiasts to enjoy winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding. However, when nature does not cooperate, artificial snow is required to maintain the base level. Artificial snow consists of small particles of ice that are used to increase the snowpack. It is produced by a machine that uses a high-pressure pump to spray a mist of water into the cold air. The water droplets crystallize to form artificial snow.

What is Flow Rate and Why is It Important in Process Applications?

In an industrial setting, controlling processes with accurate data is an essential part of keeping the process running smoothly. Control systems are equipped with instrumentation like thermal flow meters to feed flow data like gas temperature and gas flow rate into the system. So, what is flow rate and why is it important? The flow rate of the gas tells the system how much of a gas is flowing through a cross section of a pipe at a prescribed unit of time. Flow rate data can help with many things, including the following: