Positive Displacement flow meters have been extensively used in truck fuel delivery for many years. A wide range of mechanical accessories attached to the fuel flow meter ensures users have a highly accurate measuring system. These accessories include liquid strainers, air eliminators, batch preset registers, large numeral reset totalisers, zero-start or accumulative ticket printers, flow non-return valves, and mechanical batching valves. When electronic output is needed, the flow meter can be equipped with a suitable pulse transmitter for input to remote instrumentation. Pulse transmitters are available with ATEX Approval when necessary. Exd Pump Switches can be installed inside the LNC, or a Pneumatic Switch Box can be used to switch the air supply for pneumatic batch systems.
The main flow is typically high, with a flow rate of around 1000 to 3000 l/min, usually requiring a 3” or 4” flowmeter. The VAF MidFlow Series offers a ductile iron positive displacement flowmeter that achieves a nominal accuracy better than 0.1% of reading. An Exd Shaft Encoder, which provides a quadrature square wave pulse output, usually fits the fuel flow meter. The flowmeter has both ATEX and MID approvals.
Flowquip offers flowmeters from the VAF range of Positive Displacement flowmeters for fuel additives. For Marker Dyes and other additives, the standard flowmeter is the B5023. This ductile iron flowmeter covers a flow range from 1 to 50 l/min and includes a six-digit non-reset mechanical totaliser. If you need signal retransmission, you can opt for single or dual (quadrature) NAMUR pulse outputs. This fuel flow meter also has ATEX and MID approvals.
For fuel installations involving very low-level additive injection, the VAF Milliflow M31 piston flowmeter provides the perfect solution. It is made of stainless steel and comes with the standard VAF options of a non-reset mechanical totaliser and single/dual NAMUR ATEX Pulse Transmitters. The standard flow range is 1 to 20 l/hr, but for installations involving higher viscosity products, you can greatly reduce the minimum flow.
For Safe Area Installations, the VAF ‘E’ Series flowmeters offer a very accurate and economical solution for fuel measurement. The fuel flow meter is available in ductile iron and incorporates a battery-powered 7-digit LCD that displays instantaneous flow rate and cumulative/resettable total. If retransmission is required, there is the option of a single NPN scaled pulse output.
Flowquip offers the FT3 range of stainless steel Industrial Turbine flowmeters for low viscosity fuel applications where budgets are tight. These are available in various sizes to handle flows from 1 l/min to over 4000 l/min. The fuel flow meters can be fitted with battery or DC-powered displays to show instantaneous flow rate and reset/non-reset totals. Pulse and/or 4-20mA optional outputs are also available for remote recording purposes. The FT3 system is also available with ATEX Approval.
There are other flow technologies which can be used for fuel measurement such as Coriolis mass flowmeters. Flowquip will discuss your application and propose the best fuel flowmeter to meet your application requirements. Call us on 01422 829920 or email [email protected]
Should you wish to hire a flow meter, this can be done through our sister company Flowhire Ltd www.flowhire.co.uk
