Coriolis density error - Targeting ambient temperature fluctuation and the development of a new temperature compensation model

This paper details the experimentation, results and output of a 4-year doctorate research project, the objective of which was to develop new ambient air temperature compensation techniques for calculating fluid density on a Coriolis flow meter. The primary driver for this research topic is the recent increase in interest from end users with regards to utilising the density value from Coriolis meters for applications such as fuel bunkering, condition based monitoring and live fluid property determination. A targeted experimentation protocol was developed with input from manufacturers and end users, resulting in a facility build which allowed for realistic ambient temperature variations in the surrounding environment of the meter to be simulated at flowing conditions. As a result of this research it was discovered that the error imparted on the density calculation by ambient temperature can be live corrected by repurposing existing diagnostic measurements on the device transmitter. Therefore, using the high-resolution data sets obtained during testing, a new correction model was developed and validated by way of blind testing. The new model is shown to work on both ageing Coriolis devices currently installed in the field as well as new generation devices currently in the prototype stage.