GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies Announces Sentinel LCT And Sentinel LNG Custody Transfer Flowmeters

Billerica, MA - GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies announces the release of Sentinel LCT and Sentinel LNG. Sentinel LCT has been designed for Liquid Custody Transfer measurements of crude oil and refined oil products. Sentinel LNG provides accurate measurement of Liquefied Natural Gas, therewith offering an improved accuracy compared to traditional ship and tank level measurement. Both flowmeters combine extreme reliability with very high accuracy. Extensive CFD (computational fluid dynamics) is used to guarantee the high accuracy, even under conditions where flow conditions change constantly.

"With Sentinel LCT and LNG we are adding the highest accuracy ultrasonic liquid flowmeters in the industry to our already robust line of flowmeters," says Ashish Bhandari, General Manager of the flow segment at GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies. "GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies is committed to investing in technology and will continue to leverage our expertise to elevate productivity for our oil & gas customers."

Sentinel LCT has a number of unique, GE proprietary, features that make the meters independent of viscosity changes. Whether measuring gasoline or a heavy crude, the flow measurement is not affected by viscosity changes, unlike mechanical meters that require a proving run every time the product changes. This not only saves the customer time and potential for human errors, but ultimately it means an expensive prover is no longer required on site at all. Sentinel LCT uses advanced diagnostics to performs continuous self-checks and will send out a warning when something goes wrong. A built-in flowcomputer allows for pressure, temperature and density corrections according to API 11.1.

Sentinel LNG is designed specifically for cryogenic LNG measurements. With an externally certified measurement uncertainty of 0.2 to 0.25%, the meter is an obvious alternative to ship and tank level measurement. Where a level measurement needs multiple level, pressure and temperature transducers to compensate for density variations, just one Sentinel LNG is required to measure the total volume during loading and unloading of a ship or tanks. Tanks trapping tables and corrections for a ship that moves due to wave motion are no longer required, allowing for a significant improvement in measurement accuracy.

Both Sentinel LNG and LCT are fully welded constructions having no moving parts that can wear out over time and cause the meter to drift. Both instruments are full bore and do not require filters or strainers that cause a pressure drop. Sentinel LNG has specially designed acoustic buffers that allow the acoustic transducers to be mounted outside the cryogenic zone. The transducers therefore never see temperature shocks to ensure prevention from long-term stress cracking.

SOURCE: GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies