Micrometer’s FPI-X Mag Flow meter solves tough application challenge for the City of Cedar Rapids

January 5, 2016 5:56 pm

  OverviewAfter more than 24 months of analysis, the Water Division operations and maintenance team at the City of Cedar Rapids, IA, reports that McCrometer’s FPI-X Mag flow meters have greatly improved accuracy and nearly eliminated maintenance problems experienced with strap-on ultrasonic flow meters at its booster stations. Water plant instrument technicians first installed the new FPI-X Mag meters in January 2012 and have now monitored them for nearly two years.
Brian Jess, an Instrument Technician from the City of Cedar Rapids Water Division, said, “We spent some time looking closely at various flow meters, and the FPI-X Mag track record is outstanding as compared to previous meters. The FPI-X Mag is reliable for operations staff, its maintenance is next to nil, it’s easy to take out if needed…overall, you could say I’m ecstatic with the product.”
Plant operations and instrument technicians determined in 2011 that they needed to replace under-performing flow meters in two booster stations as well as in their water intake system. Their existing flow meters were strap-on ultrasonic transit-time meters. They were susceptible to electrical and radio frequency interference from electrical equipment in the station, such as the pumps’ variable frequency drives.The City of Cedar Rapids Water Division treats and distributes ground water from alluvial wells (Fig 1). The Water Division has over 50,000 metered accounts, including residential, commercial and industrial, and serves a population base of around 128,000 people.
ProblemThe City of Cedar Rapids water distribution system includes two booster stations: The J Avenue NE Booster Station has eight vertical turbine pumps. The Bowling Booster Station SW operates with three horizontal split case centrifugal pumps. Accurate water flow measurement at the booster stations is critical to maintaining the system water supply and service to its customers.
The clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters in service at the two booster stations were not only underperforming and susceptible to electrical and radio frequency interference, they were also maintenance intensive. Their ultrasonic transducers required frequent cleaning and re-greasing to maintain measurement accuracy at an acceptable level.
When the city’s water division team began the process of selecting a new type of meter, they knew water quality also played a role in their decision-making. The plant technicians were aware that condensation and exterior pipe wall rust could contribute to transducer maintenance if they opted for new ultrasonic flow meters.
In addition, the team was constrained by an application with little straight run pipe and an irregular flow profile. Many flow meter sensing technologies require multiple lengths of straight pipe to produce a stable flow profile in order to provide accurate measurement. Full bore meters also were not a feasible option due to space limitations.
Measuring flow in booster stations such as those found in the City of Cedar Rapids is both important and difficult. Accurate flow measurement at booster stations can impact both the supply and delivery of water. Challenges can include managing multiple pumps and a variety of line sizes, dealing with interference issues and retrofitting existing piping configurations.
SolutionThe City of Cedar Rapids Water Division contacted the applications team at McCrometer for analysis of its flow measurement needs. The company’s applications team reviewed the situation in Cedar Rapids and recommended the FPI-X Mag flow meters with dual sensor assemblies (Fig 2).
The FPI-X product configuration is the newest line extension of the successful FPI Mag product line from McCrometer. As Greg Webster, Sr. Applications Specialist at McCrometer describes, “Our traditional FPI Mag has been on the market for about 3 years now and is seeing wide acceptance in municipal and industrial markets. For the bulk of the applications we see, our FPI Mag is the perfect fit. However, there are specific applications where the FPI-X configuration is best. McCrometer developed the FPI-X to accurately measure flow from multiple pumps in series and can measure flow where almost no other technology can.”

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