Natural Gas Turbine Flow Meter

A natural gas turbine flow meter measures volumetric gas flow through a free-spinning rotor mounted in the pipe bore. Gas accelerates through an integrated upstream flow conditioner, the rotor blades intercept the conditioned flow at a fixed angle, and a magnetic pickup downstream of the rotor reads pulses from a co-rotating signal wheel. Pulse frequency is proportional to volumetric flow through the calibrated K-factor. Built-in temperature and pressure compensation outputs corrected mass flow in kg/h or Nm³/h directly on the 4-20 mA loop, with no external multivariable transmitter required.

Turbine is the right pick for clean dry natural gas where custody-grade ±0.5 % of rate accuracy and 1:30 turndown are needed for fiscal billing or AGA-style settlement. Choose vortex (LUGB) when the line carries occasional condensate carry-over, when start-up flow conditions are aggressive, or when the service includes steam in addition to gas. Choose ultrasonic (CSUF) when no straight-pipe is available or when zero pressure drop is mandatory on the pipeline. The 1:30 LWGQ turndown captures off-peak low-flow billing that 1:15 vortex would miss.

Fiscal standard gas flow measurement is the measurement standard for city-gas distribution custody billing, inter-utility settlement, and refinery fuel-gas accounting where the meter reading is the basis for invoice value. Required practices include factory K-factor calibration with each meter, T+P compensation for mass-flow output, lockable totalizer, audit-trail data logging, and Ex d hazardous-area certification for petrochemical-adjacent installations. The LWGQ ships with all four built-in plus a daily and timed-interval logging file for audit retrieval.

The LWGQ Series covers DN50 to DN300 standard with DN350 and DN400 special build available. Pressure classes run 1.6 to 10 MPa metric (ANSI 150 LB to 600 LB) and medium temperature is −25 to +80 °C. Body material options are aluminium alloy (cost-optimized city gas), 304 or 316L stainless (chemical fuel gas service), and titanium alloy (sour-gas or chloride carry-over service). The LWGQ requires clean dry natural gas; wet gas, condensate-bearing flow, and 2-phase service must use vortex (LUGB) or thermal-mass families instead.

Yes; city-gas distribution custody billing is a primary LWGQ application. The 1:30 turndown captures low-flow consumption that narrow-turndown meters miss, the T+P compensation outputs corrected volume at reference conditions for billing reconciliation, and the integrated daily-and-interval logging file supports audit retrieval. Ex ia II CT6 Ga (intrinsically safe) certification is available for direct install in classified-area distribution skids without flameproof-housing rework. The 3.6 V lithium battery option supports remote distribution-mains AMR endpoints with multi-year service life.

Standard outputs include pulse 3-wire for totalizer counting, 4-20 mA 2-wire or 3-wire loop for SCADA integration, RS-485 Modbus RTU for serial polling, HART for HART-multiplexer rollouts, and GPRS / 4G for off-grid distribution-mains telemetry. Pre-pay controller output is a factory option for retail city-gas customer-side measurement. The integrated flow computer reads instantaneous flow, cumulative volume, temperature, and pressure on the LCD; the daily and timed-interval logger preserves the audit trail. Maximum cable run is 1500 m for 4-20 mA, 1200 m for RS-485 / HART.

Standard lead time is 5 to 7 business days from order confirmation, factory direct. Each meter ships with an ISO 9001 calibration certificate listing the K-factor, calibrated DN, and tested flow range for each meter. Hazardous-area certification options are Ex d II CT6 Gb (flameproof, Zone 1) for general petrochemical and city-gas service, plus Ex ia II CT6 Ga (intrinsically safe) for classified-area installations. EMC compliance to the EU Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive 2014/30/EU (Annex II) ships standard, with IP65 and IP66 ingress ratings selectable at order.