Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Small Volume Meter Provers
As the top manufacturer of Small Volume Meter Provers, we understand that you likely have many questions. This page aims to provide helpful prover information. Here you will find answers to some of the most common questions we are asked, including What is a Prover? Our goal is to make your experience as smooth as possible, we hope this page helps you find the answers you’re looking for. If you have a question that is not covered on this page, please feel free to reach out to us and we will be happy to assist you.
What is a Prover?
A Prover is a device with a “known traceable volume” designed to calibrate or prove a liquid flow meter’s accuracy and repeatability under actual operating conditions. Provers can be stationary or portable devices used to calibrate and verify the accuracy and repeatability of both volumetric and mass flow meters. Provers are commonly used in the hydrocarbon industry for custody transfer or fiscal applications, where accuracy is critical.
A Prover Establishes:
- The K-Factor (pulses per unit volume) of a meter
- The Meter Factor (factor used with a meter to correct accuracy for flow conditions)
- The Linearity over the calibrated flow range for the meter
- The repeatability for the meter system
FMDs Small Volume Provers can be used with the following flow meter types:
- Coriolis Meters
- Positive Displacement Meters
- Liquid Ultrasonic Meters
- Turbine Meters
- Multi-Viscosity Turbine Meters
Visit our Application Specific Prover Page for additional information.
Flow Management Devices Small Volume Unidirectional Captive Displacement Provers are generally used in the petroleum and petrochemical industries to measure liquid products. FMDs provers ensure measurement quality for both custody and non-custody transfer applications and are configurable for both stationary or portable proving applications where accuracy is key.
FMDs Small Volume Provers are commonly used for the following hydrocarbon products:
- Bitumen
- Butane
- Condensate
- Crude Oil – Light (API > 31.1)
- Crude Oil – Medium (API 22.3 – 31.1)
- Crude Oil – Heavy (API < 22.3)
- Crude Oil – Extra Heavy (API < 10.0)
- Diesel
- Ethane
- Ethylene
- Fuel Oil
- Gasoline
- Isobutane
- Jet Fuel
- Kerosene
- Low Temperature Hydrocarbon Gas Liquids (HGLs)
- LPGs
- Methane
- Methanol
- NGL
- Naphtha
- Petrochemicals
- Propane
- Propylene
- Refined Products
- Other Products (contact factory)
Where can FMD’s Provers be used?
Upstream
- Production LACTs
- Offloading & Storage
- Upstream Production Facilities
- Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO)
Midstream
- Pipelines
- Refineries
- Offloading & Storage
Downstream
- Petrochemical Plants
- Load Racks
- Terminals
- Offloading and Storage
Why is it Important to Prove a Flowmeter?
Simply stated, to provide an accurate measurement.
In addition, proving is critical for financial transactions and custody transfer applications to maintain profitability and reduce financial uncertainties.
Flow meters are generally calibrated in a factory using clean and consistent factory conditions; once they reach the field, they are subject to various conditions in the field. Over time these product and process variations can lead to accuracy shifts known as drifting.
FMDs Small Volume or Unidirectional Captive Displacement Provers use the known volume of the prover in comparison to the output of the flowmeter to calculate a correction factor allowing the user to adjust the flowmeter accordingly for a truly accurate representation of flow rates.
How to Obtain a Meter Factor:
The meter factor is obtained by dividing the prover test volume by the indicated volume of the meter. Once the meter factor is established, it is used as a volume correction in the calculation for the standard net volume of a receipt or delivery of liquids.
Watch the video below to learn how Flow MD provers operate.