Critical Technical Advantages
-
Reliable High-Velocity Measurement: Flare events can cause gas velocities to skyrocket instantly. The Flare-XT is designed to maintain accurate measurement even at extreme velocities, ensuring that total emissions are recorded during emergency blowdown events.
-
Direct Mass Flow & Molecular Weight: By analyzing the speed of sound and using integrated pressure and temperature data, the device calculates mass flow and molecular weight in real-time. This eliminates the need for expensive, high-maintenance gas chromatographs in many flare applications.
-
Intelligent Self-Monitoring: The system features advanced self-diagnostics that provide a clear “health status” of the meter. This predictive maintenance approach allows operators to perform verification on demand, reducing the need for risky and costly physical inspections on the flare bridge.
-
FLOWgate™ Software Integration: The intuitive FLOWgate™ platform simplifies the complexity of commissioning and troubleshooting. It provides high-level diagnostic data and guided wizards to ensure the meter is optimized for the specific pipe geometry and gas profile.
-
Retrofit and Upgrade Compatibility: The Flare-XT is designed to be highly compatible with existing installations. SICK offers specific retrofit solutions that allow plants to upgrade older ultrasonic systems to the XT platform without significant mechanical modifications to the flare line.
-
Regulatory Compliance: The device is engineered to meet and exceed global environmental guidelines for flare monitoring, helping plants avoid heavy fines by providing traceable and defensible emission data.
Detailed Technical Performance Matrix
| Specification | Technical Details and Ranges |
| Measured Variables | Gas velocity, sound velocity, molecular weight, mass flow, volumetric flow |
| Operating Range | From 0.03 m/s up to 120 m/s (depending on probe version) |
| Measurement Accuracy | Typically ±2.5% to ±5.0% (depending on application and calibration) |
| Nominal Pipe Sizes | DN100 to DN3000 (4″ to 120″) |
| Process Temperature | -70 °C to +280 °C (-94 °F to +536 °F) |
| Process Pressure | -0.5 bar to 16 bar (higher on request) |
| Communication | Modbus (TCP/RTU), HART, Foundation Fieldbus, 4-20mA |
| Software | FLOWgate™ for commissioning and diagnostics |
Primary Applications
-
Natural Gas Production: Measuring associated petroleum gases (APG) and flare volumes at upstream production sites.
-
Chemical & Petrochemical Plants: Monitoring flare stacks for process optimization and environmental reporting of hydrocarbon losses.
-
LNG Boil-off Gas: Precise measurement of boil-off gas in LNG storage and transport for energy balancing.
-
Steam Injection Control: Optimizing steam-to-gas ratios in flare tips to ensure smokeless burning and reduce steam costs.
-
Leak Detection: Identifying leaking valves across the flare header network by detecting low-velocity flow during “quiet” periods.
