Natural Gas Flow Meter Applications

Reliable, Accurate Natural Gas Flow Measurement

Both oil & gas producers and industrial facilities can achieve significant energy savings, improve productivity, and enhance competitiveness with natural gas flow meters from Fox Thermal. Gain insight into fuel usage with accurate thermal mass flow meters for natural gas flow measurement.

  • Natural gas sub-metering
  • Tune for optimal air-to-fuel ratio
  • Optimize process control

Discover How
Watch our video on Natural gas monitoring.


Fox Thermal Natural Gas Flow Meters Provide

Direct Mass Measurements of Gas Flow

Fox Thermal natural gas mass flow meter technology provides direct flow readings in mass units, including Standard Cubic Feet per Minute (SCFM), Normal Cubic Meters per Hour (NM3/Hr), Pounds Per Hour (lbs/Hr) or Kilograms per Hour (Kg/Hr).

No Pressure or Temperature Compensation

Changes in process pressure and temperature can cause significant measurement errors in volumetric flow meters., which require additional temperature and pressure compensation for accurate readings. Thermal gas mass flow meters require none.

Repeatability and Exceptionally Broad Measurement Range

Fox Thermal’s thermal mass flow meters provide wide turndown for accurate and repeatable measurement over the entire operating range of the boiler or burner to maintain optimum combustion. Up to 1000:1, 100:1 typical.


More About Natural Gas Flow Meter Applications for Oil & Gas

In the Oil & Gas industry, accurate measurements of natural gas flows are required for many operations across the extraction and refining process, including:

  • Flare gas monitoring for regulatory compliance of emissions
  • Vent gas monitoring on tank batteries for regulatory compliance of emissions
  • Gas from separators and vapor recovery units (VRUs) in upstream oil and gas
  • Potential gas leak monitoring in packing compressors used in upstream and midstream oil and gas applications
  • Consistent and accurate monitoring for custody transfer of natural gas during production and transport

For these and other Oil & Gas flow measurement applications, users can manually input the percentage of each individual gas found in the pre-refined natural gas in the Gas-SelectX® Oil & Gas menu.



Help Me Choose A Flow Meter
Natural gas flow meters are used in applications like emissions monitoring.

Natural Gas Sub Metering in Industrial Applications

Industrial facilities and organizations with multiple buildings or processes use natural gas submetering in order to improve efficiency, detect natural gas leaks, reduce emissions, and meet regulatory reporting requirements.

Unlike volumetric flow meters, Fox Thermal’s flow meters deliver a direct reading of gas mass flow rate — without needing temperature and pressure compensation — and provide a simple, reliable, and cost-effective method for tracking and reporting fuel consumption.

Direct mass flow monitoring of natural gas and other fuel gases is the key to optimizing combustion processes and streamlining accounting procedures.

Non-oil & gas applications include:

  • Furnaces
  • Boilers
  • Ovens
  • Heaters
  • Kilns
  • Smelters
  • Dryers
  • Heat-treating systems
  • Natural gas backup power systems
  • Emission reduction systems
Natural gas pipeline at an oil and gas processing plant

Gas-SelectX® for Superior Natural Gas Flow Meter Applications

When measuring natural gas flow, it’s important that the flow meter is calibrated to the actual gas composition. Fox Thermal has developed the Gas-SelectX® gas selection feature to allow flexibility for measuring natural gas flows in different types of applications.

While the largest component of natural gas is methane, not all natural gas contains the exact same chemical composition. For industrial processes, utility companies deliver an NAESB standard natural gas composition that is achieved from a refining process.

But “natural gas” is a term that is also used to describe the mixed gases that come from the upstream oil and gas sector before they go through refinement. The reality of natural gas composition is that it can differ widely from one source to another.

Natural gas users in the industrial market can choose the Gas-SelectX® pure gas menu choice for “Natural Gas” which is set to the NAESB standard composition. For applications in the oil & gas sector, users can select the mixed gas or oil & gas menu of Gas-SelectX® and enter the gas composition of the pre-refinement natural gas in 0.1% increments of each component for a more accurate reading.

The Fox Thermal Model FT4A is equipped with the Gas-SelectX® feature, making it ideal for vent gas flow measurement.

How to Find the Right Natural Gas Mass Flow Meter for Your Application

Step
1
Our new app can help you choose the right flow meter model quickly.

If you’re not sure which natural gas flow meter is right for your needs, our Help Me Choose app walks you through a short series of questions to help you choose the ideal meter.

Step
2
Once you’ve selected a model, fill out the questions in our meter configurator form.

Next, enter your process data and measurement requirements into our automated product configurator. Drop-down menus and Help icons will guide you to answer each question.

Step
3
Save and submit your application data to us for a quote — it’s that easy!

Save the data you entered into the configurator to create a PDF with a model code and application ID. When you're ready, submit your application to Fox Thermal, and one of our experts will contact you with a quote.


Discover the Fox Thermal Advantage


Flow Meters for Natural Gas Applications

fox thermal product ft1

Model FT1

The Model FT1 thermal flow meter is available with Gas-SelectX® and can be easily reprogrammed in the field with the help of DDC-Sensor™ for calculating accurate gas correlations. It can measure a single gas or a mixture of up to 5 specified gases. The CAL-V™ Calibration Validation test feature that ensures the meter retains its original NIST calibration.

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Model FT1
fox thermal product ft2A meter

Model FT2A

Fox Thermal Model FT2A meters measure process gas flow rate/total and temperature. This flow meter is available with a large selection of communication protocol options without requiring additional equipment. Options include BACnet MS/TP, RS485 Modbus RTU, Profibus-DP, DeviceNet, or Ethernet Modbus TCP.

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Model FT2A
fox thermal product ft3 meter

Model FT3

The FT3 thermal mass flow meter can operate over higher temperatures and measure a wide range of dry pure gases and gas mixes. Comes with CAL-V™ and Zero CAL-CHECK® to ensure the meter retains the NIST calibration in the field. An optional Data Logger is available.

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Model FT3
fox thermal product ft4A meter

Model FT4A

This versatile gas flow meter is available with CAL-V™ Calibration Validation, DDC-Sensor™, and Gas-SelectX®. These features allow it to be reprogrammed in the field to measure any combination of gases in the gas mix menu in 0.1% increments to create a custom gas mix.

View
Model FT4A
fox thermal product ft4X meter

Model FT4X

The Model FT4X features CAL-V™ Calibration Validation, DDC-Sensor™, and Gas-SelectX®. For oil & gas applications affected by BLM 3175 and API 14.10, the FT4X is accuracy compliant. It also comes with a built-in data logger for advanced record-keeping and data retention that maintains a 7-year history.

View
Model FT4X

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News & Innovation

Fox Thermal Flow Meters for Natural Gas Offer Numerous Advantages

Better accuracy, wide rangeability (turndown), reliability, very low-pressure drop, Calibration Validation and the Gas-SelectX® gas selection feature make Fox Thermal flowmeters the best choice for natural gas applications.

Learn More
Choosing the Best Flow Meters for Industrial Natural Gas Applications

It is important to understand what makes different types of flow meters unique and the features that are most important for your needs. Fox Thermal offers both insertion and inline natural gas flow meter models.

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More Literature from Fox Thermal

For more information on Fox Thermal natural gas flow meters, download product sheets, whitepapers, case studies, application optimizers and more.

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