Mass Flow Meter - Calibration and Commissioning

For coriolis mass flow meters there is no field calibration or site calibration that can be done.

This calibration is done at the factory using specialized flow proving equipment and simulators (laboratory environment), the average operating company (or service company/contractor) does not have this type of equipment as part of their normal maintenance/service equipment.

The commissioning of these equipment usually entails only verification of wiring, power-up, verification of configured parameters (such as ranges and engineering units etc) using a HHT and if possible verification of measurements obtained from internal sensors (such as temperature) under shelf of ambient conditions (these are usually also obtained from an HHT such as the HART 375).

Usually if problems are suspected or observed the items must be returned to the manufacturer, also given the nature of their intended use (for custody transfer etc) a factory certificate is usually required.

Rely on the manufacturer's calibration certificate supplied with the instrument. If it has been mislaid, a call to the manufacturer for a replacement, quoting the serial number, will usually be sufficient for a fax copy of it.

Hello,

After you certify that the calibration was done at the factory, you can check in the transmitter if the flow range (ex.: m3/h) is the same of controller (DCS or PLC).

From comment # 2;

"The commissioning of these equipment usually entails only verification of wiring, power-up, verification of configured parameters (such as ranges and engineering units etc)"

The proper thing to do is to check the configured parameters against the process and/or instrument datasheet for the application/instrument not against what is configured on DCS or PLC, this is particularly important for new projects and installations as there is a higher possibility of there being discrepancies, changes may have been made by engineering companies and information not passed onto system developers and procurement groups in a timely manner.

For existing installations using the ranges on automation systems may be acceptable as the equipment would have been in service already.