A liquid measurement station can be as simple as a single meter run allocation measurement or as complex as a multi meter run station with a multitasking control system. Regardless of complexity the measurement quality is no better than the quality of the system design. Utilizing a state of the art meter technology will not yield any better results than allowed by the system design. Liquid measurement stations are found in all areas of the hydrocarbon industry from oil production to custody transfer to refining. A heavy emphasis is placed on the accurate measurement of product in each area of the industry. For this reason the design of a measurement system deserves a high degree of focus.

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the factors that must be considered in the design of a quality measurement system. It is the goal of this paper to provide the following: 1. Basic requirements of a quality measurement system. 2. Outline the typical components of a measurement system. 3. System design check list. It is impossible to give adequate time to the design of all the different measurement applications. Therefore this paper will concentrate on the features of a typical custody transfer measurement station.