In this paper I will attempt to give a fundamental overview of an NGL meter station design; however, it is not a straight forward, one size fits all scenario. There are multiple considerations that influence the meter station design and all must be taken into account. Major considerations are: what product or products will be measured, what meter technology to utilize, and the process design limitations.
The first thing that must be taken into account is whether the product is a purity product or a mixed compositional product. Most purity products are measured and accounted for by volume, while a mixed compositional product is measured and accounted for by mass. This influences the meter skid design, since mass product skids must be set-up to allow for the stream’s mass and stream’s composition to be measured properly.