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EMPIR projects improve flow measurements for liquefied natural gas & other refrigerated hydrocarbon fluids to support the EU’s energy transition

The utilisation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied biogas (LBG) as a transport fuel constitutes one of the key pillars of the European clean fuel strategy. LNG implementation would enable stringent pollutant emission limits to be met more cost-effectively compared to conventional fuels. Engines running on LNG are therefore becoming the preferred choice. LNG is also an attractive fuel to meet the new limits for sulphur content in marine fuels and for nitrogen oxides emissions from ship engines. To enable the uptake of LNG as a transport fuel, reliable LNG flow measurement is essential. 

Recently, a new standard – ISO 21903:2020 – was published by the International Standards Organisation (ISO), to specify the metrological and technical requirements for flowmeters that can dynamically measure LNG and other refrigerated hydrocarbon fluids. The release of this new standard highlights the excellent collaboration between meter manufacturers, end-users, and metrological institutes, to take-up the highly needed knowledge developed in the LNG-related projects within the European Metrology Research Programmes (EMRP and EMPIR):

• ‘Metrology for Liquefied Natural Gas’ (LNG, ENG03),
• ‘Metrological support for LNG custody transfer & transport fuel applications’ (LNG II, ENG60), and
• ‘Metrological support for LNG and LBG as transport fuel’ (LNG III, 16ENG09).

Erik Smits from the Dutch Metrology Institute (VSL) is presently the chair of working group 20 for ISO’s Technical Committee 28 (ISO TC28 WG20); focused specifically on the dynamic measurement of LNG. He comments:

"This milestone was reached from the continued and relentless efforts of committee members all around the world and European metrology consortia in the past few years. The release of the standard addresses key issues in the proper installation and calibration of flow meters used for dynamic measurement of LNG, meeting the end-user needs. It forms the foundation to establish trust and confidence in the dynamic measurement of LNG and other cryogenic fluids, which can help to prove this methodology in custody transfer applications supporting the use of LNG as a transitional fuel toward clean energy”.

EMPIR projects are co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the EMPIR Participating States.

EMRP joint research projects are part of EURAMET’s European Metrology Research Programme. The EMRP has been jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union.

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