Blancett meters help hydraulic fracturing companies keep the environment safe and meet government regulations.

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a process used to extract underground natural resources from below the Earths surface. These resources include oil, natural gas, geothermal energy, and even water. The process includes pumping fracturing fluid at high pressures into a well, sometimes drilled thousands of feet deep. The pressure of the fluid creates cracks in the underground rock, allowing trapped resources to flow up the well.

Hydraulic Fracturing Illustration

With over 20,000 square feet of research and development space, Badger Meter‘s James O. Wright Innovation centre is dedicated to the development and perfection of new products. From basic mechanical functionality to network connectivity, products undergo a rigorous testing and improvement process using extreme and strict standards to ensure exacting, reliable operation.

The state of the art facility, named in honour of former chairman and CEO, James O. Wright, includes 10 areas where the company’s engineers and technicians run comprehensive product tests that replicate field conditions including;

Hydro Lab
Nine operational test stands using gravimetric calibrated standards test metering product accuracy. The lines accommodate a variety of meter sizes, ranging from 0.25 to 12 inches. There are 21 stainless steel water tanks with capacities between 12 and 12,000 gallons and a reservoir under the concrete floor that supplies up to 125,000 gallons of potable water.

Model Shop
Advanced CAD systems design products, while CNC machines further automate the prototype creation process. Prototypes then undergo thorough evaluation and testing.

Electronics Lab
Because electronics play a key role in the Badger Meter automated meter reading system portfolio, transmitters, receivers, and radios are tested in the Electronics Lab. A specially designed RF Shield Room blocks 99.9% of external RF signals creating a controlled area to accurately test radio frequencies.

Automotive Fluid Meter Test Lab
Badger Meter manufactures several lines of meters designed specifically for the automotive industry. These meters dispense engine oil, engine coolant, automatic transmission fluid, and wiper fluid. This lab tests for durability and accuracy to ensure user safety.

Pilot Lab
Ensures manufacturing integrity before products hit the plant floor.

Life Test Lab
Evaluates meter accuracy and reliability throughout the product lifecycle. Accelerated endurance testing measures product performance and accuracy over time.

Environment Test Lab
Appraises product performance under extreme air temperatures, from 4ºC to 65ºC, and humidity levels up to 95% relative humidity.

Cycle/Burst Test Lab
The cycle test subjects meter housings to thousands of pressure cycles ranging from 75 to 300 psi. Hydrostatic burst tests increase the water pressure in the meter until the housing bursts, enabling engineers to study weak points.

Australian-owned company, Macnaught, has established a strong reputation for designing and manufacturing innovative, high quality, durable products since the company was founded by Colin Macnaught in 1948.

Macnaught has been a leading designer and manufacturer of lubrication and fluid management solutions for nearly 60 years. Their products are sold into agricultural, industrial, automotive, mining and transport industries providing quality lubrication and fluid management solutions to over 60 countries worldwide.

Macnaught manufacture their products in-house to maintain control of product quality, with state of the art facilities including their own inspection lab, Macnaught can maintain their ISO 9001 high quality standards much more easily. The video below features a brief overview of the company.

Macnaught manufacture one of the most dynamic ranges of oval gear flow meters on the market, The MX Series. The MX Series is a comprehensive selection of models and sizes with a choice of materials, connection types and signal outputs suitable for measuring a diverse range of clean fluids with viscosities of up to 1000cps as standard and to 1,000,000cps with optional high viscosity rotors, temperatures to 150°C and pressures to 138bar. The video below shows the different display options available.

The MX series of flow meters are available in ¼ (6mm) up to 4 (100mm), with flow ranges from 0.5 l/hr to 1200 l/hr and an accuracy of ±1%. ATEX rated and high pressure models are also available. They are equipped with Macnaughts versatile M-Lock mounting system, allowing the pulse modules and displays to be installed and exchanged in less than 15 seconds. See the MX range here. Watch an introduction to the MX Series below.

Macnaught has developed a comprehensive set of web based resources in order to support customers throughout the entire process of selecting, applying and maintaining the MX Flow meter range. Including; service videos which you can find a selection of on ourYouTube Channel, a specification tool and meter selection tool to help you choose the right meter for your application.

We are the sole representative for Macnaught in the UK, if you would like more information on Macnaught products visit our dedicated webpage, call +44 (0)1280 817304 or email sales@bellflowsystems.co.uk

We recently commissioned in-house test rigs for water, oil and micro-flows and can now offer scheduled calibrations and re-calibrations for flow meters of many measuring principles and sizes. Our test rigs are UKAS traceable and all calibrations are issued with a calibration certificate.

Our flexible calibration service gives you peace of mind knowing that the meter you have purchased will be correctly calibrated and performing accurately and within its stated specifications (we can also offer an on-site calibration if required).

The DXN portable ultrasonic flow meter is capable of measuring liquid flow with multiple technologies, including: Doppler, transit time and liquid thermal flow. Easy to install by clamping RTDs onto the outside of the pipe. The meter measures flow using the non-invasive ultrasonic sensors and takes over 100 readings a second. With the industry’s only advanced touch-screen interface featuring job-specific controls this is one portable meter that really can do it all.

A working estate covering just over 50,000 acres, with large lawn areas, park land and trees to maintain, required an Eco-friendly solution for expending water for the upkeep of the estate grounds. We supplied Badger Meter’s new M1000 electromagnetic flow meter as part of a water abstraction solution.

Water abstraction is the removal or diversion of water from the water environment. It can be carried out by a variety of means including a pump, pipes, an engineering structure in a watercourse, a borehole or a well. In terms of regulation, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) allows the abstraction of water from privately owned land if abstraction is less than 20m3 a day.

We supplied metering equipment for monitoring the water abstraction process for the estate using Badger Meters M1000 electromagnetic flow meter, a new addition to their accurate, high performance ModMAG® M-Series® family. The M1000 achieves an accuracy rate of ± 0.3 percent and its rugged design ensures exceptional reliability in demanding environments. The meter features a non-intrusive open flow tube that virtually eliminates pressure loss, and with no moving parts to impede the flow stream, maintenance is kept to a minimum – even in less than ideal fluid conditions. The M1000 is available in 1/4″ (6mm) up to 8″ (200mm) sizes and has a flow range of 0.05 up to 22700 litres per minute. We partnered the M1000 with a daily timer and a batch controller to ensure that the total water abstracted from the estates boreholes could be monitored and controlled to remain with SEPAs maximum daily abstraction limits.

This new ecological installation enables the continued use of alternative sources of water other than the mains water supply. We have been involved in many bespoke borehole metering projects over the years. Having extensive product knowledge and a broad range of metering and instrumentation products at their disposal this provides an unbeatable combination for those requiring a tailor made flow solution.

Working in partnership with the Central YMCA, we supplied and commissioned the TFX clamp-on ultrasonic flow meter from Dynasonics at the largest gym facility in Central London.

The application called for a simple, non-intrusive solution to record flow rate and total consumption of fresh water at this six thousand member health centre, where the incoming fresh water pipework serves both the health centre and several business units which are sub metered.

The TFX Ultra was perfectly suited to this task and chosen for its simple and reliable clamp-on design which allowed for quick and easy installation to the outside of the existing pipework. This style of flow meter reduces installation time and material costs. In addition to this, the application required a data logging facility for which the SQ2020 logger provided the perfect accompaniment to the TFX Ultra, with its 16 universal inputs and data management to MMC/SD card or PC.

The information obtained now allows the YMCA centre to accurately apportion water usage to the associated business units, each of which have their own sub meters. The centre also plans to use this equipment in the near future to analyse consumption peaks at 30 minute intervals, thus allowing peak flow rate periods to be identified – with the potential of using this information to minimise water usage and make savings.

With a broad range of metering and instrumentation products at our disposal we pride ourselves on product knowledge, when offered product training we’re not ones to turn it down, especially when it involves a couple of days in Neuffen, Germany…

Badger Meter offer a hugely varied and world renowned selection of flow measurement products. As you are probably aware, we are the UK representative for Badger Meter and we supply a whole host of their products. Last month we were invited along to Germany for their two day product training event being held at Badger Meter Europa in Neuffen. Over the course of two days training we covered a range of their industrial flow meter products such as: Hedland VA meters, turbines, oval gear, nutating disc, Coriolis, vortex, differential pressure and impeller flow meters.

As well as learning more about Badger Meter products, we also sampled German cuisine, Swabian noodles, being the dish of choice. Swabian noodles, also known as ‘Sptzle’ are a local delicacy made from a soft textured egg noodle. The total estimated annual commercial production of Sptzle in Germany is approximately 40,000 tons. We think they like it, there were however mixed reviews from the Bell Flow team.

Our refreshed Badger Meter product knowledge is now at your disposal, please get in touch if you have any questions about their product range. Or visit our Badger Meter website at www.badgermeter.co.uk

After a five-year and £2.3billion program to transform and update the facilities, Heathrow Airport’s terminal 2 re-opened to passengers on the 4th June this year. The project included the construction of a brand new cooling station to provide air conditioning for the estimated 20 million passengers a year.

In order to provide sufficient air conditioning for terminal 2A, the new cooling station required a system to regulate and control the flow of chilled water. Working in collaboration with a building management company, we commissioned the airports flow metering solution.

Due to the proposed external location at the top of the cooling station, the solution required flow meters that could not only withstand the demands of the environment but also have a 4-20mA output for the use of remote mount displays. With pipe sizes of 300mm, the cooling station also required flow meters with industrial proportions.