INSTROL, in collaboration with our principal partner SOLV, is well-positioned to offer comprehensive uncertainty studies and audits for both custody transfer metering systems and tank gauging systems. These services are designed to help our customers ensure compliance with international standards, maintain measurement accuracy, and minimize financial risk in high-value transactions. With SOLV’s extensive expertise in flow and tank measurement diagnostics and INSTROL’s regional presence and project experience, we deliver reliable technical evaluations and documentation aligned with industry best practices and regulatory expectations.
Tank gauging is the process of accurately measuring the level, volume, and sometimes mass of liquid stored in large tanks — commonly used in oil terminals, refineries, petrochemical plants, and storage farms. It is a critical part of custody transfer, inventory management, and safety control. In some terminals, custody transfer is done not via flow meters but via tank gauging, especially when products are delivered to/from marine vessels or railcars. For this, accurate tank calibration, certified gauging systems, and uncertainty studies are essential.
In the oil industry, the major product transported by sea has previously been crude oil. However, more and more refined products are also being transported by sea. Oil tankers deliver around 2.5 billion cubic meters of crude oil and refined products each year, and provide the next most efficient transport system after oil pipelines.
Loading and unloading of tankers is done via a direct hook-up to pipelines, or through a series of loading arms. A custody transfer flow measurement system is required, to determine the exact quantity of oil delivered to or taken from the tanker: this also often includes an analyzer to confirm the quality of the product. The system can include degasser units to eliminate any unwanted gas entrained during the transfer.
After the natural gas entering the liquefaction plant has been measured by a Custody Transfer metering system, the filtering and liquefaction process can start. During that process, flowmeters are used to measure the natural gas flows and in the same process, the coolants are used in the cold boxes. level instrumentation is used to measure the level in separators, scrubbers and tanks. (AMADAS Analyser Management) software systems guarantee the performance of the analysers used to determine the quality of the natural gas and LNG
