Jim 'Slim' Mimlitz

Jim ‘Slim’ Mimlitz, SCADAmetrics

The EtherMeter can be used to enable a SCADA system to collect both water and gas meter totalization and instantaneous flow-rate — even simultaneously.

An interesting application is the use of a single EtherMeter connected to an encoder-based water meter plus an encoder-based gas meter.  In the example illustrated below, a Sensus SR-II water meter and a Sensus R-275 temperature-compensated gas meter are connected simultaneously to an EtherMeter.

The water and gas meters are equipped with Sensus ICE™ (Intelligent Communications Encoder) registers, enabling the EtherMeter — and therefore a connected SCADA system — to collect water and gas consumption data with revenue-grade accuracy.  In other words, the SCADA system’s data will always be a perfect match to the data displayed on the physical meters.

All Sensus water meters — from 5/8″ residential-sized meters all the way up to 16″ turbine and 72″ propeller meters — can be outfitted with an encoder-based register.  The range of Sensus metering equipment supports flow capacities from 0 to 90,000 GPM.    (See sensus.com for details.)

Sensus also manufactures an ICE™ register for natural gas, which may be fitted to a wide range of diaphragm-style meters manufactured by Sensus, American (Canadian), and Schlumberger Meter Company.  These various gas meter product lines support flow capacities from 0 to 630 CFH.  (See sensus.com for a detailed list of compatible gas meters.)

In order for the SCADA system to read the finest resolution totalization and flow rate data available, both the Gas and Water ICE registers should be pre-programmed with a Sensus Programmer/Interrogator so as to transmit 8 totalization digits and a standard consumption message string.

The above photo illustrates Water Meter totalization (cubic feet) on the EtherMeter’s LCD display.  (Click photo to zoom.)

The above photo illustrates Gas Meter Totalization (cubic feet) on the EtherMeter’s LCD display.  (Click photo to zoom.)

Jim 'Slim' Mimlitz

About Jim 'Slim' Mimlitz

Licensed Professional Electrical Engineer @ SCADAmetrics. Specialties: Connecting Flow Meters with SCADA, Telemetry, and Building Automation Systems. Electronic Circuit Design, Software Development.

2 Thoughts on “Gas & Water Flow Meter Monitoring with Modbus and Rockwell Industrial Communication Protocols

  1. Avatar Tom DeWitt on October 30, 2015 at 8:42 am said:

    What would be the advantage of this over a gas or water meter that already uses Modbus RS-465? I have one (so far) where the gas meter has a Modbus output that is connected to the gateway of the electric meter which is in turn connected to the LAN. The server and software in the main building house the information from the meters. The reading in the software will also match the reading on the meter without a multiplier.

  2. Hello Tom, In your situation, you have a high-end gas meter that already offers Modbus, which is great. And if the gas or water meter already offers Modbus/RTU/485, there is no advantage to using the EtherMeter in those situations.

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