• Published: February 1989
• REF/ISBN: 9780471923138
• Edition: 1st
• Status: Current

Please note that HM10 - Meter Proving. Section 1: Field guide to proving meters with a pipe prover is now obsolete. Content superseded by ISO 7278-2 (2022) - Petroleum measurement systems — Part 2: Pipe prover design, calibration and operation. This ISO document was supported by representatives from HMC-2 – Refineries and Distribution, using content from HM10/HM12.

This publication is concerned with only one kind of prover, the pipe prover, which is used widely where large meters for crude oil and petroleum products have to be proved to the highest possible standard of accuracy. In principle a pipe prover is simply a length of pipe whose internal volume has been determined very accurately, and having a well-fitted piston (or a tightly fitting sphere acting like a piston) inside it, so that the volume swept out by the piston or sphere can be compared with the meter readout while a steady flow of liquid is passing from the meter into the prover. In practice, however, many accessories have to be added to the simple pipe-and-piston arrangement to produce a prover that will work effectively and accurately.

Section 2 deals with the principles underlying the subject, and explains the various factors which are used to express the results of proving a meter. Section 3 is concerned with hardware. It briefly describes the two main types of meter that have to be proved, and then describes in more detail the most usual types of pipe prover. Because it can be dangerous to use any equipment carelessly, in the petroleum industry there are official safety regulations which operators are obliged to study and follow, and Section 4 sets out some of the most widely adopted safety rules affecting pipe provers. Then Section 5 explains how to operate a pipe prover. Finally, Sections 6 and 7 deal with the processing of data Section 6 with proving data and Section 7 with the calculation of throughput.

Formerly PMM Part X, S1, reapproved 2001.