TABLE 1.

FLOWMETER SELECTION GUIDE

Flowmeter
element
Orifice
Wedge
Venturi tube
Flow nozzle
Pitot tube

Recommended
Service
Clean, dirty
liquids; some
slurries
Slurries and
Viscous liquids
Clean, dirty
and viscous
liquids; some
slurries
Clean and
dirty liquids
Clean liquids

Clean, dirty
Elbow meter
liquids; some
slurries
Clean, dirty
viscous
Target meter
liquids; some
slurries
Clean, dirty
Variable area
viscous liquids
Positive
Clean, viscous
Displacement liquids
Clean, viscous
Turbine
liquids
CLean, dirty
Vortex
liquids
Clean, dirty
viscous conElectromagnetic
ductive liquids
and slurries
Dirty, viscous
Ultrasonic
liquids and
(Doppler)
slurries
Ultrasonic
Clean, viscous
(Time-of-travel) liquids
Clean, dirty
Mass
viscous
(Coriolis)
liquids; some
slurries
Clean, dirty
Mass
viscous
(Thermal)
liquids; some
slurries
Weir
Clean, dirty
(V-notch)
liquids
Flume
Clean, dirty
(Parshall)
liquids

Typical
Accuracy,
percent

Rangeability

Pressure Loss

4 to 1

Medium

3 to 1

Low to
medium

4 to 1

Low

4 to 1

Medium

3 to 1

Very low

3 to 1

Very low

10 to 1

Medium

10 to 1

Medium

10 to 1

High

20 to 1

High

10 to 1

Medium

1 of rate

40 to 1

None

10 to 1

Required
Upstream Viscosity Relative
pipe,
effect
Cost
diameters

2 to 4
of full
10 to 30
scale
0.5 to 2
10 to 30
of full scale

High

Low

Low

High

High

Medium

High

Medium

Low

Low

5 to 10
30
of full scale

Low

Low

1 to 5
10 to 30
of full scale

Medium

Medium

Medium

Low

High

Medium

High

High

10 to 20

Medium

High

0.5 of
rate

None

High

None

5 of full
scale

5 to 30

None

High

20 to 1

None

1 to 5
5 to 30
of full scale

None

High

10 to 1

Low

0.4 of
rate

None

None

High

10 to 1

Low

1 of full
scale

None

None

High

100 to 1

Very low

Very Low

Medium

50 to 1

Very low

Very low

Medium

1 of full
scale
1 to
of full
3 to
of full

5 to 20

2
10 to 30
scale
5
20 to 30
scale

1 to 10
None
of full scale
0.5 of
None
rate
0.25 of
5 to 10
rate

2 to
of full
2 to
of full

5
None
scale
5
None
scale