FLOW MEASUREMENTS

INTRODUCTION
Flow measurements include measuring of flow rate of solids, liquids and gases.

There are two basic ways of measuring flow ; one on volumetric basis and the
other on weight basis.

Solid materials are measured in terms of either weight per unit time or mass
per unit time.

Very rarely solid quantity is measured in terms of volume.

Liquids are measured either in volume rate or in weight rate.

Gases are normally measured in volume rate.

 UNITS OF FLOW
The units used to describe the flow measured can be of several types
depending on how the specific process needs the information.

Solids. Normally expressed in weight rate like Tonnes /hour, Kg/minute

etc.

Liquids. Expressed both in weight rate and in volume rate. Examples :

Tonnes/hour, Kg/minute, litres/hour, litres/minute etc.

Gases. Expressed in volume rate at NTP or STP like St/hour, etc.

Steam. Expressed in weight rate like Tonnes/hour, Kg/minutes etc.

Types of Flow Measurement Technologies

Variable Area (rotameters)

Rotating Vane (paddle & turbine
meter)

Positive Displacement

Differential Pressure

Vortex Shedding

Thermal Dispersion

Electro Magnetic

Thermal Mass

Coriolis Mass

Ultrasonic
 TURBINE FLOW METER

ELECTROMAGNETIC FLOW METER

ULTRASONIC FLOWMETER
 TURBINE FLOW METER
Turbine meters have found widespread use for accurate liquid
measurement applications.

The unit consists of a multiple-bladed rotor mounted with a pipe,

perpendicular to the liquid flow.

The rotor spins as the liquid passes through the blades. The rotational
speed is a direct function of flow rate and can be sensed by magnetic
pick-up, photoelectric cell, or gears. Electrical pulses can be counted and
totalized
 Fig: Schematic of turbine meter.
(1) Inlet straightening vanes,
(2) Rotating turbine blades with embedded
magnet,
(3) smooth after body to reduce pressure drop,
(4) reluctance pickup,
(5) meter body for insert in pipe or flow channel.

A flow coefficient K for the turbine meter is defined so that

where f is the pulse frequency. The flow coefficient is dependent on flow rate and
the kinematic viscosity of the fluid ν.

The number of electrical pulses counted for a given period of time is
directly proportional to flow volume.

A tachometer can be added to measure the turbine's rotational speed

and to determine the liquid flow rate. Turbine meters, when properly
specified and installed, have good accuracy, particularly with low-viscosity
liquids. A major concern with turbine meters is bearing wear.

A "bearing less" design has been developed to avoid this problem. Liquid
entering the meter travels through the spiraling vanes of a stator that
imparts rotation to the liquid stream. The stream acts on a sphere,
causing it to orbit in the space between the first stator and a similarly
spiraled second stator.

The orbiting movement of the sphere is detected electronically. The

frequency of the resulting pulse output is proportional to flow rate.

A calibration curve for a typical meter is given in Figure. It may be seen
that this particular meter will indicate the flow accurately within ±0.5
percent over a rather wide range of flow rates.

Figure
Calibration curve for
1-in-turbine flowmeter
of the type.
Calibration was
performed with water.
 ELECTROMAGNETIC FLOW METER
The metering system of the electromagnetic flow meter primary is based on
Faraday’s laws of electromagnetic induction, on the channel border which
is vertical each other with metering tube axis and line of magnetic field mount
one pair detecting electrode, when the conductive liquid move along the
metering tube axis the conductive liquid cutting the line of magnetic field induce
the inductive E.M.F.

This EMF detect out by two electrodes on the metering tube, numerical value
size is:
E=K B v D

E - inductive EMF;
K - instrument constant;
B - magnetic induction
v - average flow velocity in metering tube section;
D - metering tube inner diameter;
Fig: Electromagnetic flowmeter.
When measuring flow rate, the fluid flow through magnetic field vertical to flow
direction, the conductive liquid movement induce one EMF in directly proportion
to average flow velocity, so that require measured flow liquid conductivity higher
than lowest limit.

Its induction voltage signal is detected by two electrodes, and pass through a
cable transmit to converter, after through signal treatment and correlative
operation, take the integrating flow and the instantaneous delivery indicate on
the display screen of the converter
 ULTRASONIC FLOWMETER

There are various types of ultrasonic flowmeters in use for
discharge measurement:

(1) Transit time: This is today’s state-of-the-art technology and
most widely used type.

This type of ultrasonic flowmeter makes use of the difference in the
time for a sonic pulse to travel a fixed distance.

First against the flow and then in the direction of flow.

Transmit time flowmeters are sensitive to suspended solids or air
bubbles in the fluid.

(2) Doppler: This type is more popular and less expensive, but is
not considered as accurate as the transit time flow meter.

It makes use of the Doppler frequency shift caused by sound
reflected or scattered from suspensions in the flow path and is
therefore more complementary than competitive to transit time
flowmeters.
Principle of transit time flowmeters
Ultrasonic Flow
Meters
THE SOUND'S TIME OF
FLIGHT IS ACCURATELY
MEASURED IN BOTH
DIRECTIONS AND THE
DIFFERENCE IN TIME OF
FLIGHT CALCULATED.
 Transit Time Flowmeter

Principle of Operation

The acoustic method of discharge measurement is based on the fact
that the propagation velocity of an acoustic wave and the flow
velocity are summed vectorially.

This type of flowmeter measures the difference in transit times
between two ultrasonic pulses transmitted upstream t21 and
downstream t12 across the flow.

If there are no transverse flow components in the conduit, these two
transmit times of acoustic pulses are given by:
Since the transducers are generally used both as transmitters
and receivers, the difference in travel time can be determined
with the same pair of transducers.

Thus, the mean axial velocity along the path is given by:
 Two different types of ultrasonic flowmeter exist which employ distinct
technologies, one based on Doppler shift and the other on transit time.

Doppler shift ultrasonic flowmeter

A fundamental requirement of these instruments is the presence of scattering
elements within the flowing fluid, which deflect the ultrasonic energy output
from the transmitter such that it enters the receiver. These can be provided by
either solid particles, gas bubbles or eddies in the flowing fluid. The scattering
elements cause a frequency shift between the transmitted and reflected
ultrasonic energy, and measurement of this shift enables the fluid velocity to be
inferred.
Transit-time ultrasonic flowmeter

The transit-time ultrasonic flowmeter is an instrument designed for measuring the

volume flow rate in clean liquids or gases. It consists of a pair of ultrasonic
transducers mounted along an axis aligned at an angle with respect to the fluid-
flow axis, as shown in Figure. Each transducer consists of a transmitter–receiver
pair, with the transmitter emitting ultrasonic energy which travels across to the
receiver on the opposite side of the pipe. These ultrasonic elements are normally
piezoelectric oscillators of the same type as used in Doppler shift flowmeters. Fluid
flowing in the pipe causes a time difference between the transit times of the beams
travelling upstream and downstream, and measurement of this difference allows the
flow velocity to be calculated.
Fig.Transit-time ultrasonic flowmeter.
“The man who can own up to his error is greater than
he who merely knows how to avoid making it.”
Cardinal de Retz (1613 - 1679)
CRS-401 CRS-402 UTXDR-
(2”-26”) (28”- 408
100”) (0.5”-2”)