MEEN-3137
PRECISION ENGINEERING AND
METROLOGY
(013)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering
and Information Technology
Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan
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16. Flow Measurement
• The rate at which fluid flows through a closed pipe can be
quantified by either measuring the mass flow rate or measuring
the volume flow rate.
• Of these alternatives, mass flow measurement is more accurate,
since mass, unlike volume, is invariant.
• In the case of the flow of solids, the choice is simpler, since only
mass flow measurement is appropriate.
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16.1 Mass flow rate
• The method used to measure mass flow rate is largely
determined by whether the measured quantity is in a solid, liquid
or gaseous state. The main techniques available are summarized
below.
16.1.1 Conveyor-based methods.
• These methods are concerned with measurement of the flow of
solids that are in the form of small particles.
• Such particles are usually produced by crushing or grinding
procedures in process industries, and the particles are usually
transported by some form of conveyor.
• This mode of transport allows the mass flow rate to be calculated
in terms of the mass of material on a given length of conveyor
multiplied by the speed of the conveyor.
• A load cell measures the mass M of material distributed over a
length L of the conveyor. If the conveyor velocity is v, the mass
flow rate, Q, is given by:
Q=Mv/L
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16.1 Mass flow rate
• As an alternative to weighing the flowing material, a nuclear
mass-flow sensor can be used, in which a gamma-ray source is
directed at the material being transported along the conveyor.
• The material absorbs some radiation, and the amount of radiation
received by a detector on the other side of the material indicates
the amount of material on the conveyor.
• This technique has obvious safety concerns, and is therefore
subject to licensing and strict regulation.
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16.1 Mass flow rate
16.1.2 Coriolis flowmeter.
• The Coriolis flowmeter is primarily used to measure the mass flow
rate of liquids, although it has also been successfully used in some
gas-flow measurement applications.
• The flowmeter consists of either a pair of parallel vibrating tubes or
else a single vibrating tube that is formed into a configuration that
has two parallel sections.
• The two vibrating tubes (or the two parallel sections of a single
tube) deflect according to the mass flow rate of the measured fluid
that is flowing inside.
• Tubes are made of various materials, of which stainless steel is the
most common.
• They are also manufactured in different shapes such as: B-shaped,
D-shaped, U-shaped, triangular-shaped, helix-shaped and straight.
• These alternative shapes are sketched in figure next slide (a) and a
U-shaped tube is shown in more detail in figure (b). The tubes are
anchored at two points (see next slide)
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16.1 Mass flow rate
16.1.2 Coriolis flowmeter. These alternative shapes are
sketched in Figure (a) and a U-shaped tube is shown in more
detail in Figure (b). The tubes are anchored at two points.
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16.2 Volume flow rate
• Volume flow rate is an appropriate way of quantifying the flow of
all materials that are in a gaseous, liquid or semi-liquid slurry
form (where solid particles are suspended in a liquid host),
although measurement accuracy is inferior to mass flow
measurement as noted earlier.
• Materials in these forms are carried in pipes, and various
instruments can be used to measure the volume flow rate as
described below.
16.2.1 Differential pressure (obstruction-type) meters.
• Differential pressure meters involve the insertion of some device
into a fluid-carrying pipe that causes an obstruction and creates
a pressure difference on either side of the device.
• Such meters are sometimes known as obstruction-type meters or
flow-restriction meters.
• Devices used to obstruct the flow include: the orifice plate, the
Venturi tube, the flow nozzle and the Dall flow tube, as
illustrated on the next slide.
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16.2 Volume flow rate
Fig. Obstruction devices: (a) orifice plate; (b) venturi; (c) flow
nozzle;
(d) Dall flow tube. 8
16.2 Volume flow rate
16.2.1 Differential pressure (obstruction-type) meters.
• Devices used to obstruct the flow: the orifice plate, the Venturi
tube, the flow nozzle and the Dall flow tube, were illustrated in the
last slide.
• When such a restriction is placed in a pipe, the velocity of the fluid
through the restriction increases and the pressure decreases.
• The volume flow rate is then proportional to the square root of the
pressure difference across the obstruction.
• The manner in which this pressure difference is measured is
important.
• Measuring the two pressures with different instruments and
calculating the difference between the two measurements is not
satisfactory because of the large measurement error which can
arise when the pressure difference is small.
• Therefore, the normal procedure is to use a differential pressure
transducer, which is commonly a diaphragm type.
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16.2 Volume flow rate
16.2.2 Variable Area Flow-meters (Rotameters)
•In the variable area flow-meter (which is also sometimes known
as a Rotameter), the differential pressure across a variable
aperture is used to adjust the area of the aperture.
•The aperture area is then a measure of the flow rate.
•The instrument is reliable and cheap and used extensively
throughout industry, accounting for about 20% of all flowmeters
sold.
•Normally, this type of instrument only gives a visual indication of
flow rate, and so it is of no use in automatic control schemes.
•However, special versions of variable area flow-meters are now
available that incorporate fiber optics.
•In these, a row of fibers detects the position of the float by
sensing the reflection of light from it, and an electrical signal
output can be derived from this.
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16.2 Volume flow rate
16.2.3 Positive displacement flowmeters.
•Positive displacement flow-meters account for nearly 10% of the
total number of flow-meters used in industry and are used in large
numbers for metering domestic gas and water consumption.
•The cheapest instruments have a typical inaccuracy of about +/-
2%, but the inaccuracy in more expensive ones can be as low as
+/- 0.5%.
•These higher quality instruments are used extensively within the
oil industry, as such applications can justify the high cost of such
instruments.
•All positive displacement meters operate by using mechanical
divisions to displace discrete volumes of fluid successively.
•Whilst this principle of operation is common, many different
mechanical arrangements exist for putting the principle into
practice.
•However, all versions of positive displacement meter are low
friction, low maintenance and long-life devices, although they do
impose a small permanent pressure loss on the flowing fluid.
•Low friction is especially important when measuring gas flows, and 11
16.2 Volume flow rate
16.2.4 Turbine meters.
•A turbine flow-meter consists of a multi-bladed wheel mounted in a
pipe along an axis parallel to the direction of fluid flow in the pipe,
as shown in figure below.
•The flow of fluid past the wheel causes it to rotate at a rate that is
proportional to the volume flow rate of the fluid.
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16.2 Volume flow rate
16.2.4 Turbine meters
•Turbine meters have a similar cost and market share to positive
displacement meters, and compete for many applications,
particularly in the oil industry.
•Turbine meters are smaller and lighter than the latter (positive
displacement meters) and are preferred for low-viscosity, high-flow
measurements.
•However, positive-displacement meters are superior in conditions of
high viscosity and low flow rate.
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16.2 Volume flow rate
16.2.5 Electromagnetic flowmeters
•Electromagnetic flowmeters are limited to measuring the volume
flow rate of electrically conductive fluids.
• The operation of a electromagnetic flowmeter is based upon
Faraday's Law, which states that the voltage induced across any
conductor as it moves at right angles through a magnetic field is
proportional to the velocity of that conductor.
•The typical measurement inaccuracy of around +/- 1% is acceptable
in many applications, but the instrument is expensive both in terms
of the initial purchase cost and also in running costs, mainly due to
its electricity consumption.
•A further reason for high cost is the need for careful calibration of
each instrument individually during manufacture, as there is
considerable variation in the properties of the magnetic materials
used.
•The instrument consists of a stainless steel cylindrical tube, fitted
with an insulating liner, which carries the measured fluid.
•To learn more please see the following video
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Electromagnetic flow meters
[Link]
v=f949gpKdCI4
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16.2 Volume flow rate
16.2.6 Vortex-shedding flowmeters.
•The vortex-shedding flow-meter is a relatively new type of
instrument which is rapidly gaining in popularity and is being used as
an alternative to traditional differential pressure meters in more and
more applications.
•The operating principle of the instrument is based on the natural
phenomenon of vortex shedding, created by placing an un-
streamlined obstacle (known as a bluff body) in a fluid-carrying pipe,
as indicated in Figure below.
•When fluid flows past the obstacle, boundary layers of viscous, slow
moving fluid are formed along the outer surface.
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Vortex-shedding flow meters.
[Link]
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16.2 Volume flow rate
16.2.7 Ultrasonic flowmeters
•An ultrasonic flow meter is a type of flow meter that measures the
velocity of a fluid with ultrasound waves to calculate volume flow.
•Ultrasonic flowmeters use waves to determine the velocity of a
fluid flowing in a pipe.
•At no flow conditions, the frequencies of an ultrasonic wave
transmitted into a pipe and its reflections from the fluid are the
same.
•For better understand see the video
[Link]
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16.4 Choice Between Flowmeters for
particular applications
• The number of relevant factors to be considered when specifying
a flowmeter for a particular application is very large.
• These include: the temperature and pressure of the fluid, its
density, viscosity, chemical properties and abrasiveness,
whether it contains particles, whether it is a liquid or gas, etc.
• This narrows the field to a subset of instruments that are
physically capable of making the measurement.
• Next, the required performance factors of accuracy, rangeability,
acceptable pressure drop, output signal characteristics, reliability
and service life must be considered.
• Accuracy requirements vary widely across different applications,
with measurement uncertainty of +/- 5% being acceptable in
some and less than +/- 0.5% being demanded in others.
• Finally, the economic viability must be assessed and this must
take account not only of purchase cost, but also of reliability,
installation difficulties, maintenance requirements and service
life.
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16.4 Choice Between Flowmeters for
particular applications
• Where a flow measurement in the form of an electrical signal is
required, the choice of available instruments is very large.
• The orifice plate is used extremely commonly for such purposes
and accounts for almost 50 % of the instruments currently in
use in industry.
• Other forms of differential pressure meter and electromagnetic
flowmeters are used in significant numbers.
• Currently, there is a trend away from rotating devices such as
turbine meters and positive displacement meters.
• At the same time, usage of ultrasonic and vortex meters is
expanding.
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What’s the most distant
human object from Earth?
Voyager 1???
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• The most distant human-made object is the spacecraft
Voyager 1, which – in late February 2018 – is over 13
billion miles (21 billion km) from Earth.
• Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched 16
days apart in 1977.
• Voyager 1 officially became the first earthly craft to leave
the solar system, crossing the heliopause, in 2012.
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