Department Editor: Rebekkah Marshall
Flowmeter
selection
General selection criteria
There are well over 20 different types
of flowmeters, even if we lump the
various positive-displacement flowmeters
together as one type. Unless the process
engineer knows the pros and cons of
each type, it can be a daunting task to
properly select one. Here are just some
of the factors to consider before select-
ing a flowmeter:
Its size and measuring range of the
flowmeter
Chemical compatibility
Process accuracy requirements
Pressure requirements
Acceptable pressure drop
Cleaning requirements (i.e., do you
need, and does the unit offer, clean-in-
place capabilities?)
Desired measurement units (such as
volume, velocity or mass)
Uni-directional or bi-directional mea-
surement
Fluid viscosity limitations
Necessary approvals for use in haz-
ardous areas, sanitary applications
and so on (examples include Factory
Mutual, Canadian Standards Assn., 3-
A Standards and Accepted Practices,
and Underwriters Laboratory approv-
als)
Custody-transfer approvals
Data-output requirements (i.e., 420
mA, relay, digital or simple display)
Calibration and re-calibration require-
ments
Maintenance issues
Operating costs
Connection styles (flanged, wafer,
threaded, weld-on and so on)
accuracy and turndown
Accuracy can be a very nebulous term.
Take for instance a typical accuracy
statement of 0.5%. The manufacturer
certainly means to indicate that the flow-
meter is 99.5% accurate; not merely
0.5% accurate. Thus, the specification
should really read 0.5% uncertainty.
In addition, with such a designation,
there is no mention of what the 0.5%
refers to (i.e., percentage of rate or
of full scale. ) This often disregarded
term should be a major consideration
in flowmeter selection (or that of any
other measuring device, for that matter).
Consider, for instance, that a flowmeter
based on full scale has a very large
error as the flowrate is reduced. By con-
trast, a flowmeter based on rate has the
same accuracy all the way down to the
low flow specification.
When evaluating flowmeters, one
should also be mindful of claims of exag-
gerated turndown ratios. Some flowme-
ters will provide the stated accuracy
over a very limited range, while others
will do so over a very wide range.
Turndown ratio is an easy, but
often erroneous or incomplete, way
to express the rangeability of a flow-
meter. Turndown ratio is simply the
high end of the measurement range
compared to the low end of the mea-
surement range.
For example, a flow range of 133
ft/s equals a 33:1 turndown ratio. A flow
range of 0.01 to 33 ft/s equals a 3,300:1
turndown ratio.
What isnt shown in either example
is the accuracy or uncertainty over the
range. While it is possibly true that the
second flowmeter is capable of 3,300:1
turndown-ratio measurement, the uncer-
tainty of the device may be as high as
37.5%. In addition to the turndown ratio
specification, look for the uncertainty
specification.
References
1. FCI Guide to Better Gas Flow Measurement,
FluidComponentsInternational,LLC.,2003.
2. Kohlmann, Michael, Selecting the Right Flow-
meterfortheJob,Chem. Eng.,pp.6064,Sep-
tember2004.
3. Swearingen, Corte, Choosing the Right Flow-
meterfortheJob,Chem. Eng.,July1999.
Gas flowmeter selection chart [1]
Clean
gas
Dry,
dirty
gas
Wet,
dirty
gas
Low
flow
Wide
turn-
down
High
temp
Low
pressure
loss
Instal-
lation
cost
Mainte-
nance
Mass
flow
Volu-
metric
flow
Thermal dispersion 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1
Vortex shedding 1 2 4 3 2 1 1 2 2
Positive displacement 1 4 4 2 2 1 3 2 3
Target 1 2 3 4 3 1 2 1 2
Ultrasonic (transit time) 1 4 4 2 2 4 1 3 2
Orifice (DP) 1 3 3 3 3 1 3 2 2
Venturi (DP) 1 2 2 3 3 1 2 3 2
Pitot tube (DP) 1 4 4 3 3 1 2 1 2
Turbine 1 4 4 2 2 2 2 3 3
1=Goodmatch;2=Poormatch;3=Acceptableundercertainconditions;4=Notacceptable
a comParison of flowmeter oPtions [3]
Attribute Variable-area Coriolis Gas mass-flow Differential-
pressure (DP)
Turbine Oval-gear
Clean gases yes yes yes yes yes
Clean liquids yes yes yes yes yes
Viscous liquids yes
(special calibration)
yes no yes
(special calibration)
yes, >10
centistokes (cSt)
Corrosive liquids yes yes no yes yes
Accuracy, 24% fullscale 0.050.15 of reading 1.5% fullscale 23% fullscale 0.251% of reading 0.10.5% of reading
Repeatability, 0.25% of fullscale 0.050.10 of reading 0.5% of fullscale 1% of fullscale 0.1% of reading 0.1% of reading
Max pressure, psi 200 and up 900 and up 500 and up 100 5,000 and up 4,000 and up
Max temp., F 250 and up 250 and up 150 and up 122 300 and up 175 and up
Pressure drop medium low low medium medium medium
Turndown ratio 10:1 100:1 50:1 20:1 10:1 25:1
Typical cost* low end high end moderate moderate moderate moderate
*Costsvarydependingonprocesstemperatureandpressure,accuracyrequiredandapprovalsneeded.
