Flowmeters, general

A turbine flowmeter consists of a straight flow tube containing a turbine which is free to rotate on a shaft supported by one or more bearings and located on the centerline of the tube. Means are provided for magnetic detection of the rotational speed, which is proportional to the volumetric flow rate. Its use is generally restric ted to clean, noncorrosive fluids. Additional information on construction, operation, range, and accuracy can be obtained from Holzbock (Instruments for Measurement and Control, 2d ed., Reinhold, New York, 1962, pp. 155-162). For performance characteristics of these meters with liquids, see Shafer,y. Basic Eng., 84,471-485 (December 1962) or May, Chem. Eng., 78(5), 105-108 (1971) and for the effect of density and Reynolds number when used in gas flowmetering, see Lee and Evans, y. Basic Eng., 82, 1043-1057 (December 1965). 

General Principles There are two main types of mass flowmeters (1) the so-called true mass flowmeter, which responds directly to mass flow rate, and (2) the inferential mass flowmeter, which commonly measures volume flow rate aud flmd density separately. A variety of types of true mass flowmeters have been developed, including the following (a) the Maguus-effect mass flowmeter, (b) the axial-flow, transverse-momentum mass flowmeter, (c) the radial-flow, transverse-momentum mass flowmeter, (d) the gyroscopic transverse-momentum mass flowmeter, aud (e) the thermal mass flowmeter. Type b is the basis for several commercial mass flowmeters, one version of which is briefly described here. 

Flow generally is considered to be fully laminar at Reynolds numbers below 1500 in transition between 1500 and 4000 and turbulent above 4000. Thus, Ihe Reynolds number is a most useful tool in constructing piping system designs and in sizing flowmeters. Orifice or throat Reynolds number, R,i = Ro/d/D, where d = diameter of orifice bore (inches) D = inside diameter of conduit or pipe (inches). 

Flo. 6.2. Vortex-shedding flowmeter (a) basic principle of meter (b) general view... 

Doppler ultrasonic flowmeters depend upon the reflection of a continuous ultrasonic wave (frequency 0.5-10 MHz) from particulate matter (scatterers) contained in the fluid. Hence they may be used to monitor the rate of flow of dirty liquids. The transducer involved can act both as transmitter and receiver and is generally of the clamp-on type (Fig. 6.4). If the scatterers can be assumed to be moving at the velocity of the liquid, then the volumetric rate of flow Q is related to the Doppler frequency shift AtoD by ... 

Flow, defined as volume per unit of time at specified temperature and pressure conditions, is generally measured by positive displacement or rate meters. The term positive displacement meter applies to a device in which the flow is divided into isolated measured volumes when the number of fillings of these volumes is counted in some manner. The term rate meter applies to all types of flowmeters through which the material passes without being divided into isolated quantities. Movement of the material is usually sensed by a primary measuring element that activates a secondary device. The flow rate is then inferred from the response of the secondary device by means of known physical laws or from empirical relationships. 

Venturi tube flowmeters are devices used to measure fluid speeds in pipes. Figure 5.11 illustrates the general construction of a Venturi tube. These are very simple devices that consist of a middle section with a small diameter connected on both ends to larger diameter sections via smooth transitions in order to prevent turbulence. A U-tube containing a fluid of known density connects the large and small diameter tubes. The U-tube is a manometer, and we can use it to measure differences in pressure. 

We ll call this last equation the Venturi tube flowmeter equation, a highly descriptive, if not generally recognized, name. This is the equation that can be used to determine vv the speed of a fluid in a pipe. 

OTHER INSERTION METERS. Modified forms of magnetic meters, turbine meters, ultrasonic meters, thermal mass flowmeters, and other types are available as insertion meters. They all have advantages for certain services. Insertion meters are generally cheaper than full-bore meters and are usually the most cost-effective method of measuring flow in large pipes. 

Solid/liquid flows are commonly found in industrial processes to avoid flow obstruction, nonintrusive flowmeters are generally preferred. Flowmeters based on ultrasonic techniques are ideal nonintrusive instruments because, in most applications, the ultrasonic transducers are simply clamped on the outside pipe wall. In this section, we describe two ultrasonic flowmeters based on the Doppler and cross-correlation methods. Both require an inherent flow tag thus both are directly applicable to solid/liquid flows because of the presence of solid particles. Both flowmeters measure mainly particle velocity liquid-phase velocity, if different from the particle velocity, is not determined. 

In today s industrial applications, Coriolis mass flowmeters are widely used by process engineers to monitor mass flow rate. This meter measures the Coriolis force that depends on the mass momentum of the flow, and, in principle, it can be applied to both single- and mixed-phase flows. Magnetic or optical detectors are generally used to detect mass-flow-related Coriolis acceleration. A brief description of the Coriolis flowmeter will be presented because it is widely used in industrial processes. 

Electrical techniques primarily measure the electrical impedance of a mixed-phase medium. Because the dielectric constant or electrical conductivity of a solid phase differs from that of the fluid, one can measure electrical conductance or capacitance to determine phase distribution. To attain better sensitivity, conductance flowmeters are usually applied to conducting media, such as aqueous solutions or solids/water slurries, whereas capacitive flowmeters are applied to solid/gas flows and solid/nonconducting-liquid flows. Capacitance measurements are generally more reproducible because they are not affected by the ion concentration of the solution, which is difficult to control during processing. 

---