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Harnessing Coriolis – From Cannon Balls to Mass Flow

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It was not until Gaspard-Gustav de Coriolis published a paper in 1835 that the terms Coriolis Search
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Effect andCoriolis Force were actually coined [1]. Nonetheless, the effect had been described by the
Italian scientist Giovanni Riccioli in 1651 who postulated that if, in the astronomical model of the solar
English TOTM Home
system, the Earth rotated around the Sun (as heliocentrics believed) a cannonball fired towards the north
pole should cause it to deflect to the east. Since, at that time, this was not an observable effect it was Spanish TOTM Home
used as an argument for geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center.

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In recent years, the major impact of the Coriolis Effect has been in the field of meteorology – describing how it affects
global wind patterns – with cyclonic rotation having an anti-clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere and clockwise
direction in the southern hemisphere. September 2021
August 2021

But the practical application of the Coriolis effect in the field of engineering has been in mass flow measurement.
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Mass flow is a primary unit of flow measurement and is unaffected by viscosity, density, conductivity,
pressure and temperature. As a result, it is inherently more accurate and meaningful for measuring material transfer. March 2021
Furthermore, most chemical reactions are based largely on their mass relationship. Consequently, by measuring the
mass flow of the product it is possible to control the process more accurately. February 2021
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Traditionally, the measurement of mass flow entailed measuring the volumetric flow rate and multiplying it by the December 2020
measured density – normally achieved through the use of expensive, imprecise and potentially dangerous nuclear-based
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densitometry. In contrast, Coriolis-based metering measures mass flow directly.
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The Coriolis force:
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Consider two children, Anne and Belinda, playing on a children’s roundabout (Figure 1) which is rotating at a constant
angular velocity [2][3]. Anne is situated mid-way between the axis and the outer edge of the platform while Belinda is sat June 2020
at the outer edge itself. If Anne now throws a ball directly to Belinda, Belinda will fail to receive the ball!
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Figure 1. Anne and Belinda are playing on a children’s roundabout. If Anne throws a ball directly to Belinda, Belinda will February 2020
fail to receive the ball due to the Coriolis effect.
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The fact is that whilst Anne and Belinda both have the same angular velocity their tangential velocities are different (Figure
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2). Anne’s tangential velocity (VA) is only half of Belinda’s tangential velocity (VB). In fact, the peripheral speeds of each
are directly proportional to the radius i.e.: October 2019
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Figure 2. Belinda, at the edge of the platform, will have a peripheral speed of twice that of Anne and thus the ball’s February 2017
peripheral speed needs to be accelerated from VA to VB .
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Consequently, to move the ball from Anne to Belinda its tangential velocity needs to be accelerated from VA to VB. This
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acceleration is a result of what is termed the Coriolis force, named after the French scientist who first described it and is
directly proportional to the product of the mass in motion, its speed and the angular velocity of rotation: October 2016
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Looking at this from another point, if we could measure the Coriolis force (Fcor), knowing the tangential velocity (v) and the April 2016
angular velocity we could determine the mass (m) of the ball.
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How does this relate to mass measurement of fluids?
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Consider a liquid-filled pipe sealed at both ends, rotating about an axis at an angular velocity (w). October 2015
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The tangential velocity (v) of any individual particle of the fluid is simply the angular velocity (w) times the distance (r) from August 2015
the centre of rotation (Figure 3). Thus, at distance r1, the tangential velocity of a particle would be r1.w whilst at double the
distance r2, the tangential velocity would also double to r2.w. July 2015
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Figure 3. At distance r1, the tangential velocity of a particle would be r1.w whilst at double the distance r2, the tangential January 2014
velocity would also double to r2.w. December 2013
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 If now, the liquid flows in a direction away from the axis (Figure 4), then as each mass particle moves, for example, from
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r1 to r2 it will be accelerated by an amount equivalent to its movement along the axis from a low to a higher tangential
velocity. This increase in velocity is in opposition to the mass inertial resistance and is felt as a force opposing the pipe’s September 2013
direction of rotation – i.e. it will try to slow down the rotation of the pipe. Conversely, if we reverse the flow direction,
particles in the liquid flow moving towards the axis are forced to slow down from a high velocity to a lower velocity and the August 2013
resultant Coriolis force will try to speed up the rotation of the pipe.
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Figure 4. As the liquid flows away from the axis, each mass particle will be accelerated by an amount equivalent to its February 2012
movement along the axis from a low to a higher orbital velocity.
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Thus, if we drive the pipe at a constant torque, the Coriolis force will produce either a braking torque or an accelerating
torque (dependent on the flow direction) that is directly proportional to the mass flow rate. In other words, the torque November 2011
required to rotate the pipe will increase in direct proportion to the actual mass flow of the liquid.
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Initial implementation:
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The possibility of applying the Coriolis effect to measure mass flow rate was recognized many years ago and, as shown in May 2011
Figure 5 [4], initial patents were registered in the early 1950’s. These were typically based on rotating systems typified by
the radial-vane type meter (Figure 6). April 2011
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Figure 5. US Coriolis patent publications per year to November 2017 (© 2018 E. Jenks, Krohne Ltd.) October 2009
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Figure 6. Radial-vane type meter

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Here, the flowing fluid enters the center of a centrifugal pump-type impeller driven at a constant angular velocity (w). As
the fluid’s tangential velocity (r.w) increases, it reacts on the impeller with a force directly proportional to the mass flow November 2007
rate. This Coriolis force is measured by the torque measuring tube.
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Obvious problems include:
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►Maintaining the motor speed to provide a constant angular velocity (w).
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►Slip rings for power and measurement of torque
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►High unrecoverable pressure loss
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►Wear and tear
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It was not until 1977 that engineer and inventor Jim Smith, founder of Micro Motion, patented the first practical system. January 2007
Rather than use rotational movement, this system was based on a vibrating tube system to provide oscillatory movement.
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Figure 7. A pipe, formed in a loop, is vibrated around the z axis so that the straight parts of the pipe, A-B and C-D,
oscillate on the arcs of a circle.
Gas Processing
Mechanical
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 Pipeline
The basic principle is illustrated in Figure 7 in which a tubular pipe, carrying the liquid, is formed in a loop and vibrated Process Facilities
around the z-axis. The straight parts of the pipe, A-B and C-D, oscillate on the arcs of a circle and without any flow will
remain parallel to each other throughout each cycle. Process Safety
Refining
If a liquid now flows through the tube in the direction shown, then the fluid particles in section A-B will move from a point Reliability Engineering
having a low tangential velocity at A to a point having a high tangential velocity at B. This means that each mass particle
must be accelerated in opposition to the mass inertial resistance. This opposes the pipe’s direction of rotation and Supply Chain
produces a Coriolis force in the opposite direction. Conversely, in section C-D, the particles move in the opposite direction Management
– from a point having a high tangential velocity at C to a point having a low tangential velocity at D.
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Water and Corrosion
The resultant effect of these Coriolis forces is to delay the oscillation in section A-B and accelerate it in section C-D. As a
result, section A-B tends to lag behind the undisturbed motion whilst section C-D leads this position. Consequently, the
complete loop is twisted by an amount that is directly and linearly proportional to the mass flow rate of the fluid – with the Meta
twisting moment lent to the pipe arrangement being measured by sensors.

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Figure 8 (a) shows the oscillatory motion applied to a single tube whilst Figure 8 (b) shows the forces acting on the tube in Log in
which there is fluid flow. As a result, the complete loop is twisted by an amount that is directly and linearly proportional to
the mass flow rate of the fluid (Figure 8(c)) – with the flexure of the pipe arrangement being measured by sensors. Entries RSS
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Figure 8. (a) Oscillatory motion applied to a single tube. (b) Forces acting on the tube in which there is fluid flow.
(c)Complete loop is twisted by an amount that is directly and linearly proportional to the mass flow rate of the fluid.

To reduce the risk of stress fractures the oscillation amplitude is limited to between 0.1 and 1 mm which, in an optimally
designed system is about 20% of the maximum permitted value.

The distortion caused by the Coriolis forces is about 100 times smaller (a magnitude of about 10 mm), and in order to
provide a measurement resolution to meet an accuracy of, for example, ±0.1% magnitudes of the order of a few
nanometres would need to be resolved. The reality is we don’t actually measure the amplitude but the phase difference
(i.e. time) with flexure of the pipe arrangement measured by velocity sensors (Figure 9).

Figure 9. Flexure of the pipe arrangement measured by velocity sensors.

With no fluid flow (and thus no flexure) the sinusoidal outputs of the two velocity sensors would be in-phase – with no time
difference (Figure 10 (a)). However, with fluid flow, the flexure of the pipe produces a phase difference directly proportional
to the mass flow (Figure 10 (b)).

Figure 10. With no fluid flow, the sinusoidal outputs of the velocity sensors are in-phase – with no time difference (a). With
fluid flow, the flexure of the pipe produces a phase difference directly proportional to the mass flow (b).

Measurement resolution of ± 0.1 % amounts to only a few ns. And in order to achieve an accuracy of ± 0.1 %, where the
resolution needs to be typically 5 to 10 times higher, time shift difference measurements are required down to picosecond
levels.

Density Measurement
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 The measurement of mass flow by the Coriolis meter is, fundamentally, independent of the density of the
medium. However, the vibratory action of the oscillating tubes employed in the Coriolis meter can be harnessed to provide
an independent measure of the medium density.

Hooke’s Law spring equation states that a mass suspended on a spring will oscillate at a resonant frequency:

This indicates that when the mass increases the natural frequency decreases and when the mass decreases the natural
frequency increases.

How does Hooke’s Law relate to density measurement in a vibrating tube?

The mass of the system (m) equals the mass of the tube (mtube), which is fixed, plus the mass of the fluid in the tube
(mfluid) – which is variable with the process:

In turn, the fluid mass (mfluid) is determined by the volume of the tube (Vtube), which is fixed, multiplied by the density of
the fluid (ρfluid), which is variable.

Rearranging equations 3, 4 and 5:

With all other values constant, the density of the fluid (ρfluid) is inversely proportional to the square of the resonant
frequency:

Consequently, by measuring this frequency we calculate the fluid’s density.

It is important to recognize that the density measurement is not based on the Coriolis effect but on the effect of the
vibrating tube.

So, in addition to providing a direct indication of mass flow the oscillating pipe system also, independently, provides a
direct indication of the density by tracking the resonant oscillation frequency. Obviously, the value of (k) in equation 6
above, hides a lot of dependencies – one of which is temperature. Consequently, the temperature must be measured as
an independent quantity and used as a compensating variable. The temperature is also available as a measured output.

With knowledge of both the mass flow (Qm) and the density (r) of the fluid, it is now possible to also calculate the
volumetric flow rate (Q) since:

From the foregoing, we can see the importance of vibrating the tubes at their resonant frequency. Furthermore, excitation
at the resonant frequency requires less drive energy and ensures that excitation is in the primary resonant mode at all
times.

This is accomplished through a simple feedback system from the pick-up coils (Figure 11).
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 Figure 11. Excitation at the resonant frequency is accomplished through a simple feedback system from the pick-up coils.

Moving forward

At the beginning of the 1980’s there was only one Coriolis meter manufacturer, but by 1990 there were more than 13
different manufacturers. And, as may be seen from Figure 5, the mid-1980s saw the start of a plethora of new designs –
each one seeking to overcome the shortcomings of previous versions.

So what exactly were the major perceived shortcomings of this technology?

Not necessarily in order of importance:

►the bent tube design

►maximum pipe diameter

►entrained gas

Tube configurations

Maximising sensitivity, whilst simultaneously minimizing the effects of extraneous noise and vibration, led to a variety of
different bent-tube designs. But the bent-tube arrangement, itself, produced problems.

In any arrangement requiring the tube to be bent the outside wall is stretched and becomes thinner whilst the inner wall
becomes thicker. When the flowmeter requires two such convoluted tubes, it becomes difficult to balance them both
dimensionally and dynamically.

Furthermore, if the fluid is abrasive, this already weakened part of the flowmeter is likely to be most severely stressed.
Abrasive material can also cause erosion that will change the stiffness of the resonant elements and so cause
measurement errors.

And for many liquids the resultant pressure drop, due to the bends, could result in flashing or even cavitation damage.
Furthermore, some of the bent-tube configurations did not cater for self-draining – an important consideration in many
industries including: food and beverage; pharmaceuticals; and chemical.

A typical dual bent-tube design, as shown in Figure 12, featured a high total cross-sectional area combined with the
flexibility of two pipes. On the negative side, the flow divider introduced a high-pressure drop. In addition, the flow may not
be equally divided, and the dual tube arrangement does not allow clean-in-place (CIP) to be implemented.
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 Figure 12. A typical dual bent-tube design.

And whilst the continuous loop configuration (Figure 13) caters for CIP, a larger cross-sectional area is required to reduce
the pressure loss. This leads to increased rigidity – making it less sensitive at low rates.

Figure 13. Continuous loop configuration.

Other designs proliferated (Figure 14) [5].

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 Figure 14. A variety of dual bent-tube designs.

However, the next major milestone occurred with the first straight-tube design introduced in 1986 by Endress+Hauser
(Figure 15).

Figure 15. Straight-tube design employing dual measuring tubes.

With no flow, flexure of the tubes takes place in the vibrational plane (Figure 16 (a) and (b)). However, in the event of fluid
flow, the Coriolis forces acting on the tubes produce a distorted flexure which is detected by the sensors (Figure 16 (c) and
(d)).

Figure 16. With no flow, flexure of the tubes takes place in the vibrational plane ((a) and (b)). However, in the event of
fluid flow the Coriolis forces acting on the tubes produce a distorted flexure which is detected by the sensors ((c) and (d)).
(Courtesy Endress + Hauser).

But whilst this design overcame the problems associated with having a bent tube (weakening of the tubes at the bends,
erosion, flashing) it’s still employed dual measuring tubes with the need to split the flow. This limitation was surmounted
when, in 1994, Krohne introduced the world’s first industrial single straight tube meter.
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 However, these straight tube designs also brought in their wake several other problems. Whereas the flexibility of the bent
tube arrangement easily allowed for expansion and contraction due to temperature and/or pressure variations, the rigidity
of the straight tube design is less forgiving. Consequently, the use of strain gauge technology became mandatory in order
to detect the slight variations in the dimensional changes of the tubes. How these measurements were incorporated to
provide accurate compensation became the subject of complex algorithms.

Early designs were constrained to a maximum pipeline diameter of typically 25 to 50 mm (1 to 2”) which severely limited
their application. However, incrementally this limit has been extended until, only late last year, 400 mm (16”) pipeline
diameter straight tube system [6].

MEMS-based technologies

At the other end of the scale, there has been a growing demand for micro-dosing in the pharmaceutical and silicon
fabrication industries as well as in the laboratory sample analyzing and processing [7]. Whilst most Coriolis meters find
their application in measuring flow rates greater than 1 kg/hr these industries require dosing and a measuring rates in the
order of 1 g/hr and lower.

These challenges have been met through the application of MEMS-based technologies (Micro Electro Mechanical
Systems) in which the entire mechanical Coriolis fluidic sensing system is integrated into a single silicon microchip Figure
17.

Figure 17. Complete Coriolis fluidic sensing system integrated into a single silicon microchip (courtesy Integrated
Sensing Systems)

Whilst some of these designs have focussed on flow measurement at very-low flow rates (down to 10 mg/h or better) other
designs have been mainly developed to measure gas density and concentration [8].

At first glance, the use of silicon to fabricate the actual vibrating sensing tubes might seem at odds with its inherent rigidity,
as compared with metals that can bend. Nevertheless, whilst a metal tube will plastically deform over time when exposed
to fatigue when a silicon structure is bent it either goes back to its original position or it breaks. Consequently, because it
never deforms, it is virtually free of fatigue, hysteresis anddrift.

Another benefit of silicon is the resonant frequency of the vibrating tube. Conventional metal tube Coriolis mass flow
meters resonate at 100 to 1500 Hz [9,10] leaving them susceptible to the spectrum of common external mechanical
vibration and shock frequencies that are under 2000Hz.

The micro-tube resonant frequency of silicon, on the other hand, is high (typically of the order of 20 kHz) making it virtually
impervious to any form of extraneous vibration.

A third advantage of silicon over steel is that its density is 3.4 times lower. Thus, whilst conventional Coriolis flow sensors
manufactured from steel are typically not sensitive enough to accurately measure gas density at low pressures, a
significantly higher sensitivity can result from the use of silicon.

Towards the perfect flow meter

There have been other challenges. For example, custody flow measurement of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) requires the
system can operate down to -165°C – a severe challenge in terms of material embrittlement. But this challenge has been
met and overcome and Coriolis metering for LNG is starting to become standard practice.

In earlier designs, the liquid to gas ratio was confined between 4 and 6%. Newer models, employing a number of
innovative designs, maintain active measurement in all measuring conditions with gas content from 0 to 100% by volume
[11].

So how far along the road are we towards the perfect flow meter? Although it is doubtful that there will ever be a ‘one-size-
fits-all’ solution, flow metering based on the Coriolis effect provides an almost universal range of answers.
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 However, in a recent article Eric Heilveil [12] stated: “The first barrier to Coriolis world domination can be summed
up in a single word … price. A one-inch line magnetic flowmeter and transmitter, for example, can be had for
$3000 or less. A comparably sized Coriolis meter can run upwards of $9000 or more.”

But let us rather recall the words of John Ruskin: “There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make
a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man’s lawful prey.”

To learn more about similar cases and how to minimize operational problems, we suggest attending ourIC-3
(Instrumentation and Controls Fundamentals for Facilities Engineers), IC-71 (PLC and SCADA
Technologies) and IC-72 (Valve and Actuator Technologies) courses.

By: Michael A. Crabtree

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References:

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_force

[2] M. A. Crabtree, ‘Mick Crabtree’s Flow Handbook – 2nd Edition’, Crown Publications cc, 2000.

[3] M. A. Crabtree, ‘Industrial Flow Measurement’, Masters Thesis, University of

Huddersfield, 2009.

[4] E. Jukes, ‘Optimass Product Group Presentation’, Krohne Ltd. 2018

[5] Rheonik, ‘RHM 160 – 12 Coriolis Mass Flowmeter’, Page 5 of 5, v6, April 2006.

[6] ‘New large line size Coriolis mass flowmeters’, Press release, Krohne Ltd. 2017

[7] C. Huber, ‘MEMS-based Micro-Coriolis Density and Flow Measurement Technology’

Endress+Hauser Flowtec AG, Proceedings AMA Conferences, 2015.

[8] A. Rieder, (Endress+Hauser GmbH), Paul Ceglia, (Endress+Hauser Flowtec) AG, ‘New generation vibrating tube
sensor for density measurement under process conditions’,

2017.

[9] N. Najafi, M. Putty, R. Smith ‘Coriolis MEMS-sensing technology for real-time fluidic measurements’, Integrated
Sensing Systems, (ISS), reprinted from ‘Flow Control’ May 2017

[10] W. Sparreboom, ‘Miniaturization to the Extreme: Micro-Coriolis Mass Flow Sensor’, Bronkhorst High-Tech B.V.
January 30, 2018..

[11] H. Zhu, A. Rieder, ‘An innovative technology for Coriolis metering under entrained gas conditions’, Endress+Hauser
Flowtec AG, 2016.

[12] E. Heilveil, ‘Three Dirty Little Secrets about Coriolis Flow Meters’, Siemens Industry Inc. July 2017

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