Measurement of Flowing Fluids

Flow Meter...
• Selection of a meter is based on the applicability of the instrument
to the specific problem, its installed cost and costs of operation, the
range of flow rates it can accommodate (its rangeability) & its
inherent accuracy.
• A few types of flow meters measure the mass flow rate directly, but
the majority measure the volumetric flow rate or the average fluid
velocity from which the volumetric flow rate can be calculated.
• To convert volumetric rate to mass flow rate requires that the fluid
density under operating conditions be known.
• Most meters operate on all the fluid in the pipe or channel and are
known as full bore meters. Others called insertion meter, measure
the flow rate or more commonly the fluid velocity at one point
only.
 Full Bore Meters
• Common type
Venturi meter, Orifice meter & variable area
meter such as rotameters
• Other full bore measuring devices
V- element, magnetic, vortex-shedding,
turbine, positive displacement meter,
ultrasonic meter, mass flow devices such as
Coriolis flowmeters
Obstruction Meters
• Orifice Meters

• Venturi Meters

• Flow Nozzles
 Flow through a Venturi Meter
In a venturi, 0.95 < C < 0.98
Advantage:
Pressure recovery
Uses little power

• The classical or Herschel Venturi tube is the oldest type of differential

pressure flowmeter (1887).
• The restriction is introduced into the flow in a more gradual way
• The resulting flow through a Venturi tube is closer to that predicted in theory
so the discharge coefficient C is much nearer unity (0.95).
• The pressure loss caused by the Venturi tube is lower, but the differential
pressure is also lower than for an orifice plate of the same diameter ratio.
 Flow through a Venturi Meter

0.98

2 x 105

Re

d 1 v1
R  Based upon the conditions in the pipe
e  approaching the meter
The Venturi Tube
• The smooth design of the Venturi tube means that it is less
sensitive to erosion than the orifice plate, and thus more
suitable for use with dirty gases or liquids.
• The Venturi tube is also less sensitive to upstream
disturbances, and therefore needs shorter lengths of straight
pipework upstream of the meter than the equivalent orifice
plate or nozzle.
• Like the orifice plate and nozzle, the design, installation, and
use of the Venturi tube is covered by a number of
international standards.
• The disadvantages of the Venturi tube flowmeter are its size
and cost.
 Orifice Meter

The orifice meter consists of an accurately machined and

drilled plate concentrically mounted between two flanges.
The position of the pressure taps is somewhat arbitrary.
 Orifice Meter
The orifice meter has several practical advantages when
compared to venturi meters.
• Lower cost
• Smaller physical size
• Flexibility to change throat to pipe diameter ratio to
measure a larger range of flow rates

Disadvantage:
• Large power consumption in the form of
irrecoverable pressure loss
 Orifice Meter
The development of the orifice meter equation is similar to that
of the venturi meter and gives:

C0 2 pa  pb 
V 
1  4 
q  V S0
where:
 = ratio of orifice diameter to pipe diameter ≈ 0.5 usually
S0 = cross sectional area of orifice
–
V = bulk velocity through the orifice
C0 = orifice coefficient ≈ 0.61 for Re > 30,000
There is a large pressure drop much of which is not
recoverable. This can be a severe limitation when
considering use of an orifice meter.
Flow Through an Orifice Meter
 Flow Through an Orifice Meter
P1 P2

d D

P1

P
 Flow Through an Orifice Meter
-Cheapest and Simplest
-But biggest pressure drop and power lost (C~0.6 - 0.7)
-Side Note:
Pressure drop caused by friction and turbulence of
shear layer downstream of vena contracta
10k
 
0.85 Re 5000
 
 1 
C   CM 100k
2
  A2  
 1    
  A1  
0.6
0.1 =d/D 0.8
Pressure Loss in
Orifice Meters
 The Nozzle
• The nozzle combines some of the
best features of the orifice plate
and Venturi tube.
• It is compact and yet, because of
its curved inlet, has a discharge
coefficient close to unity.
• There are a number of designs of
nozzle, but one of the most
commonly used in Europe is the
ISA-1932 nozzle, while in the U.S.,
the ASME long radius nozzle is
more popular. Both of these
nozzles are covered by
international standards.
 The Nozzle
P1 P2

P1

P2
 The Nozzle Flowmeter
Shorter and cheaper than venturi
But larger pressure drop.
Thus, more power lost in operating.

0.98

0.86
105
10
3
Re
 Rotameters
Rotameters fall into the category of flow
measurement devices called variable area meters.
These devices have nearly constant pressure and
depend on changing cross sectional area to indicate
flow rate. Rotameters are extremely simple, robust
devices that can measure flow rates of both liquids
and gases.

Fluid flows up through the tapered tube and

suspends a ‘float’ in the column of fluid. The position
of the float indicates the flow rate on a marked scale.
Rotameter, variable-area-flowmeter
• Force balance
– Drag Force
– Gravity
– Buoyancy
• (usually negligible)

Called “float type float type”, “rotameter’’, or

“variable area” flowmeters.
By far the most common specified, purchased,
and installed flowmeter in the world
 Variable Area Flowmeters
• Fluid flow moves the float
upward against gravity.
• Float will find equilibrium when
area around float generates
enough drag equal to weight -
buoyancy.
• Some types have a guide rod to
keep float stable.
• Low Cost (pricing usually starts <
$50)
• Simple Reliable Design
• Can Measure Liquid or Gas Flows
• Tolerates Dirty Liquids or Solids
in Liquid
 Rotameter
• Floats may be constructed of metals of various densities from lead to
aluminium or from glass or plastic. Stainless steel floats are common. Float
shapes and proportions are also varied for different application.
• For use with opaque liquids, for high temperatures or pressures, or for the
other conditions where glass is impracticable, metal tubes are used. Metal
tubes are plain tapered. Since in a metal tube the float is invisible, means
must be provided for either indicating or transmitting the meter reading.
• This is accomplished by attaching a rod called extension to the top or
bottom of the float and using extension as an armature.
• The extension is enclosed in a fluid tight tube mounted on one of the
fittings. Since the inside of this tube communicates directly with the
interior of the rotameter, no stuffing box for the extension is needed. The
tube is surrounded by external induction coils. The length of the extension
exposed to the coils varies with the position of the float. This is turn
changes the inductance of the coil and the variation of the inductance is
measured electrically to operate a control valve or to give a reading on a
recorder.
V – element meter
V element meter
• Flow is restricted by a shaped indentation in the side of the pipe or
by a metal wedge inserted in the pipe.
• The formation of vortices is related to pressure drop which is
directly proportional to square root of flow rate.
• Flow coefficient is about 0.8 and is essentially constant at low flow
rates, even at low NRe as low as 500, unlike orifice meters.
• Relatively simple operating device
• Requires calibration of the meter 
 
• Advantages:
• Highly accurate, approximately +0.5% of the measured rate.
• Can measure flow rates of hard-to-handle fluids such as liquids
containing solid particles or undissolved gases or gases carrying
drops of condensate.
• Relatively expensive, but as such accuracy and price go hand in
hand,  it is not actually a disadvantage of sorts.
Target
In a target meter a sharp
Meter edged disk is set at right
angles to the direction of flow
as shown in Fig., and the drag
force exerted on the disk by
the fluid is measured. The flow
rate is proportional to the
square root of this force and
to the fluid density. Target
meter are rugged and in
expensive and can be used
with variety of fluids even
viscous liquids and slurries.
The bar mechanism however
tends to clog if solids content
of slurry is high
Vortex meters operate on the principle that when a non-streamlined
object is placed in the middle of a flow stream, vortices are shed
alternately downstream of the object. The frequency of the vortex
shedding is directly proportional to the velocity of the liquid
flowing in the pipeline.
Magnetic Flow
Meter
 Electromagnetic Flowmeters
• Magnetic flowmeters have been widely used in industry for
many years.
• Unlike many other types of flowmeters, they offer true
noninvasive measurements.
• They are easy to install and use to the extent that existing pipes
in a process can be turned into meters simply by adding external
electrodes and suitable magnets.
• They can measure reverse flows and are insensitive to viscosity,
density, and flow disturbances.
• Electromagnetic flowmeters can rapidly respond to flow changes
and they are linear devices for a wide range of measurements.
• As in the case of many electric devices, the underlying principle
of the electromagnetic flowmeter is Faraday’s law of
electromagnetic induction.
• The induced voltages in an electromagnetic flowmeter are
linearly proportional to the mean velocity of liquids or to the
volumetric flow rates.
• As is the case in many applications, if the pipe walls are made
from nonconducting elements, then the induced voltage is
independent of the properties of the fluid.
• The accuracy of these meters can be as low as 0.25% and, in most
applications, an accuracy of 1% is used.
• At worst, 5% accuracy is obtained in some difficult applications
where impurities of liquids and the contact resistances of the
electrodes are inferior as in the case of low-purity sodium liquid
solutions.
• Faraday’s Law of Induction
• This law states that if a conductor of length l (m) is moving with a
velocity v (m/s–1), perpendicular to a magnetic field of flux density
B (Tesla), then the induced voltage e across the ends of
conductor can be expressed by:

e  Blv
The velocity of the conductor is
proportional to the mean flow velocity
of the liquid.
Hence, the induced voltage becomes:

e  BDv
 e  BDv
 2
Q  Av  D v
4
4 BQ
e
D
 Axial Turbine Flowmeters
• The modern axial turbine flowmeteris a reliable device capable of
providing the highest accuracies attainable by any currently available flow
sensor for both liquid and gas volumetric flow measurement. It is the
product of decades of intensive innovation and refinements to the original
axial vaned flowmeter principle first credited to Woltman in 1790, and at
that time applied to measuring water flow.
• The initial impetus for the modern development activity was largely the
increasing needs of the U.S. natural gas industry in the late 1940s and
1950s for a means to accurately measure the flow in large-diameter, high-
pressure, interstate natural gas lines.
• Today, due to the tremendous success of this principle, axial turbine
flowmeters of different and often proprietary designs are used for a
variety of applications where accuracy, reliability, and rangeability are
required in numerous major industries besides water and natural gas,
including oil, petrochemical, chemical process, cryogenics, milk and
beverage, aerospace, biomedical, and others.
Axial Turbine Flowmeters
 Axial Turbine Flowmeters
• The meter is a single turbine rotor, concentrically mounted on
a shaft within a cylindrical housing through which the flow
passes.
• The shaft or shaft bearings are located by end supports inside
suspended upstream and downstream aerodynamic
structures called diffusers, stators, or simply cones.
• The flow passes through an annular region occupied by the
rotor blades. The blades, which are usually flat but can be
slightly twisted, are inclined at an angle to the incident flow
velocity and hence experience a torque that drives the rotor.
• The rate of rotation, which can be up to several ×104 rpm
• A magnetic pick up coil detect the rotation
 Axial Turbine Flowmeters
• Axial turbines perform best when measuring clean,
conditioned, steady flows of gases and liquids with
low kinematic viscosities (below about 10–5 m2s–1, 10
cSt, although they are used up to 10–4 m2s–1, 100 cSt),
and are linear for subsonic, turbulent flows.
• Under these conditions, the inherent mechanical
stability of the meter design gives rise to excellent
repeatability performance. Not including the special
case of water meters, which are described later, the
main performance characteristics are:
• Sizes range from 6 mm to 760 mm, (1/4 in. to 30 in.).
• Maximum measurement capacities range from 0.025 m3 h–1
to 25,500 m3 h–1, (0.015 CFM to 15,000 CFM), for gases and
0.036 m3 h–1 to 13,000 m3 h–1, (0.16 gpm to 57,000 gpm or
82,000 barrels per hour), for liquids.
• Typical repeatability is ±0.1% for liquids and ±0.25% for gases
with up to ±0.02% for high-accuracy meters.
• Typical linearities are between ±0.25% and ±0.5% for liquids,
and ±0.5% and ±1.0% for gases.
• High-accuracy meters have linearities of ±0.15% for liquids
and ±0.25% for gases, usually specified over a 10:1dynamic
range below maximum rated flow.
• Traceability to NIST (National Institute of Standards and
Technology) is frequently available, allowing one to estimate
the overall absolute accuracy
• Rangeability, when defined as the ratio of flow rates over
which the linearity specification applies, is typically between
10:1 and 100:1.
• Operating temperature –270°C to 650°C, (–450°F to 1200°F).
• Operating pressure ranges span coarse vacuum to 414 MPa
(60,000 psi).
• Pressure drop at the maximum rated flow rate ranges from
around 0.3 kPa (0.05 psi) for gases to 70 kPa (10 psi) for
liquids.
Impeller Flowmeters
 Faraday’s Law of Induction
• This law states that
e=Blv
• In of electromagnetic flowmeters,
the conductor is the liquid
flowing through the pipe,
e=BDv
 Ultrasonic Flowmeters
• 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 flowmeter.
• 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.
 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:
 Example

• The following example shows the demands on the time

measurement technique:
• Assume a closed conduit with diameter D = 150 mm, angle =
60°, flow velocity = 1 m/s, and water temperature =20°C.
• This results in transmit times of about 116 s and a time
difference
• t =t12 – t21 on the order of 78 ns.
• To achieve an accuracy of 1% of the corresponding full-scale
range, t has to be measured with a resolution of at least 100
ps (1X10–10s).
• Standard time measurement techniques are not able to meet
such requirements so that special techniques must be applied.
• Digital timers with the state-of-the –art Micro computers will
make it possible to measure these time difference.
WHAT IS A THERMAL MASS FLOW METER?

• It is a Meter that directly measures the Gas

Mass Flow based on the principle of conductive
and convective heat transfer – more detail
later…
 MEASURE MASS FLOW RATE OR TOTALIZE
COMMON GASES
• Air (Compressed Air, Blower Air, Blast Furnace Air,
Combustion Air, Plant Air, Make-Up Air)
• Natural Gas Industrial (Plant Usage, Sub-Metering, Boiler
Efficiency, Combustion Control)
• Natural Gas Commercial & Governmental (Building
Automation – Reduce Energy Costs, LEED Credits, Meet
Regulations)
• Digester Gas, Bio Gas, Landfill Gas (especially for EPA
regulations and Carbon Credits)
• Flare Gas (Vent Gas and Upset – Dual Range)
• Other: Propane, Nitrogen, Argon, CO2
 WHAT DO THE SENSORS CONSIST OF?

• The Sensors are RTDs, which are resistance

temperature detectors
• They consist of highly stable reference-grade
platinum windings
• In fact, we use the same material that is used as
Platinum Resistance Standards at the National
Institute of Standards (NIST)
 THE BASIC PRINCIPLE
• The RTDs are clad in a protective 316 SS sheath for Industrial
Environments
• One of the RTDs is self-heated by the circuitry and serves as the
Flow Sensor
• The other RTD acts as a Reference Sensor. Essentially it is used for
Temperature Compensation
 SAGE PROPRIETARY SENSOR DRIVE
CIRCUITRY
• Circuitry maintains a constant overheat between the Flow
Sensor and Reference Sensor
• As Gas Flows by the Heated Sensor (Flow Sensor), the
molecules of flowing gas carry heat away from this sensor,
and the Sensor cools down as it loses energy
• Circuit equilibrium is disturbed, and momentarily the delta T
between the Heated Sensor and the Reference Sensor has
changed
• The circuit will automatically (within 1 second), replace this
lost energy, by heating up the Flow Sensor so the overheat
temperature is restored
 HOW DO THE RTDs
MEASURE MASS FLOW

• The current required to maintain this

overheat represents the Mass Flow
signal
• There is no need for external
Temperature or Pressure devices
 INSERTION STYLE
• ½” Probes up to 24” long
• Typically for pipes from 1” up to 30”
• ¾” Probes up to 60” Long
• Typically for very large pipes and ducts
• Or use multiple probes, one in each quadrant and
average in large ducts
• Isolation Valve Assemblies available
• Flanged Mounting available (High P or T)
• Captive Flow Conditioners (2” – 24” Dia.)
 Turbine Meter

Measure by determining RPM of turbine (3) via sensor (6).

Turbine meters are accurate but fragile.
Turbine Flow Meters
 Coriolis Meters

When fluid is passed through a U-bend, it imposes a force on the tube

wall perpendicular to the flow direction (Coriolis force). The
deformation of the U-tube is proportional to the flow rate. Coriolis
meters are expensive but highly accurate.
 Coriolis Mass Flow Meter
Flow Flow
Force

Flow
Flow Force
Fluid Force is Reacting to Vibration
Vibrating Flow Tube of Flow Tube
Twist Angle

Twist Angle End View of Flow Tube

Showing Twist
 Positive Displacement Flowmeters
• A positive displacement flowmeter, commonly called a PD
meter, measures the volume flow rate of a continuous flow
stream by momentarily entrapping a segment of the fluid into
a chamber of known volume and releasing that fluid back into
the flow stream on the discharge side of the meter.
• By monitoring the number of entrapments for a known
period of time or number of entrapments per unit time, the
total volume of flow or the flow rate of the stream can be
ascertained.
• The total volume and the flow rate can then be displayed
locally or transmitted to a remote monitoring station.
Sliding-vane type PD meter.

Piston Type PD Meter

Tri-Rotor Type PD Meter

Oval Gear PD Meter

Birotor PD Meter
 Advantages PD Meters
• High-quality, high accuracy, a wide range, and are
very reliable, insensitive to inlet flow profile
distortions, low pressure drop across the meter.
• Until the introduction of electronic correctors and
flow controls on other types of meters, PD meters
were most widely used in batch loading and
dispensing applications. All mechanical units can be
installed in remote locations.
 Disadvantages PD Meters
• bulky, especially in the larger sizes.
• the fluid must be clean for measurement accuracy and
longevity of the meter.
• More accurate PD meters are quite expensive.
• Have high inertia of the moving parts; a sudden change in the
flow rate can damage the meter.
• Only for limited ranges of pressure and temperature
• Most PD meters require a good maintenance schedule and
are high repair and maintenance meters.
• Recurring costs in maintaining a positive displacement
flowmeter can be a significant factor in overall flowmeter
cost.
Pneumatic Control Valves
A pitot tube with a discharge co-efficient of 0.9, is connected to a manometer
containing water. A light oil with specific gravity of 0.8 is flowing through a
pipe line of 8.0 cm ID. When the pitot tube is kept at the centre of the pipe,
the manometer reads 9.0 cm. calculate the flow rate of the oil if the average
velocity is 80% of the maximum.

A pitot static tube is used to measure the velocity of air flowing through a
duct. The manometer shows a difference in head of 5 cm of water. If the
density of air and water are 1.13 kg/m3 and 1000 kg/m3 determine the
velocity of air. Assume the coefficient of the pitot tube as 0.98.

A pitot static tube is used to measure the velocity of air in a duct. The water
manometer shows a reading of 8 cm. The static pressure in the duct is 9
kN/m2 and theair temperature is 320 K. The local barometer reads 740 mm of
mercury. Calculate the airvelocity if Cv = 0.98. Assume the gas constant for air
as 287 J/kg K.