Meas. Sci. Technol. 11 (2000) 18021811.

Printed in the UK

PII: S0957-0233(00)16846-8

Ultrasonic transit-time owmeters modelled with theoretical velocity proles: methodology

Pamela I Moore, Gregor J Brown and Brian P Stimpson
National Engineering Laboratory, Scottish Enterprise Park, East Kilbride G75 0QU, UK Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Royal College Building, 204 George Street, Glasgow G1 1XW, UK Received 5 September 2000, accepted for publication 19 October 2000
Abstract. Fully developed ow is well dened for most values of Reynolds number but distorted ow is not. Velocity prole is the denition given to the distribution of velocity in the axial direction over the cross-section of the pipe. This distribution is not usually uniform and can vary dramatically depending on the properties of the uid and the conguration of the pipe in which it ows. Ultrasonic owmeters are affected by such distortions in the ow prole, often resulting in erroneous measurements. Transit-time ultrasonic owmeters are widely used in industry in distorted uid ows, therefore correction to or prediction of distorted proles has sparked great interest in the design and application of ultrasonic owmeters. This document describes a method for modelling and analysing the effect of theoretical asymmetric ow proles on ultrasonic owmeters of the transit-time type, thus allowing an understanding of installation effects. Keywords: ultrasonic ow measurement, asymmetric ow, installation effects

1. Introduction

Velocity prole is the denition given to the distribution of velocities in the axial direction over the cross-section of the circular pipe. This distribution is not usually at and can vary dramatically depending on the properties of the ow and the pipe congurations upstream. Fully developed ow is well dened for most values of Reynolds number (Re) but distorted ow is not. Ultrasonic owmeters are affected by such distortions in the ow prole often resulting in erroneous measurements. For this reason correction to or prediction of distorted proles have sparked great interest in ultrasonic owmeter manufacturers. This document describes a method used in the analysis of theoretical asymmetric ow proles which were produced by Salami [1] to investigate ow rate estimation based on point velocity integration methods in the 1970s. Salamis work includes 23 proles, 14 of which are described here. Also described in the paper is the technique used to combine the proles discussed with ultrasonic owmeter path congurations of the transit-time type. The combination of these allows the calculation of various parameters which can be used to asses the sensitivity of the ultrasonic path conguration to the proles. The proles are integrable over the cross section of the pipe, which is advantageous for calculating the actual ow rate. This document describes the methodology of using these proles to simulate ultrasonic measurements in asymmetric ow. The application of the theoretical proles has
0957-0233/00/121802+10$30.00 2000 IOP Publishing Ltd

been used previously for the study of point velocity measurement techniques but this paper discusses the use of the proles for the analysis of ultrasonic ow measurement techniques. Section 2 describes the proles mathematically as dened in [1] as well as a brief summary of what type of ow the proles represent. Section 3 describes two methods of calculation of mean velocity using transit time ultrasonic owmeters which are commonly found in the literature and section 4 describes the comparison of deviations in the hydrodynamic factor with respect to orientation of the two meters described. Section 5 describes some results obtained with four of the congurations described in section 3.
2. Theoretical proles

The theoretical proles of Salami [1] were based on the power law, equation (1), in smooth pipes, superimposed with some function of radial and angular distance, r and respectively. 2.1. Advantages of theoretical proles The advantages of using theoretical proles are clear where they resemble experimental ows. Computational time is small as is the requirement for high powered processing. Also, the velocity at any point is known without the need for interpolation. Further advantage is obtained where the actual ow rate can be computed exactly. This is achieved where the function is integrable over the cross sectional area of the pipe. The theoretical proles are described by mathematical functions which exhibit zero ow at the pipe wall with a

Modelling of ultrasonic transit-time owmeters

Table 1. Analytical description of 14 ow proles. Parameters and functions as described by equation (2a).

Prole Group Code (here) A1 A2 A3 A One peak A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 B Two peaks A9 A10 A11 Code (Salami) (P6) (P17) (P8) (P1) (P12) (P13) (P9) (P7) (P10) (P5) (P16)

Radial function Exp. n 9 7 9 9 7 7 9 9 9 9 7 Exp. k 4 9 4 0.5 9 9 4 4 4 9 9 Scale m 0.5 0.4 0.04 3.3170 e0.1 2 e0.1 2 2 5 1 2 2 3 0.6813 e0.1 6.7501 1 2 2 e0.15 2 Exp. a 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 f ( ) sin sin

Angular function
2 0

f ( ) d

2 2 4 3 21 2 (1 + e ) (1 e2 a ) (a 2 + 1) 1.25 (1 e2 a ) (1 + e0.4 ) (a 2 + 1) 1.04 2 a (1 e ) (1 + e0.4 ) (a 2 + 1) 1.04 16 5 15

( 2 1)(1 cos )2 ea sin ea sin ea sin 2 (2 )2 (1 cos2 ) (2 ) sin2 ea sin2 ea sin2 ea sin (2 )2 sin 3 ea sin2 5

2 2 3 + 3 2 (1 e0.2 ) 2(1 e2 a ) 2 + 4) a(a 0.2005 (1 e0.4 ) 2(1 e2 a ) a(a 2 + 4) 0.404 (1 e ) (1 e2 a ) 2 + 1) (a 1.25 4 9 50(1 e2 a ) (1 e0.6 ) 2 + 100) a(a 0.60054

A12 C More complex A13 A14

(P2) (P22) (P20)

9 7 4

0.5 9 9

0.5 0.3

Exp. = exponent.

layer close to the wall similar to the power law described in equation (1): 1 R n V = 1 (1) Vc R0 where V /Vc is the normalized point velocity, v, Vc the velocity along the central axis of the pipe, R/R0 is the normalized radial distance from the centre of the pipe, r, and n is the exponent dependent on Reynolds number Re. 2.2. Different analytical functions It is the superimposed function which creates the asymmetry in the prole. All proles adhere to zero ow at the pipe wall as would be expected in practice, as there is a portion, close to the wall which can be described by the power law. The functions described by Salami [1] are of three mathematical types as described in equations (2a)(2c): v = (1 r) n + mr(1 r) k f ( ) v = 1 + zr sin for r v = (1 zb sin ) +m 1r 1b
1 1 k 1 n 1 1

v = sin

1 1 (2c) (1 r) n + m sin((1 r) k )f () 2 where f ( ) is some dened function of and b, n, k, m and z are constants at a particular prole. This paper deals only with equations of type (2a) and the proles which adhere to this are listed in table 1 along with the relevant values of the constants. Figure 1 shows the contour plots of the proles and it can be seen that they can be thought of as three different types. The rst includes A1A7 which have one peak. The second, A8A11, have two peaks. The third type includes A12A14, which do not fall into either the rst or second group. Table 1 shows these groups and the name used to describe them for the remainder of the paper. 2.3. Validity of theoretical proles Occasionally in the literature proles adhering to equation (2a) have been used as an estimation of distorted uid ow [2, 3]. However, there are some considerations to be taken into account regarding the validity of the functions. Differentiating equation (2a) with respect to indicates that, of the 14 proles described in this paper, six do not have a continuous derivative at = 0, 2. This can be seen by viewing the values of the derivative listed in table 2.
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(2a) b, 0 b 1 (2b)

(r b)(1 r) k (1 b)

for r

P I Moore et al
0.6

0.5 0.6

0.7

0.7
0.8

0.8
0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2

1.0 0.9

1.1 1.2

0.9 1.0 1.1 0.8

1.1
1.2

1.0

0.9

0.8

A1

A2
0.5 0.6

A3

A4

1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5

0.7 0.8 0.9

1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.7

1.0

A5

A6
1.2

A7

1.1
1.0

1.1

1.1 1.0 0.9

0.9

0.9 0.8

0.8 0.8
0.8

1.0

0.7
0.9

0.9 1.0
1.0

1.1

1.1

1.1

1.0

A8

A9
0.5

A10

A11

0.7

0.6 0.7

0.6

0.8

0.5

1.2
1.1

1.1 0.9 1.0 0.8 0.9

1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7

1.0

A12

A13

A14

Figure 1. Contour plots showing variation of ow velocity within the circular cross-section of pipe for 14 ow proles A1A14. The orientation of the graphs is with = 0 horizontally to the right. The contours are incremented by 0.1 in normalized velocity and the numerical values are shown near the lines. For analytical description, see table 1 which identies three groups: group A (proles A1A7) with one peak, group B (proles A8A11) with two peaks and group C (proles A12A14) with more complex characteristics.

Similarly, by differentiation of equation (2a) with respect to r it can be seen that there is also a discontinuity at r = 0. This is presented in gure 2 for the case of = 0, where it can be seen that dv/dr = 0 where r = 0 as might be expected. Having said this, Salami suggested that some of the proles resembled experimentally measured proles [4], and this is supported by Frank et al [3]. Similarly, Walus [2] suggested that equation (2a) with f () = ea sin can be used to describe distorted ow and more recently Zanker [5]
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suggested prole A7 resembled the ow downstream of a single bend. Proles A1A5 are described in [6] as resembling ow downstream of a double out of plane bend. The order of Salamis proles of this type have been changed for the purposes of this analysis and are listed in table 1 where the names used in [1] are shown in brackets. [1] lists the mathematical formulae that correspond to each prole, however, some discrepancies should be noted. In Salamis original work [7], on which [1] is based, some of the proles are described differently to those in [1]. Table 3 lists

Modelling of ultrasonic transit-time owmeters

Table 2. Behaviour of angular component f () of velocity proles as described by equation (2a), table 1 and gure 2. Values of derivative with respect to angle at two extreme angles = 0 and = 2 .

df ( )/d f () sin ( 2 1)(1 cos )2 e(a ) sin 2 (2 )2 (1 cos2 ) (2 ) sin2 e(a ) sin2 (2 )2 sin 3 e(0.3 ) sin2 5 =0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 2 2 0 e(2 a) 0 0 0 0 0 0 Proles affected A1, A2 A3 A4, A5, A6, A12 A7 A8 A9 A10, A11 A13 A14 Continuous derivative N Y N Y Y Y Y Y Y

Table 3. Differences between [1] and [7] in analytical description of certain ow proles as described by equation (2a) and table 1.

Prole Code (here) A1 A3 A5 A6 A8 A9 A11 A13 A14 Code (Salami) (P6) (P8) (P12) (P13) (P7) (P10) (P16) (P22) (P20)

Variables missing in [1] radius r angle

Different exponent m in two references m [1] 0.5 e0.05 e0.05 m [7] 0.5

with normalized radius r for ow proles described by equation (2a) with three values of integer exponent n. All graphs at zero orientation angle, = 0.

Figure 2. Rate of change dv/dr of normalized ow velocity v

0.05 1 6 2 e0.075

e0.1 2 e0.1 2 e0.1 1 2 2 e0.15 2

these differences. By referring to table 3 it can be seen that in [1] some of the r and terms are absent from ve proles and m is dened differently in six proles. It appears that these are mostly typographical errors as the contour plots of the proles presented in [1] correspond to the original functions described in [7]. Therefore it is suggested that table 1, which can be viewed as a summary of [7], is used as a reference to the mathematical description of the proles and not [1].
3. Estimation of mean ow velocity

Ultrasonic owmeters measure ow velocity via the transmission of sound waves through the uid. There are various techniques that may be employed but this paper discusses the transit-time measurement technique. The transit-time method of measurement is the most commonly used in ultrasonic ow metering. The measurement is made by transmitting a pulse from a transducer through the uid to a second transducer positioned downstream in the pipe and back again. 3.1. Transit time for ultrasound along a path The transit-time principle operates by measuring the difference in the time taken for the signal to travel up and downstream. The component of ow velocity adds to or subtracts from the apparent velocity of sound in the uid in the downstream and upstream measurements respectively.

Figure 3. Schematic diagram of one path within transit-time ultrasonic owmeter. The path is orientated at angle relative to axis of circular pipe. The transit time of ultrasound between transducers is t1 in downstream direction and t2 in the upstream direction.

Appropriate ow media are gases or liquids but the uid must be single phase for the meter to perform well. A simple diagram of such a owmeter is shown in gure 3.

3.1.1. Principle of operation. The propagation velocity of the sound pulse is the vector sum of the velocity of sound and the ow velocity in the direction of propagation. Therefore the transit time of the upstream, t1 , and downstream, t2 , signals can be expressed as equation (3) and equation (4)
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P I Moore et al

respectively: t1 =
0

dl c vz (l) cos dl c + vz (l) cos

(3) (4)

Table 4. Three different congurations of ultrasonic owmeter with parallel weighted paths: Gaussian G, Tchebychev TC and tailored TA. Weights and abscissa for each path; see also gure 4.

t2 =
0

Conguration Gaussian

Name G2 G3 G4 G5

Number of paths 2 3 4 5

Weight 1.000 000 0.888 888 0.555 555 0.652 145 0.347 854 0.568 888 0.478 628 0.236 926 0.906 899 0.785 398 0.555 360 0.597 566 0.369 316 0.523 598 0.453 449 0.261 799 0.869 546 0.930 395 0.503 536 0.744 083 0.227 311 0.811 195 0.465 734 0.124 349

Abscissa 0.577 350 0.000 000 0.774 596 0.339 981 0.861 136 0.000 000 0.538 469 0.906 179 0.500 000 0.000 000 0.707 106 0.309 016 0.809 016 0.000 000 0.500 000 0.866 025 0.478 196 0.000 000 0.779 380 0.406 734 0.889 275 0.000 000 0.686 031 0.947 420

where l is the path length, c the velocity of sound in the uid, vz (l) is the axial ow velocity measured at point dl along the path and is the angle of inclination. It can be shown that the apparent velocity can be calculated using equation (5) by substituting equation (3) into equation (4). vpath = L(t1 t2 ) . 2t1 t2 cos (5)
Tchebychev

TC2 TC3 TC4 TC5

2 3 4 5

This is the basic principle of the calculation of path velocity in a transit time owmeter used in the measurement of threedimensional ow. Many designs have been published which build on this, some more useful than others. Several times in the literature transit time owmeters have been reviewed. Examples of these can be found in [812]. 3.1.2. Modelling of transit time with a theoretical ow prole. Determination of vpath in the theoretical proles is done by integration of the point velocities along the path in the theoretical proles using equation (6): vpath = 1 L vz (l) dl. (6)

Tailored

TA2 TA3 TA4 TA5

2 3 4 5

path

Calculation of the true mean cross-sectional velocity, vact , can be obtained from a particular theoretical mathematical function by integration as shown in equation (7). This is used as a reference against which the measured ow velocity is compared. vact = 1 vz (r, )r dr d.
s

(7)

3.2. Flowmeter congurations There are two methods of calculation discussed in this document which are used to derive the mean velocity of a multi-path ultrasonic meter, namely, averaged and integrated methods. The latter involves a weighted sum of the velocities along the individual paths while the former involves an equally weighted average of the path velocities. 3.2.1. Flowmeter congurations with parallel weighted paths. There are 13 meter congurations discussed in the paper, which utilize the weighted method of calculation. These can be classed as three different types, namely Gaussian, Tchebychev and tailored. The names and numbers of paths are described in table 4. A mathematical analysis of the methods can be found in [1315] respectively. The particular method used has specically dened weights and abscissas associated with it which depend on the number of paths utilised. The abscissa dene the radial position of the paths with respect to the centre of the pipe and the weights are applied before summing the measured velocities along
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Figure 4. Three different congurations of ultrasonic owmeter with three parallel weighted paths: Gaussian G, Tchebychev TC and tailored TA.

the paths. The measured mean velocity, vmeas , in the pipe is therefore calculated from equation (8). vmeas =
n i=1

wi (vpath )i

(8)

where vpath i is the mean velocity along path i, wi is the weight associated with path i and n is the number of paths. Table 4 lists the abscissas and weights for the 13 different path congurations and gure 4 indicates the positions of the three path congurations. The Gaussian conguration has been very popular in the design of ultrasonic ow meters, of which [1621] are examples. The most popular number of paths is four, although any number can be used. These congurations are described here for completeness but are not discussed further in this paper.

Modelling of ultrasonic transit-time owmeters

3.2.2. Flowmeter congurations with equally weighted paths. The equally weighted method of calculation is applied to ve ultrasonic path congurations, namely the diametrical, orthogonal, double orthogonal, three, double triangle, ve pointed star and mid-radius by implementation of equation (9). vmeas = 1 n
n i=1

4.1. Denition of hydrodynamic factor, H The hydrodynamic factor, H , as dened in equation (10) is a dimensionless parameter, which is the ratio of the actual mean velocity in the pipe to that which is measured. That is to say, a hydrodynamic factor of one is achieved if the measurement equates exactly with the actual mean velocity. This parameter can be used to evaluate the ultrasonic meter congurations when subjected to asymmetric ow. H = vact . vmeas (10)

(vpath )i .

(9)

These congurations utilize no more than two paths and are shown in gure 5. The rst four congurations are commonly used with respect to clamp on meters as they utilise paths along the diameter. The diametrical conguration, DIAM, is one of the earliest congurations to be used in ultrasonic ow measurement. It is most commonly found now in clampon owmeters, which are non-intrusive and non-invasive. Other congurations utilizing the clamp-on technique are accompanied by difculties due to Snells law, which restricts the range of refracted angles in the pipe. It is therefore considered to be of use to inspect variations in the behaviour of related diametrical congurations. The double triangle and ve pointed star congurations are interesting because, although they appear to use six paths in the rst and ve in the second, they can actually be implemented using only two and one paths respectively. This is achieved by bouncing the pulse of ultrasound off the pipe wall until it reaches the angular position it was sent from. Broekgaarden and Lammerse [22] introduced congurations involving bounce paths with multiple reections as did Lynnworth et al [23]. Utilising congurations with bouncepaths means that fewer transducers are required and, from Lynnworths point of view, this type of conguration is advantageous when there is limited access to the pipe. The mid-radius conguration is also widely used and [2428] are examples. Much work has been done in the past to improve the conguration of transducers in ultrasonic owmeters. Because the measured velocity is not always equal to the actual velocity, correction factors are often introduced. By recognizing a relationship between the measured and actual mean velocities a correction factor can be used for a more accurate assessment of the ow. For example, diametrical correction factors for fully developed ow have been calculated by several independent parties of which [2931] are a select example. Similarly, Pannell et al [15] show graphs of error as a function of Reynolds number for Gaussian, Tchebychev and Tailored congurations of two, three, four and ve paths in fully developed ow. The above mentioned correction factors can be very effective in fully developed ow; however, they do not always hold where the ow is distorted.
4. Methodology to describe variation in owmeter performance with respect to orientation

Each conguration was rotated at increments of 2 , with respect to the prole, for a maximum of 180 . Therefore 90 calculations were made with each conguration in each prole. An example of the calculated hydrodynamic factor, as a function of orientation, is plotted in gure 6 for the diametrical conguration in prole A1. The effect of the meter orientation with respect to the prole can be seen clearly. 4.2. Denition of orientation sensitivity factor, S The second parameter used in the comparison is a measure of the range of H determined by the conguration for a given prole. This is called the orientation sensitivity factor and is dened as (11) S = Hmax Hmin . It is essentially the range of measurements of H made with respect to orientation; this is shown schematically in gure 6. 4.3. Denition of orientation range factor, T The orientations which conform to equations (12) are calculated, where Hf is the hydrodynamic factor measured in fully developed ow, p is the fractional deviation from Hf (in this case 0.2%) and H () is the hydrodynamic factor measured in the particular prole as a function of orientation . The total range of orientations, T , for which equation (12) is true is calculated using equation (13). This is shown schematically in gure 7. Hf p T = H () 0 Hf + p 180 . (12) (13)

Hf corresponds to the hydrodynamic factor measured in the power law prole at the value of n corresponding to that which the particular asymmetric prole is based. For example, Hf measured in prole A3 corresponds to that measured in the power law prole where n has the value 9.
5. Numerical analysis of variation in owmeter performance with respect to orientation

This section discusses the parameters calculated in the estimation of the sensitivity of the ultrasonic congurations to the asymmetric ow. There are three performance measures discussed, namely, the hydrodynamic factor, H , the orientation sensitivity factor, S, and the orientation range factor, T .

Here, some of the calculations carried out are presented in order to illustrate the methodology discussed above. In this case four variations are studied, DIAM, ORTH, THREE and DORTH.
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Figure 5. Seven different congurations of ultrasonic owmeter with equally weighted paths: diametrical DIAM, orthogonal ORTH, three path THREE, double orthogonal DORTH, double triangle DTRI, ve pointed star 5PTST and mid-radius MID.

Figure 6. Variation of hydrodynamic factor H with orientation for owmeter conguration DIAM applied to ow prole A1: denition of orientation sensitivity factor S.

5.1. Calculation of hydrodynamic factor, H The calculation of H is discussed here for the cases of proles A1 and A7. Although calculations have been carried out in all 14 proles the use of these two proles for illustration indicates the trends found. Thus, gures 8 and 9 show the calculation of H in proles A1 and A7 with congurations DORTH, ORTH, THREE and DIAM. It is clear that the calculation of H using DIAM varies highly with respect to orientation in both proles. However, the addition of one more path, perpendicular to the path of DIAM reduces the variation dramatically. This is seen in the form of conguration ORTH. Further, the addition of more paths reduces this variation again. Thus it appears that increasing the number of paths decreases the sensitivity of the conguration to orientation. 5.2. Calculation of orientation sensitivity factor, S The calculation of S in all 14 proles is presented. Referring to gure 10, the range measured by DORTH is, on average, 17% of that of ORTH. The smallest decrease is measured in A14 where DORTH measures a decrease 58% of that of ORTH. In some cases however, the range is decreased by one order of magnitude by introducing the DORTH conguration. This occurs in proles A3, A7, A8, A9, A10, A11 and A13.
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5.3. Calculation of orientation range factor, T The orientations which measure the hydrodynamic factor to within 0.2% of that measured in fully developed ow are calculated for each prole. The results are shown in gure 11. It is evident from the numerous blank bars that the diametrical congurations are highly sensitive to distorted ow; 61% of the tests do not measure H within the limit set. However, it is interesting to note which tests are least sensitive. The least sensitive test is DORTH in prole A13. Here H has a total of 150 of orientation within 0.2% of Hf . This accounts for more than 80% of the whole range. This trend is, however, not common in the other congurations, the next least sensitive being THREE in prole A8, where 27% of the whole range is within 0.2%. The conguration DIAM measures Hf () such that equation (12) is true over the largest range of orientations in six proles; however, the range is typically small. On the other hand, DORTH measures Hf () such that equation (12) is true over the largest range of orientations in only one prole although the range of orientations is large.
6. Conclusion

The paper has introduced a method of measuring the effect of asymmetric ow on ultrasonic owmeters of the transit-time

Modelling of ultrasonic transit-time owmeters

Figure 7. Variation of hydrodynamic factor H with orientation for owmeter conguration DIAM applied to ow prole A7: denition of orientation range factor T .

Figure 8. Variation of hydrodynamic factor H with orientation for four different owmeter congurations with equally weighted paths applied to ow prole A1.

Figure 9. Variation of hydrodynamic factor H with orientation of four different owmeter congurations with equally weighted paths applied to ow prole A7.

type. The theoretical proles described have some aws but can generally be used to indicate trends in the behaviour of an ultrasonic owmeter when subjected to asymmetric ow. The advantages of using the theoretical proles are clear since

they resemble experimental ows. Computational time is small as is the requirement for high powered processing. The proles are useful from the point of view of assessing ultrasonic owmeters since the velocity at any
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P I Moore et al
0.25

0.2

0.15

DIAM ORTH THREE DORTH

S
0.1

0.05

0 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10 A11 A12 A13 A14

Profile

Figure 10. Orientation sensitivity factor S for four different owmeter congurations with equally weighted paths applied to all 14 ow

proles.
180 160 140 120

DIAM ORTH THREE DORTH

T (o )

100 80 60 40 20 0 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10 A11 A12 A13 A14

Profile
Figure 11. Orientation range factor T for four different owmeter congurations with equally weighted paths applied to all 14 ow proles.

point is known without the need for interpolation. The use of these proles to model ultrasonic ow meters has been implemented recently [5, 32], although they have been used in conjunction with few congurations and little detail of the methodology has been presented. Rychagov and Tereshchenko [33] utilised a similar methodology on a prole described by equation (2c). Although detailed methodology is described one conguration only has been considered. However, [6, 34, 35] discuss the applications of modelling several ultrasonic owmeters in this way. This paper describes the theory behind using the mathematical proles to assess the sensitivity of various ultrasonic meter congurations to asymmetric ow and introduces an illustration of the implementation of the technique in the form of the diametrical congurations. This methodology, based on analytical ow proles, is useful when one wishes to optimize the design of an ultrasonic transit-time owmeter. The aim of such design is to determine volumetric ow rate (or true mean ow velocity) with sufcient accuracy throughout a fully representative range of ow conditions. There is considerable freedom to choose the number of paths, their orientation and their position. Furthermore, the weighting of the individual path velocities can be chosen to control errors, especially for
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extremely non-uniform or asymmetric ow proles. A more sophisticated approach might be to employ adaptive weighting of the individual path velocities; the different weights would then depend on additional information obtained from the distribution of these path velocities. There is so much exibility that some form of modelling is essential as a preliminary stage during the design process. Proles which can be expressed analytically have the substantial advantages described in section 2.1. Consequently such proles can form the basis of systematic investigation into both existing congurations and new strategies. Results from analytical proles must, of course, be supported by computational uid dynamics and by experimental verication. The long-term aim of our work is to combine such techniques so as to improve the accuracy of ultrasonic owmeters in practical applications. Analytical proles facilitate the initial stage of exploratory investigation.
Acknowledgments

Pamela Moore is an Associate of the Postgraduate Training Partnership (PTP) between the National Engineering Laboratory (NEL) and the University of Strathclyde. The

Modelling of ultrasonic transit-time owmeters

PTP scheme is a joint initiative of the UKs Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Engineering Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The PTP scheme is supported by a grant from the DTI. Pamela Moore gratefully acknowledges grant support from both the EPSRC and NEL.
References
[1] Salami L A 1984 Application of a computer to asymmetric ow measurement in circular pipes Trans. Inst. Meas. Control 6 197206 [2] Walus S 1985 The use of the ultrasonic owmeter in the conditions other than normal FLOMEKO ed H S Stephens et al (University of Melbourne) pp 1716 [3] Frank S, Heilmann C and Siekmann H E 1996 Point-velocity methods for ow-rate measurements in asymmetric pipe ow Flow Meas. Instrum. 7 2019 [4] Salami L A 1971 Errors in the velocity-area method of measuring asymmetric ows in circular pipes University of Southampton Interim Report I [5] Zanker K J 1999 The effects of Reynolds number, wall roughness, and prole asymmetry on single- and multi-path ultrasonic meters North Sea Flow Measurement Workshop (Norway, 1999) pp 11729 [6] Moore P I, Brown G J and Stimpson B P 2000 Modelling of transit time ultrasonic owmeters in theoretical asymmetric ow FLOMEKO (Salvador, 2000) [7] Salami L A 1972 On velocity-area methods for asymmetric proles University of Southampton Interim Report V [8] Asher R C 1998 Ultrasonic Sensors (Bristol: Institute of Physics) [9] Brown A E 1991 Ultrasonic owmeters Flow Measurement Practical Guides for Measurement and Control ed D W Spitzer (Instrument Society of America) pp 41542 [10] Jesperson K I 1973 A review of the use of ultrasonics in ow measurement National Engineering Laboratory Internal Report 552 [11] Lynnworth L C 1989 Ultrasonic Measurements for Process Control (New York: Academic) [12] Lynnworth L C 1979 Ultrasonic owmeters Physical Acoustics: Principles and Methods vol 14 (New York: Academic) pp 407525 [13] Scarborough J B 1962 Numerical Mathematical Analysis (Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins) [14] Abramowitz M and Stegun I A 1965 Handbook of Mathematical Functions (New York: Dover) [15] Pannell C N, Evans W A B and Jackson D A 1990 A new integration technique for owmeters with chordal paths Flow Meas. Instrum. 1 21624 [16] Vaterlaus H P and Gabler H 1994 A new intelligent ultrasonic owmeter for hydropower applications Int. Water Power Dam Construction 46 848

[17] San A G, Almazov V V, Antonov N N and Reshetnikov V A 1981 Inuence of variation of the ow structure on the methodological error of multichannel ultrasonic owmeters Measurement Techniques 24 8535 (translated from Izmeritelnaya Tekhnika 24 (10) 312) [18] Nolan M E, OHair J G and Teyssandier R 1986 The measurement of high pressure natural gas ows using the four-path ultrasonic owmeter developed by British Gas Int. Symp. on Fluid Flow Measurement p 80922 [19] Malone J T and Whirlow D K 1971 Fluid ow measurement system US Patent 3 564 912 [20] Fisher G and Spink P 1971 Ultrasonics as a standard for volumetric ow measurement Modern Developments in Flow Measurement ed C G Clayton (Harwell) pp 13958 [21] Hastings C R 1968 LE Flowmetera new device for measuring liquid ow rates Westinghouse Eng. 28 1836 [22] Broekgaarden G J and Lammerse H 1986 Ultrasonic gas ow measurements in reection mode in underground pipelines Int. Symp. on Fluid Flow [23] Lynnworth L C, Nguyen T H and True J A 1986 Flowmeter designs: small ID; small OD; limited length; limited access Ultrasonics Symp. pp 58793 [24] Baker R C and Thompson E J 1975 A two beam ultrasonic phase-shift owmeter Fluid Flow Measurement in the Mid-1970s ed E A Spencer (NEL) pp 57182 [25] Baker R C and Thompson E J 1978 Measurement of uid ow UK Patent 1 533 845 [26] Hojholt P 1986 Installation effects on single and dual-beam ultrasonic owmeters Int. Conf. on Flow Measurement in the Mid 80s ed F C Kinghorn and E E Gibson (East Kilbride: NEL) p 11.2 [27] Lynnworth L C 1978 Ultrasonic measuring system for differing ow conditions US Patent 4 103 551 [28] Thompson E J 1978 Mid-radius ultrasonic ow measurement FLOMEKO ed H H Dijstelbergen and E A Spencer, pp 15361 [29] Birger G I 1962 Certain problems in calibrating ultrasonic owmeters Izmeritelnaya Tekh. 10 535 [30] Gessner U 1969 The performance of the ultrasonic owmeter in complex velocity proles IEEE Trans. Bio-med. Eng. 16 13942 [31] Kivilis S S and Reshetnikov V A 1965 Effect of a stabilized ow prole on the error of ultrasonic owmeters Izmeritelnaya Tekh. 3 524 [32] Espina P I, Yeh T T, Rotheisch P and Osella S A 2000 Tele-metrology and advanced ultrasonic owmetering FLOMEKO 2000 (Salvador, 2000) [33] Rychagov M and Tereshchenko S 2000 Multipath owrate measurements of symmetric and asymmetric ows Inverse Problems 16 495504 [34] Moore P I, Brown G J and Stimpson B P 2000 Ultrasonic measurement of asymmetric ow FEDSM2000 (Boston, MA, 2000) [35] Brown G J, Barton N A and Moore P I 1999 Installation effects on ultrasonic owmeters North Sea Flow Measurement Workshop (1999)

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