CH 2001 Fluid Mechanics video

lectures
Module 33: Flow measurement

Presented by
Dr. Sreenivasula Reddy Ramireddy,
Ph. D.
 Objectives of this module
• Why is it necessary to measure the flow?
• What is meant by flow measurement?
• Different types of flow measurement
devices/approaches
 Flow measurement
• This involves measurement of velocity of the fluid,
volumetric flow rate, and mass flow rate
• It is needed in industrial processes, mainly to control the
processes
• To track the usage and bill accordingly, example
domestic water supply, gas supply, irrigation water
• Different types of flow meters/approaches are
available
• Choice of flow meters depends on accuracy required,
range of measurement, cost, complication, ease of
reading, maintenance and life
 Flow measurement approaches
• Simple and Direct methods
• Full Bore meters: Operate on all the fluid in the
pipe or channel
• Insertion meters: Measure flow rate or velocity
at one point only
 Direct methods
• Simply measure the amount of fluid per unit time by
collecting the fluid
• This requires steady flow, time interval should be long
enough
• Domestic water flow meters, gas meters, petrol pump
readingÆ these measure the total amount of fluid
• Counting the number of times the moving compartment
is filled and emptied, e.g. Positive displacement pumps
and blowers
 Full bore meters
• Venturi Meters, Orifice meters, nozzle flow
meters
• V-element meters
• Variable area meters such as rotameters
• Target meters, Vortex shedding meters, Turbine
meters
• Positive displacement meters
• Magnetic meters, ultrasonic meters, Coriolis
meters
 Insertion meters
• Pitot tube
• Thermal meters?? Could be full bore or insertion
meter
• Modified forms of magnetic meters, turbine
meters, ultrasonic meters
• Insertion meters are generally cheaper than full
bore meters and are preferred at least for
large pipes
 Flow measurement principle in
orifice, venturi and flow nozzle
• Based on acceleration of fluid through a nozzle
• Velocity is increased and pressure decreased and
difference in pressure is measured, which is then used
to calculate the velocity, from which volumetric flow
rate and mass flow rate are calculated
 Venturi meter
• Venturi meter consists of a small conical inlet section, leading to
a constant area throat and then a long discharge cone
• Pressure taps exist at the beginning of inlet and in the middle of
throat sections, which are connected to manometer
• Flow contracts in the inlet section and then expands in the
discharge cone
• Original pressure is mostly recovered in the long discharge cone,
whose angle is 5 to 15 degrees
 Venturi meter applications
• Although can be used for gases, used mostly for
liquids and is preferred for large pipes where
pressure recovery is important
• It is expensive, occupies more space
• Ratio of throat to pipe diameter cannot be
changed
• For a given meter and manometer set up, the
maximum flow rate is fixed
 Orifice meter
• Accurately machined and drilled plate with a hole that
is mostly concentric with the pipe is fixed between two
section of the pipes with the help of flanges
• Pressure taps one upstream (above) and one
downstream (below) are connected to manometer
 Orifice meter
• Taps locations are arbitrary and orifice coefficient changes with
the location of the taps
• Flow separation occurs down the orifice, a free flowing jet is
formed, then vena contracta.
• The area of the jet varies from the plate to the vena contracta,
thus area determination is difficult
• Orifice coefficients are smaller and more variable
• Enough straight pipe should be allowed to ensure normal
velocity distribution
• Pressure recovery is poor
Basic equations
 Venturi meter

• gc is equal to 1 for SI units

 Orifice meter

• Co corrects for friction losses, contraction of fluid jet between

orifice and vena contracta and also for kinetic energy correction
factors
• Co depends significantly on ß ( diameter ratio) and also Re at
the orifice
• For Re>30,000, Co can be taken as constant
 Flow of compressible fluids through
venturi and orifice meters
• For a venturi meter

• For an orifice meter

• Y is a dimensionless expansion
coefficient

Empirical correlation for Y is

Characteristics of Orifice, Flow
Nozzle and Venturi meters
 V-element meters

• Flow is restricted by V-shaped element

• Accuracy is high, expensive
• Hard-to-handle fluids such as liquids containing solid
particles, undissolved gases or gases carrying drops of
condensate
 Area meters: Rota meters

• Pressure drop is constant

• Area varies
• Fluid flows upward
• Floating element could be a
spherical ball also
• The tube is marked in
divisions
• Calibration curve is required
• Most commonly used for
gases
 Target Meter

• It is a sharp-edged disk set

perpendicular to fluid flow
• Drag force exerted on the disk is
measured
• Flow rate is proportional to the
square root of the drag force and
to the density of the fluid
• Rugged and inexpensive and can
be used for wide range of fluids
• If the solid content of slurry is more
then clogging can occur
 Vortex shedding meters
• The target is bluff body, trapezoidal cross section
• Vertex street is created
• Sensors close to the bluff body measure the
fluctuations, and the frequency of the vortex shedding
• Volumetric flow rate is measured
• Used for many types of fluids, even for high
temperature steam and gases
• Not suitable for highly viscous liquids as the meter
requires high Re
Vortex shedding meters
 Turbine meters
• A bladed rotor is suspended axially in the flow
stream
• Spins at a rate proportional to the fluid velocity
 Magnetic meters and ultra sonic
meters
• Non-intrusive
• No obstruction is placed in the fluid stream and
no reduction of the flow channel or pressure loss
• Rate of flow is measured from outside
• Magnetic field or ultrasonic sound waves are
used
 Insertion meters
• Small compared to the size of the flow channel
• Majority of these meters measure the local velocity, a
few measure average velocity
• The positioning of the sensing element is critical if the
total flow rate is to be measured
• If the point of the measurement is at the center line,
then the maximum velocity is obtained, from which the
average velocity or velocity distribution at other points
radially can be obtained from the following equation
 Pitot tube
• This was discussed earlier in Module 12 under
the application of Bernouli’s equation. Please
refer to this module
• This is used to measure local velocity along a
stream line
• The opening of the impact tube a is
perpendicular to the flow direction
• The opening of the static tube is parallel to the
fluid flow
 Pitot tube
• For compressible fluids, fluid velocity at point B is given by

• In most of the scenarios, only the first Ma term is

significant
• For incompressible fluids, Ma can be
neglected in the above equation and
reduces to
 Pitot tube
• Good accuracy under well designed conditions
• Calibration is required
• Most of the designs do not give average
velocity directly
• Measurements for gases are very small,
multiplying gauge or scale must be used for
low-pressure gases
 Thermal meters
• They measure the flow rate directly by
measuring the temperature rise while the fluid
passes over a heating element
• These are most commonly insertion meters
• Used to measure gas flow rates in large ducts
• To my experience, thermal meters are used for
mass flow rates of gases in process industry
where precision is required but lines may be
small
 Other insertion meters
• Modified forms of magnetic meters, turbine
meters, ultrasonic meters work as insertion
meters
• Insertion meters are cheaper compared to full
bore meters for cost-effective measurement of
flows in large pipes
 What would be the right
meter/approach for a given problem
• Cost
• Suitability and limitations
• Complexity
• Installation and maintenance
• Lower limit, upper limit, and range
• Any calibration requirements
• Easy to read, does it provide the variable of interest
directly or further calculations are needed
• Availability (some times)
• Novel approaches
• No generalization, select case by case
 Solved problems
• Please refer to your lecture notes/exercises, a
solved problem is made available to you on
venturi meter and orifice meter
 References and source
• Majority of the content is an extract from
“Pages 224-240, Unit Operations of Chemical
Engineering by W.L.McCabe, J.C.Smith & Peter
Harriot, McGraw- Hill, 7th Edition”
• World wide web
• Experience of the presentor
 Than Q
• With this module, your entire syllabus has been
completed
• It is possible that additional material may be
added to enhance understanding up on such
requirement