Measurement Techniques for Engineers

Flow Measurement

Introduction
Very important for process and food industry Mass flow rate measurement of solids, small particles created by crushing or grinding. Transported by conveyer, calculation of mass of material on given length of conveyor times speed of conveyer

Volume Flow Rate

Used for quantifying flow of gaseous, liquid, semi-liquid slurry (solid particles suspended in liquid) Classes of instruments used to measure volume flow
Differential pressure meters Variable Area meters Positive Displacement meters

Volume Flow Rate

Turbine flowmeters Electromagnetic flowmeters Vortex-shedding flowmeters Gate-type meters Ultrasonic flowmeters Optical flowmeters

Volume Flow Rate

Need to think about following before choosing meter
Temperature Pressure Density Viscosity Chemical properties Abrasiveness (if contains particles) Phase (liquid or gas)

Figure 7.1

Venturi Meter
Restriction in pipe in form of tapering section leading to narrow throat Beyond throat more gradually returns to original pipe diameter Pressure taping at entry to venturi and at throat led to differential pressure transducer Pressure difference governed by Bernoullis law

Venturi Meter
Bernoullis law in any continuous body of liquid the sum of potential energy, pressure energy and kinetic energy is constant at all points In horizontal pipe potential energy is constant and cancels So sum pressure energy and kinetic energy at entry and throat are equal

Venturi Meter
p1 v p2 v + = + 2 2
2 1 2 2

& = av = a v Q 1 1 2 2 & = Q a1a2 (a a )

2 1 2 2

( p1 p2 )

Venturi Meter
Simplifies to

2( p1 p2 ) & Q = a2 4 (1 )
where is the ratio: throat diameter pipe diameter

Venturi Meter
To obtain actual flow rate need to multiply by a coefficient of discharge, Cd which is found by calibration and is normally in range 0.97 to 0.99 Typo in notes page 121, second whole paragraph, second line, depends only on the square root

Venturi Meter
Limitations
differential pressure transducers tend to become less accurate at pressure differences less than 1/10th upper limit of their range, so venturi and transducer can only be relied on down to about one-third of maximum allowable flow rate. Another source of error at low flow rates is the decrease in Cd as Re number decreases.

Orifice Plate
Obstruction method like Venturi relies on pressure drop induced Flat plate inserted into pipework with sharpedged hole in it which fluid passes through. Constricts fluid as though passing through a venturi Figure 7.2 shows the streamlines of the fluid as it passes through

Orifice Plate
Shaded areas denote stationary flow Equations derived for Venturi hold for orifice plate Coefficient of Discharge is much lower (0.63 typically for fully turbulent flow) than venturi (0.97-0.99)

Orifice Plate
Two main advantages
it gives larger pressure difference for given flow rate than venturi cheap and compact, can be inserted into pipework between flange

Main Disadvantage
permanent pressure drop, higher power loss in pumping through orifice as opposed to Venturi, therefore higher running cost

Orifice Plate
Slurries tend to silt up the stationary regions on either side of the plate Abrasive particles round off plate hole and alter conditions (therefore re-calibration required)

Mechanical Flow Meters

Fluid made to do work on some kind of machine quantity of fluid passing through the machine is proportional to number of oscillations or rotations of mechanism Example - domestic gas meter
gas inflates alternately each chamber of a pair of bellows being diverted to the other chamber once one becomes full

Mechanical Flow Meters

Turbine Flow Meter (figure 7.3)
fluid flows past rotor with skewed blades spins rotor at speed proportional to flow rate flow upstream is straightened by radial vanes vanes act as spacers to centralise rotor bearings rotor may drive a mechanical counter (through reduction gearing) or generate a digital signal by means of a magnetic transducer

Mechanical Flow Meters

Due to friction in bearings the rotor speed is always slightly less than theoretical speed therefore classed as inferential Error becomes more serious at lower flow rates Error usually less than 2% provided flow rate is >7% of rate maximum Fluid being measured must be clean - no solids

The Rotameter
Variable area flow meter - figure 7.4 Tube (high-strength glass) arranged vertically, fluid enters narrow end and rises to wide end Float achieves equilibrium position where weight (acting downwards) is balanced by drag and buoyancy forces

The Rotameter
To take a reading top of float sighted against scale engraved on glass tube Alternatively to withstand higher pressures tube may be made of metal and position detected magnetically
Used for either gas or liquid, limited to fairly small rates of flow

The Rotameter
Float usually cylindrical with pointed bottom end, sharp edges to create turbulence and a helical groove around the rim to spin the float and stabilise its axis gyroscopically Usually inaccuracy 2% of full scale repeatability 0.25% of reading Calibration is for a particular density of fluid Accurate range of 10:1 (max to min range)

Electromagnetic Flowmeter
Figure 7.5 If a conductor is moving through a magnetic field a current is induced conductor is liquid in this case Flemings right-hand rule for generators applies

Electromagnetic Flowmeter
Electrodes pick off voltage generated at right angles to flow and magnetic field Voltage obtained is directly proportional to rate of flow of liquid In practice magnetic field produced by coils immediately above and below pipe Short piece of pipe is made of non-magnetic material

Electromagnetic Flowmeter
If pipe isnt insulating material is lined with one, so that it does not short-circuit the output voltage Cannot be used for petroleum products (electricity) Any liquid which separates into ions has sufficient conductivity

Electromagnetic Flowmeter
Solutions of acids, alkalis and water can be measured provided water is not completely pure To stop build up of an insulating layer of neutral molecules on the electrodes AC or interrupted

Electromagnetic Flowmeter
Solutions of acids, alkalis and water can be measured provided water is not completely pure To stop build up of an insulating layer of neutral molecules on the electrodes AC or interrupted DC is used

Electromagnetic Flowmeter
Advantages
no obstruction to pipe therefore no pumping losses calibration unaffected by changes in viscosity or by disturbances in density or flow of liquid provided that velocity is symmetrical about vertical centre line of pipe wide linear range of measurement

Electromagnetic Flowmeter
Measure reverse flow corrosive liquids and liquids carrying abrasive solids in suspension can be measured can measure viscous slurries and nonNewtonian liquids

Hot Wire Anemometer

Figure 7.6 fine tungsten wire stretched between tips of a streamlined forked support diameter 0.008mm, length 1mm, resistance 1 Flow cools wire and alters electrical resistance

Hot Wire Anemometer

Mainly used for gases but can be used for liquids (not common) Particularly useful at measuring rapid fluctuations of velocity Turbulence measurements Bridge circuit used and power supply voltage varied to keep resistance of probe constant

Hot Wire Anemometer

Two practical difficulties
hot wire may vibrate in high flow velocities causing it to fatigue and break fluid needs to be very clean, otherwise wire is coated and calibration will be out, or wire is broken by large particles

Hot Wire Anemometer

To overcome wires fragility a thin film of platinum deposited onto glass may be used, called hot film

Vortex Flowmeter
Von Karman vortices are caused by flow passing an object such as a cylinder Vortices are shed of alternate sides of the object creating a street of vortices When Re>10,000 the distance between vortices are constant for a given crosssection of an obstacle

Vortex Flowmeter
Therefore number of vortices passing a point in time is a measure of the velocity of the fluid Liquids, gases and steam may be measured by this method

Vortex Flowmeter
Vortices may be detected by
strain gauging the obstacle (alternating side forces) obstacle fitted with piezoelectric transducers to count vortices local velocity change on surface of obstacle by hot-film anemometry downstream of obstacle may be detected by ultrasonic vibrations (figure 7.7)

Vortex Flowmeter
Because of this direct proportionality, the maximum to minimum flow rate ratio is quite large. 20:1 200 per second to about 10 per second

Doppler Flowmeters
Doppler effect is the change in frequency of a wave reaching a receiver when there is a relative velocity between receiver and transmitter Can be used to measure flow velocity in pipes either by beam of ultrasonic vibration or by a beam of laser light projected through a transparent section of pipe

Doppler Flowmeters
Ultrasonic mainly for liquids, laser for both liquids and gases Cannot measure pure fluid, needs to be carrying particles or bubbles in suspension Doppler works by reflections from bubbles or particles For ultrasonic pipe diameter 200mm particle sizes 100m to 40m minimum requirement

Doppler Flowmeters
Laser doppler flowmeter can operate with sub-micron particles Ultrasonic doppler flowmeter - figure 7.8 clamp-on device piezoelectric transmitter and receiver (similar to vortex flowmeter) transmitter applies narrow beam of vibrations to a wedge block

Doppler Flowmeters
Vibrations pass through wall pipe and echoes are reflected from particles in fluid receiver mounted on another wedge picks up echoes only from particles which are in narrow cylindrical volume corresponding to that through which transmitters vibrations are propagated

Doppler Flowmeters
Received echoes very weak and are amplified frequency decreased by doppler effect calibration gives relationship between frequency shift and velocity

Laser Doppler Flowmeters

Laser emits stable monochromatic light of known frequency Beam of light is split into two beams of equal intensity two beams are focused on a point in the fluid where they cross at crossing point (measurement control volume) a fringe or interference pattern is formed

Laser Doppler Flowmeters

Particles in the fluid reflect the light in the fringe pattern as they cross it in all directions Small proportion of the reflected light will be in the direction of a photodetector which is placed on the transmitting (back-scatter) or receiving (forward-scatter) end of the flowmeter

Laser Doppler Flowmeters

Frequency of signal detected (difference between laser light frequency and doppler shifted frequency of reflections) allows speed to be computed Main advantage - non-intrusive

Laser Doppler Flowmeters

Two main sections
transmitting optics (laser and optical components used to project measurement control volume in the fluid medium) receiving optics (components used to collect scattered light and produce an analogue or digital signal)

Laser Doppler Flowmeters

Different arrangements
reference beam mode dual beam mode dual scatter mode

based on method used to obtain optical frequency shift of laser light dual beam (figure 7.9) most common

Laser Doppler Flowmeters

To measure 2 components of velocity need 2 fringe patterns of different planes of polarisation or different colours superimposed at right angle to each other Polarisation or colour sensitive detectors must be used

Laser Doppler Flowmeters

Argon-Ion laser can be split to produce one green, one blue and one green-blue beam, 3 intersect and produce 2 fringe patterns (1 blue & 1 green)

Directional Ambiguity in LDA

Signal yielded by photodetector is same whatever direction of particle Commonest method is to use frequency shifting of one of the illuminating beams Dual beam mode then sees movement of fringe pattern in a prescribed direction

Directional Ambiguity in LDA

particle velocity information extracted by the signal processor contains the imposed frequency shift if shift is positive it is subtracted from final velocity information The frequency shifting can be made either by acousti-optic systems, by rotating gratings, or by electro-optic methods

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)

Allows measurement of instantaneous whole fields non-intrusive Based on measurement of velocity of tracer particle carried by fluid Plane of field is illuminated by narrow sheet of light spread of region of interest

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)

Tracer particles are visible and images of illuminated particles are recorded Recordings show successive images of the whole flow field displacement of particles determined by analysis of records record image process image to determine tracer displacement

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)

Laser usually used well-collimated source that can easily be turned into sheet using cylindrical lenses or scanning mirrors continuous or pulsed lasers used Basic optical arrangement shown in figure 7.10

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)

Light sheet produced by pulsed laser and cylindrical lens camera placed perpendicular to light sheet to obtain a well-focused image of the illuminated tracer particles shutter opened for time long enough to pulse laser twice

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)

Tracer particles therefore show up twice on one exposure light has to be intense and short to avoid blurring image film has to be sufficiently sensitive to the wavelength of the laser slow flow can use a shutter and continuous laser (2 m/s)

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)

Tracer particles must be small enough to follow the flow reflected light very low intensity so have to use larger aperture of camera, therefore small depth of field and focusing is difficult Similarly to LDA there is difficulty in establishing direction of flow

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)

Image shifting - super-imposing shift velocity to flowfield. Particle tagging - laser pulses are of different durations or colours