Pengertian flow meter:

Sebuah alat untuk pemantauan, pengukuran, atau merekam laju aliran, tekanan, atau keluarnya cairan, seperti dari bahan bakar gas.

Types of Gas Mass Flow Meters

Laminar Flow Meters

Laminar flow meters use the pressure drop created within a laminar flow element to measure the mass flow rate of a fluid. A laminar flow element takes turbulent flow and separates it into thin channels. By reducing the diameter of the flow channel and affecting velocity, the flow becomes laminar through the channels. The decrease in pressure, or pressure drop, across the channel is measured using a differential pressure sensor. The Poiseuille Equation can then be used to relate the pressure drop to the volumetric flow rate. The volumetric rate can also be converted to a mass flow rate using density correction at a given temperature and pressure.

Thermal Flow Meters

As the name implies, thermal flow meters use heat to measure the flow rate of a fluid. Thermal flow meters traditionally work in one of two ways. The first type measures the current required to maintain a fixed temperature across a heated element. As the fluid flows, particles contact the element and dissipate or carry away heat. As the flow rate increases, more current is required to keep the element at a fixed temperature. The current requirement is proportional to the mass flow rate. The second thermal method involves measuring the temperature at two points on an element or hot wire. As the fluid flows over the element it dissipates heat. The upstream side of the element will be hotter than the downstream side. The change in temperature is related to the fluids mass flow.

Coriolis Flow Meters

The Coriolis flow meter uses the Coriolis Effect to measure the mass flow of a fluid. The fluid travels through single or dual curved tubes. A vibration is applied to the tube(s). The Coriolis force acts on the fluid particles perpendicular to the vibration and the direction of the flow. While the tube is vibrating upward, the fluid flow in forces down on the tube. As the fluid flows out of the tube, it forces upward. This creates torque, twisting the tube. The inverse process occurs when the tube is vibrating downward. The amount of twist in the tube is directly related to mass flow of the fluid through the tube.

Ultrasonic Flow Meters

Ultrasonic flow meters use sound waves to measure the flow rate of a fluid. Doppler flow meters transmit ultrasonic sound waves into the fluid. These waves are reflected off particles and bubbles in the fluid. The frequency change between the transmitted wave and the received wave can be used to measure the velocity of the fluid flow. Time of Flight flow meters use the frequency change between transmitted and received sound waves to calculate the velocity of a flow.

Variable Area Flow Meters

Variable area flow meters, or rotameters, use a tube and float to measure flow. As the fluid flows through the tube, the float rises. Equilibrium will be reached when pressure and the buoyancy of the float counterbalance gravity. The floats height in the tube is then used to reference a flow rate on a calibrated measurement reference.

Types of Fluid Flow Meters

An introduction to different types of fluid flowmeters Orifices, Venturies, Nozzles, Rotameters, Pitot Tubes, Calorimetrics, Turbine, Vortex, Electromagnetic, Doppler, Ultrasonic, Thermal, Coriolis
Sponsored Links The most common principals for fluid flow metering are:

Differential Pressure Flowmeters Velocity Flowmeters Positive Displacement Flowmeters Mass Flowmeters

Open Channel Flowmeters

Differential Pressure Flowmeters

In a differential pressure drop device the flow is calculated by measuring the pressure drop over an obstructions inserted in the flow. The differential pressure flowmeter is based on the Bernoullis Equation, where the pressure drop and the further measured signal is a function of the square flow speed.

The most common types of differential pressure flowmeters are:

Orifice Plates Flow Nozzles Venturi Tubes Variable Area - Rotameters

Orifice Plate
With an orifice plate, the fluid flow is measured through the difference in pressure from the upstream side to the downstream side of a partially obstructed pipe. The plate obstructing the flow offers a precisely measured obstruction that narrows the pipe and forces the flowing fluid to constrict.

The orifice plates are simple, cheap and can be delivered for almost any application in any material.

The TurnDown Rate for orifice plates are less than 5:1. Their accuracy are poor at low flow rates. A high accuracy depend on an orifice plate in good shape, with a sharp edge to the upstream side. Wear reduces the accuracy.

Orifice, Nozzle and Venturi Meters

Venturi Tube
Due to simplicity and dependability, the Venturi tube flowmeter is often used in applications where it's necessary with higher TurnDown Rates, or lower pressure drops, than the orifice plate can provide. In the Venturi Tube the fluid flowrate is measured by reducing the cross sectional flow area in the flow path, generating a pressure difference. After the constricted area, the fluid is passes through a pressure recovery exit section, where up to 80% of the differential pressure generated at the constricted area, is recovered.

With proper instrumentation and flow calibrating, the Venturi Tube flowrate can be reduced to about 10% of its full scale range with proper accuracy. This provides a TurnDown Rate 10:1.

Orifice, Nozzle and Venturi Meters

Flow Nozzles
Flow nozzles are often used as measuring elements for air and gas flow in industrial applications.

The flow nozzle is relative simple and cheap, and available for many applications in many materials. The TurnDown Rate and accuracy can be compared with the orifice plate.

Orifice, Nozzle and Venturi Meters

The Sonic Nozzle - Critical (Choked) Flow Nozzle

When a gas accelerate through a nozzle, the velocity increase and the pressure and the gas density decrease. The maximum velocity is achieved at the throat, the minimum area, where it breaks Mach 1 or sonic. At this point it's not possible to increase the flow by lowering the downstream pressure. The flow is choked. This situation is used in many control systems to maintain fixed, accurate, repeatable gas flow rates unaffected by the downstream pressure.

Recovery of Pressure Drop in Orifices, Nozzles and Venturi Meters

After the pressure difference has been generated in the differential pressure flow meter, the fluid pass through the pressure recovery exit section, where the differential pressure generated at the constricted area is partly recovered.

As we can see, the pressure drop in orifice plates are significant higher than in the venturi tubes.

Variable Area Flowmeter or Rotameter

The rotameter consists of a vertically oriented glass (or plastic) tube with a larger end at the top, and a metering float which is free to move within the tube. Fluid flow causes the float to rise in the tube as the upward pressure differential and buoyancy of the fluid overcome the effect of gravity.

The float rises until the annular area between the float and tube increases sufficiently to allow a state of dynamic equilibrium between the upward differential pressure and buoyancy factors, and downward gravity factors. The height of the float is an indication of the flow rate. The tube can be calibrated and graduated in appropriate flow units. The rotameter meter typically have a TurnDown Ratio up to 12:1. The accuracy may be as good as 1% of full scale rating. Magnetic floats can be used for alarm and signal transmission functions.

Velocity Flowmeters
In a velocity flowmeter the flow is calculated by measuring the speed in one or more points in the flow, and integrating the flow speed over the flow area.

Pitot Tubes
The pitot tube are one the most used (and cheapest) ways to measure fluid flow, especially in air applications as ventilation and HVAC systems, even used in airplanes for the speed measurent.

The pitot tube measures the fluid flow velocity by converting the kinetic energy of the flow into potential energy. The use of the pitot tube is restricted to point measuring. With the "annubar", or multi-orifice pitot probe, the dynamic pressure can be measured across the velocity profile, and the annubar obtains an averaging effect.

Calorimetric Flowmeter
The calorimetric principle for fluid flow measurement is based on two temperature sensors in close contact with the fluid but thermal insulated from each other.

One of the two sensors is constantly heated and the cooling effect of the flowing fluid is used to monitor the flowrate. In a stationary (no flow) fluid condition there is a constant temperature difference between the two temperature sensors. When the fluid flow increases, heat energy is drawn from the heated sensor and the temperature difference between the sensors are reduced. The reduction is proportional to the flow rate of the fluid. Response times will vary due the thermal conductivity of the fluid. In general lower thermal conductivity require higher velocity for proper measurement. The calorimetric flowmeter can achieve relatively high accuracy at low flow rates.

Turbine Flowmeter
There is many different manufacturing design of turbine flow meters, but in general they are all based on the same simple principle: If a fluid moves through a pipe and acts on the vanes of a turbine, the turbine will start to spin and rotate. The rate of spin is measured to calculate the flow. The turndown ratios may be more than 100:1 if the turbine meter is calibrated for a single fluid and used at constant conditions. Accuracy may be better than +/-0,1%.

Vortex Flow Meter

An obstruction in a fluid flow creates vortices in a downstream flow. Every obstruction has a critical fluid flow speed at which vortex shedding occurs. Vortex shedding is the instance where alternating low pressure zones are generated in the downstream.

These alternating low pressure zones cause the obstruction to move towards the low pressure zone. With sensors gauging the vortices the strength of the flow can be measured.

The Vortex Flowmeter Principle - An introduction to the vortex flowmeter principle.

Electromagnetic Flowmeter
An electromagnetic flowmeter operate on Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction that states that a voltage will be induced when a conductor moves through a magnetic field. The liquid serves as the conductor and the magnetic field is created by energized coils outside the flow tube. The voltage produced is directly proportional to the flow rate. Two electrodes mounted in the pipe wall detect the voltage which is measured by a secondary element. Electromagnetic flowmeters can measure difficult and corrosive liquids and slurries, and they can measure flow in both directions with equal accuracy. Electromagnetic flowmeters have a relatively high power consumption and can only be used for electrical conductive fluids as water.

The Electromagnetic Flowmeter Principle - An introduction to the electromagnetic flowmeter principle

Ultrasonic Doppler Flowmeter

The effect of motion of a sound source and its effect on the frequency of the sound was observed and described by Christian Johann Doppler. The frequency of the reflected signal is modified by the velocity and direction of the fluid flow If a fluid is moving towards a transducer, the frequency of the returning signal will increase. As fluid moves away from a transducer, the frequency of the returning signal decrease. The frequency difference is equal to the reflected frequency minus the originating frequency and can be use to calculate the fluid flow speed.

The Ultrasonic Doppler and Time of Flight Flowmeter An Ultrasonic Flowmeter Tutorial - A basic tutorial about ultrasonic flowmeters.

Positive Displacement Flowmeter

The positive displacement flowmeter measures process fluid flow by precision-fitted rotors as flow measuring elements. Known and fixed volumes are displaced between the rotors. The rotation of the rotors are proportional to the volume of the fluid being displaced. The number of rotations of the rotor is counted by an integral electronic pulse transmitter and converted to volume and flow rate.

The positive displacement rotor construction can be done in several ways:

Reciprocating piston meters are of single and multiple-piston types. Oval-gear meters have two rotating, oval-shaped gears with synchronized, close fitting teeth. A fixed quantity of liquid passes through the meter for each revolution. Shaft rotation can be monitored to obtain specific flow rates. Nutating disk meters have moveable disks mounted on a concentric sphere located in spherical side-walled chambers. The pressure of the liquid passing through the measuring chamber causes the disk to rock in a circulating path without rotating about its own axis. It is the only moving part in the measuring chamber. Rotary vane meters consists of equally divided, rotating impellers, two or more compartments, inside the meter's housings. The impellers are in continuous contact with the casing. A fixed volume of liquid is swept to the meter's outlet from each compartment as the impeller rotates. The revolutions of the impeller are counted and registered in volumetric units.

The positive displacement flowmeter may be used for all relatively nonabrasive fluids such as heating oils, lubrication oils, polymer additives, animal and vegetable fat, printing ink, freon, and many more. Accuracy may be up to 0.1% of full rate with a TurnDown of 70:1 or more.

Mass Flowmeters
Mass meters measure the mass flow rate directly.

Thermal Flowmeter
The thermal mass flowmeter operates independent of density, pressure, and viscosity. Thermal meters use a heated sensing element isolated from the fluid flow path where the flow stream conducts heat from the sensing element. The conducted heat is directly proportional to the mass flow rate and the he temperature difference is calculated to mass flow. The accuracy of the thermal mass flow device depends on the calibrations reliability of the actual process and variations in the temperature, pressure, flow rate, heat capacity and viscosity of the fluid.

Coriolis Flowmeter
Direct mass measurement sets Coriolis flowmeters apart from other technologies. Mass measurement is not sensitive to changes in pressure, temperature, viscosity and density. With the ability to measure liquids, slurries and gases, Coriolis flowmeters are universal meters. Coriolis Mass Flowmeter uses the Coriolis effect to measure the amount of mass moving through the element. The fluid to be measured runs through a U-shaped tube that is caused to vibrate in an angular harmonic oscillation. Due to the Coriolis forces, the tubes will deform and an additional vibration component will be added to the oscillation. This additional component causes a phase shift on some places of the tubes which can be measured with sensors. The Coriolis flow meters are in general very accurate, better than +/-0,1% with an turndown rate more than 100:1. The Coriolis meter can also be used to measure the fluids density.

Open Channel Flowmeters

A common method of measuring flow through an open channel is to measure the height of the liquid as it passes over an obstruction as a flume or weir in the channel.

Common used is the Sharp-Crested Weir, the V-Notch Weir, the Cipolletti weir, the Rectangular-Notch Weir, the Parshall Flume or Venturi Flume.

Weir Flow Measurement Standards - Important and common used standards within weir flow measurement Measuring Flow Rate with Weirs - Weirs are often used for measuring flow rates in open channels and rivers in connection to water supply and sewage plants Weir Flow Measurement Standards - Important and common used standards within weir flow measurement

Definition:
A device that measures the movement of liquid in a pipe. Flow meters are coupled into the pipe and derive the flow rate from the rotation of a turbine or paddle wheel that is moved by the liquid.

Flow Measurement:
Is the quantification of bulk fluid movement. It can be measured in a variety of ways.

Types of Flow Measurement

Venturi Meter:
A Venturi meter constricts the flow in some fashion, and pressure sensors measure the differential pressure before and within the constriction. This method is widely used to measure flow rate in the transmission of gas through pipelines, and has been used since Roman Empire times. The coefficient of discharge of Venturi meter ranges from 0.93 to 0.97.

Orifice Plate:
An orifice plate is a plate with a hole through it, placed in the flow; it constricts the flow, and measuring the pressure differential across the constriction gives the flow rate. It is basically a crude form of Venturi meter, but with higher energy losses. There are three type of orifice: concentric, eccentric, and segmental.

Pitot Tube:
A Pitot tube is a pressure measuring instrument used to measure fluid flow velocity by determining the stagnation pressure. Bernoulli's equation is used to calculate the dynamic pressure and hence fluid

Optical flow meters:

Optical flow meters use light to determine flow rate. Small particles which accompany natural and industrial gases pass through two laser beams focused in a pipe by illuminating optics. Laser light is scattered when a particle crosses the first beam. The detecting optics collects scattered light on a photo detector, which then generates a pulse signal. If the same particle crosses the second beam, the detecting optics collect scattered light on a second photo detector, which converts the incoming light into a second electrical pulse. By

measuring the time interval between these pulses, the gas velocity is calculated as V = D / T where D is the distance between the laser beams and T is the time interval.

Magnetic flow meters:

The most common flow meter apart from mechanical flow meters is the magnetic flow meter, commonly referred to as a "mag meter" or an "electromag". A magnetic field is applied to the metering tube, which results in a potential difference proportional to the flow velocity perpendicular to the flux lines. The physical principle at work is Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction. The magnetic flow meter requires a conducting fluid, e. g. water, and an electrical insulating pipe surface, e.g. a rubber lined nonmagnetic steel tube.

Flow Nozzles:
Flow nozzles are often used as measuring elements for air and gas flow in industrial applications. The flow nozzle is relative simple and cheap, and available for many applications in many materials. The Turn-down Rate and accuracy can be compared with the orifice plate.

Velocity Flow meters:

In a velocity flow meter the flow is calculated by measuring the speed in one or more points in the flow, and integrating the flow speed over the flow area.

Turbine Flow meter:

There is much different manufacturing design of turbine flow meters, but in general they are all based on the same simple principle: If a fluid moves through a pipe and acts on the vanes of a turbine, the turbine will start to spin and rotate. The rate of spin is measured to calculate the flow. The turndown ratios may be more than 100:1 if the turbine meter is calibrated for a single fluid and used at constant conditions. Accuracy may be better than +/-0, 1%.

Mass Flow meters:

Mass meters measure the mass flow rate directly.
Definisi: Sebuah perangkat yang mengukur pergerakan cairan dalam pipa. Meter aliran yang digabungkan ke dalam pipa dan menurunkan laju aliran dari rotasi turbin atau kincir yang digerakkan oleh cairan. Arus Pengukuran: Apakah kuantifikasi gerakan fluida massal. Hal ini dapat diukur dalam berbagai cara. Jenis Pengukuran Arus Venturi Meter: Argometer Venturi mengkonstriksi aliran dalam beberapa mode, dan sensor tekanan mengukur tekanan diferensial sebelum dan dalam keadaan terdesak. Metode ini banyak digunakan untuk mengukur laju aliran dalam transmisi gas melalui jaringan pipa, dan telah digunakan sejak zaman Kekaisaran Romawi. Koefisien debit Venturi meteran berkisar 0,93-0,97. Orifice Plate: Sebuah pelat orifice adalah piring dengan lubang melalui itu, ditempatkan dalam aliran, melainkan mengkonstriksi aliran, dan mengukur perbedaan tekanan di penyempitan memberikan laju aliran. Ini pada dasarnya adalah sebuah bentuk mentah dari Venturi meter, tetapi dengan kerugian energi yang lebih tinggi. Ada

tiga jenis orifice: konsentrik, eksentrik, dan segmental. Tabung pitot: Sebuah tabung pitot adalah instrumen pengukur tekanan digunakan untuk mengukur kecepatan aliran fluida dengan menentukan tekanan stagnasi. Persamaan Bernoulli yang digunakan untuk menghitung tekanan dinamis dan karenanya cairan Optical aliran meter: Meter aliran optik menggunakan cahaya untuk menentukan laju aliran. Partikel kecil yang menyertai gas alam dan industri melewati dua sinar laser terfokus dalam suatu pipa dengan optik menerangi. Laser cahaya tersebar ketika sebuah partikel melintasi balok pertama. Optik mendeteksi mengumpulkan cahaya tersebar pada foto detektor, yang kemudian menghasilkan sinyal pulsa. Jika partikel yang sama melintasi balok kedua, optik mendeteksi mengumpulkan cahaya tersebar pada detektor foto kedua, yang mengubah cahaya yang masuk ke dalam pulsa listrik kedua. Dengan mengukur interval waktu antara pulsa, kecepatan gas dihitung sebagai V = D / T di mana D adalah jarak antara sinar laser dan T adalah interval waktu. Magnetic aliran meter: Flow meter yang paling umum selain meter aliran mekanik adalah flow meter magnetik, sering disebut sebagai "meter mag" atau "elektromagnetik". Sebuah medan magnet diterapkan ke tabung metering, yang menghasilkan perbedaan potensial sebanding dengan kecepatan tegak lurus mengalir ke garis fluks. Prinsip fisik di tempat kerja adalah hukum Faraday induksi elektromagnetik. Flow meter magnetik memerlukan cairan melakukan, e. g. air, dan permukaan isolasi pipa listrik, misalnya karet dilapisi tabung baja bukan magnetik. Arus Nozzles: Nozel aliran sering digunakan sebagai elemen untuk mengukur udara dan aliran gas dalam aplikasi industri. Nozel aliran relatif sederhana dan murah, dan tersedia untuk banyak aplikasi dalam banyak bahan. Tingkat Turn-down dan akurasi dapat dibandingkan dengan pelat orifice. Kecepatan Aliran meter: Dalam flow meter kecepatan aliran dihitung dengan mengukur kecepatan dalam satu atau lebih poin dalam aliran, dan mengintegrasikan kecepatan aliran atas daerah aliran. Turbin Arus meter: Ada banyak desain yang berbeda manufaktur flow meter turbin, namun secara umum mereka semua didasarkan pada prinsip sederhana yang sama: Jika cairan yang bergerak melalui pipa dan bekerja pada baling-baling turbin, turbin akan mulai berputar dan berputar. Tingkat spin diukur untuk menghitung aliran. Rasio turndown mungkin lebih dari 100:1 jika meteran turbin dikalibrasi untuk fluida tunggal dan digunakan pada kondisi konstan. Akurasi mungkin lebih baik daripada + / -0, 1%. Massa Arus meter: Meter massa mengukur laju aliran massa secara langsung.