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INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Flow meters have proven excellent devices for more accurate measure of the flow of
water. With most liquid flow measurement instruments, the flow rate is determined
inferentially by measuring the liquid's velocity or the change in kinetic energy. Velocity
depends on the pressure differential that is forcing the liquid through a pipe or conduit.
Because the pipe's cross-sectional area is known and remains constant, the average velocity is
an indication of the flow rate. Technological improvements of flow meter must also be
considered. It is always considered about the needs of the flow meter. According to Snells
principle the ultrasonic transmission property can be obtained on the basis of incidence angle,
acoustic impedance, basic frequency of ultrasound, and material and thickness of metallic
plate. However this principle cant be applied to certain cases where an ultrasonic incident
wave propagated through a metallic plate turns into a longitudinal wave, a shear wave and a
background noise, these sensors are still likely to falsely respond to some loud noises, like
the hissing sound produced by air hoses and relief valves. The study is tending to be more
focused on this problem and shall develop further ideas relating on how to compensate its
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Ultrasonic flow meters use sound waves to define the velocity of a fluid flowing in a
pipeline. At zero flow circumstances, the frequencies of an ultrasonic wave transmitted into
a pipe and its reflections from the fluid are the same. Ultrasonic flow meters are gaining wide
usage in commercial, industrial and medical applications. Major benefits of utilizing this type
of flowmeter are higher accuracy, low maintenance (no moving parts), noninvasive flow
measurement, and the ability to regularly diagnose health of the meter. This application note
along with related equations for calculation of flow velocity and flow rate. Included in the
appendix is a summary of standards for water meters and a list of low cost sensors suitable
System requirements, standards, and cost dictate the choice of flow meter sensors. Water is a
good medium for propagating ultrasonic pressure pulses, and the most common sensors for
Published documents related to this field tackles on how the conventional system can
be improved by automating the system and implementing a new way of getting accurate
results in a fast yet reliable manner. In 2015, a study Development of an Ultrasonic Airflow
Measurement Device for Ducted Air by Andrew B. Raine, et al., used the ultrasonic device
for heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, which are difficult and costly to observe
for energy efficiency output and consistency. The proponents used pressure differential type
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devices such as Pitot tube/arrays, orifice plates and Venturis which is according to experts,
lasting for at least 60 years which are commonly used to measure fluids such as exhaust
gases. Another study, entitled A study of ultrasonic propagation for flow rate measurement
using ultrasonic flowmeter by Yuto Inoue, et al., uses a new flow metering system in a
circular pipe, an ultrasonic velocity profile (UVP) method for ventilations on nuclear
facilities. This method can measure instantaneous velocity profiles in a pipe over a diameter
directly, so flow rate is calculated using the integration of the averaging velocity profile. This
study stated that the standard ultrasonic sensors, such as s Oriffice, Nozzle and Venturi have
been used for industrial tubing flow rate measurements from the view point of low cost and
global standard. Conversely, these methods have a problem of measurement errors which are
caused by changes in flow conditions under aging occurrences, e.g. surface wear, oxidization
and metal deposition inside pipes. Another study, entitled Sensor Configuration and Flow
Very Low Liquid Flow Rate by H. Ishikawa et al., used small disk ultrasonic transducers
were used to develop a very small ultrasonic flowmeter with a pipe diameter of 0.53 mm ID
for experimental purposes only. One of the conclusions shows that low flow rate
measurement results of the developed flow meter were almost all scattered within the range
predicted from the standard deviation of measurements. The result suggests that it can
measure a very low flow rate range rendering it useful for semiconductor industry.
1.3 Objectives
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Major benefits of utilizing this type of flowmeter are higher accuracy, low
maintenance (no moving parts), non-invasive flow measurement, and the ability to regularly
This technology can be very accurate and is used for custody transfer (meaning accounting
accurately for an expensive fluid) of natural gas and petroleum liquids. High turndown (can
read low as a percentage of the full scale or top reading), handles high pressures, is
repeatable (consistent), handles extreme temperatures, can be used clamped to the outside of
a pipe without penetration, is low maintenance, highly reliable and self diagnosing.
Disadvantages can include high cost, sensitivity to stray process vibrations, problems with
pipe diameter change due to buildup and clamp-on units have lower accuracy.
Ultrasonic flowmeters do not obstruct flow so they can be applied to sanitary, corrosive and
abrasive liquids. Some ultrasonic flowmeters use clamp-on transducers that can be mounted
Chapter 2
Ultrasonic waves are sounds which cannot be heard by humans and are normally,
frequencies of above 20kHz. To measure the distance of a sound signal transmitted, it needs
to be reflected. This sound signal is a longitudinal sound wave that strikes a flat surface.
Sound is then reflected, provided that the dimension of the reflective surface is large
compared to the wavelength of the sound. There are four factors to consider in reflection of
ultrasound- surface, distance, size and angle. An ideal target surface is hard and smooth. This
surface reflects a greater amount of signal than a soft, rough surface. A weak echo is the
result of a small or soft object. This reduces the operating distance of an ultrasonic sensor and
decreases its accuracy. The shorter the distance from the ultrasonic sensor to an object, the
stronger the returning echo is. Therefore, as the distance increases, the object requires better
reflective characteristics to return a sufficient echo. A large object has more surface to reflect
the signal than a small one. The surface area recognized as the target is generally the area
closest to the sensor. The inclination of an objects surface facing the ultrasonic sensor affects
how the object reflects. The portion perpendicular to the sensor returns the echo. If the entire
object is at a greater angle, the signal is then reflected away from the sensor and no echo is
propagates through the medium in a finite time as a mechanical sound wave by the vibrations
of molecules, atoms or any particles present. Such mechanical waves are also called elastic
Ikuo Ihara). The velocity of the sound wave may vary depending on the temperature of the
surrounding.
The speed of ultrasonic wave may vary in the direction of the fluid where it travels.
In theory it is much slower if it travels against the direction of the fluid and faster through the
D+ L
TOF AB=
c +v
D+ L
TOF BA =
c v
TOF=TOF BA TOF AB
Where;
It is possible to compute for the velocity of the liquid (Ultrasonic Sensing Basics for
Liquid Level Sensing, Flow Sensing, and Fluid Identification Applications, 2015).
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2.3 Software
Arduino Software
hardware and software. Developed at the Ivrea Interaction Design Institute as a tool
for prototyping, the Arduino software is published as an open source tools and is
2.4 Gizduino
has 14 digital input/ output pins, 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz crystal oscilla- tor, a USB
electrical signals or vice versa. Ultrasound transceivers are transducers that both transmit and
receive. Active ultrasonic sensors generate high-frequency sound waves and evaluate the
echo which is received back by the sensor, measuring the time interval between sending the
signal and receiving the echo to determine the distance to an object. Passive ultrasonic
sensors are basically microphones that detect ultrasonic noise that is present under certain
.
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Chapter 3
Methodology
This project is aiming to determine the flow rate of a liquid through the measurement
of its velocity. By further research upon the hardware and software needed to obtain the
output. As the conceptual framework of the study shown in Figure 3.1, the input variables of
The liquid flowing in the designated diameter of the tube is the input of the system. There
will be a conversion from sound signal to electrical signal to measure its velocity in a given
diameter of tube. By the process of Arduino Programming it is the responsible for the sensor
to provide the flow rate of the liquid and will get the necessary output. The step-by step
Figure 3.3 shows the general block diagram of the system. The input of the system
will be in any form of liquid. The liquid will flow into the tube and the ultrasonic sensor will
measure its transit time how fast or slow is a certain liquid flow in a given diameter of tube.
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From the gathered data from the sensor it will be transferred to the microcontroller for the
Hardware Development
The objective of this study is to develop a device that is capable of measuring the
average velocity along the path of an emitted beam of ultrasound, by averaging the transit
time between the pulses of ultrasound propagating into and against the direction of the flow.
Ultrasonic sensor
An ultrasonic sensor detects the presence of a target object and measure the
distance between the sensor and the object by sending a beam of ultrasound from its
emitter and detecting a reflection of the beam from the object with its receiver. The
sensor calculates the exact distance between the sensor and the target object by
computing the time that the beam has traveled, at the speed of sound, between the
receiver that together detect the presence of a target object when the ultrasonic waves
The time which is travelling between two sensors is different due to the fluid
flowing through the pipe. The measurement of the time difference gives the flow
velocity.
L
tf=
c +Vcos
L
t r=
cVcos
Where, tf is the time that sound beam takes to travel to the second sensor, and
tr is time that sound needs to be received by first sensor ,c is the velocity of sound in
the fluid, V is the velocity of the fluid, L is the distance between ultrasonic transmitter
and receiver , and is the angle between the ultrasonic beam and axis of the fluid
flow.
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2 VLcos
T =t f t r =
c 2V 2 cos
If the receipt pulse is used to trigger the transmitter to emit the sound beams;
therefore, the frequency of the forward and return pulse trains are given by:
c +Vcos
Ff=
L
cVcos
Fr =
L
2Vcos
f =F f Fr =
L
Therefore,
Lf
V=
2 cos
Figure 3.5: The circuit that generates trains of forward and return pulse
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In order to use the above equations, this circuit, which generates the forward
Software Development
The process flowchart is shown in Figure 3.6. Data coming for the sensors are fed to
the microcontroller for analysis and comparison. The output of the microcontroller will be
Testing
To verify the proper operation of the prototype, a saline solution with similar
properties with urine will be used as samples. Also, a model of a human urinary track
Table 3.3 Proposed Table for Measured Flowrate and Computed Volume and Turbidity