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HomeISAPublicationsInTechMagazine2014/MarAprAutomationBasics:AnhourwithDoctorFlowmeter
March/April 2014
Automation Basics
An hour with Doctor Flowmeter
A real-life guide to measuring flow-the doctor is IN
By Walt Boyes
Tostart,IwillsharetheintroductiontoflowsensorsthatIhavebeenpresentingforoveradecade.Thisquickintroductorytouroftheworldofflowmeasurementwill
giveyousometoolstolearnmoreaboutflowmetersandtheirapplications.Heregoes..."AnhourwithDoctorFlowmeter."
Wearegoingtoreviewthetypesofflowdevices,lookatselectingaflowdevice,andexaminetherealworldbasicsofflowmeterinstallation.Then,Ihopeyou'vebroughtyourfavorite
flowmeterproblem,becausethedoctorisIN.
Therearelotsofflowdevices,forbothliquidsandgases,andforclosedandopenchannels.We'lllookatsomeofthemostcommon
devices,andfocusonsomesimplewaystoselectandusethem.Notethatthereareatleast10differenttypes,andtheydon'tallwork
onallapplications.
Positivedisplacementmetersareusedforbothliquidsandgasesandarenearlyalwayshighlyaccurate.Theycomeinavarietyof
types,suchasovalgear,reciprocatingpiston,nutatingdisc,androtarypiston.Theyallworkbyemulatingabucket.Onebucketin,one
bucketout.
Differentialpressurebasedflowmeasurementisstillthewidestusedtechniquethroughouttheprocessindustries.Why?Itissimple,
inexpensive,andisaccomplishedbypressuretransmitters,whichtheplantusuallyhasforothermeasurements(pressureandlevel)
anyway.
Turbines,paddlewheels,impellers,propellers...thereareawidevarietyoftypesandstylesofvolumetricmechanicalmeters,buttheyallworkbyconvertingthespeedofarotortoa
volumetricflowvalue.Theycanbehighlyaccurate(1percentofreading)oronlyapproximate(5percentofspan).Theycanbespoolpiecestyle,barstockstyle,orinsertiondevices.
Theyrangefrominexpensivetomediumpricedtofairlyexpensivemodelswithhighprecisionandspecialmaterials.
Becausetheymeasuretheaveragevelocityinthefluiddirectly,spoolpiecemagmeterscanaccuratelymeasureflow.Otherflowtechnologiesthatcanrivalamagmeterforinstalled
accuracyincludecorrelationtypeultrasonicflowmeterswithcalibratedspoolpieces,andofcourse,Coriolismassflowmeters.Note,however,thatapointvelocityinsertionmagmeter
isonlyaboutasaccurateasapaddlewheelmeter,becauseitonlymeasuresflowinasmallcrosssectionalareaofthepipe.
Ultrasonicflowmetersarethemostmisappliedflowmetersaround.Whentheywerefirstintroduced,theyweresupposedtoreplaceallothertypes.Butwhathappenedisthatthey,
too,foundtheirniche.The"PrinceCharming"offlowmetershasnotyetcome.BothtransittimeandDopplerultrasonicflowmetersarenowavailable.
Thermaldispersionisalsousedforhighlyaccurateflowmetersinlowflowapplicationsandcanevenbeusedformassflowofgases.Considerablecare,though,needstobetaken
forapplicationslikethese.Bewareofabruptchangesinfluidtemperature.
Vortexsheddingmetersandotherfluidictypeshavenomovingpartsandusethefluiditselfthewayaturbineusesitsrotor.Atraditionalvortexsheddingmeterusesabluffbody
(oftencalledashedderbar)toproducetherepeatableoscillation.Aswirlmeterusesastationary"rotorlike"devicetotwisttheflowandarestrictiontocontainandmakethe
oscillationrepeat.Theycanbeinstalledwithlittleornoupstreamstraightrun.Coandaeffectflowmetersusehydraulicfeedbacktoforcethefluidtooscillateinproportiontoits
velocity.
IfIweretoldthatIcouldpickonlytwotypesofflowmeterstouse,forever,andthatIwouldbejudgedbasedsolelyontheaccuracyofthemeasurement,IwouldsurelypickaCoriolis
massflowmeterasoneofthetwo.Aspoolpiecestylemagmeterwouldprobablybetheotherone.
Inanopenchannelapplication,the"flowmeter"istheflowrestrictionitself:theflumeorweir.Theinstrumentisonlythelevelsensorthatautomatesthemeterreading.Youcanusea
yardstickandbequiteaccurate.
Youcanmakeothercuts,too.Someofthemmightmakeyougobackandreconsiderthepricecuts.Forexample,itishardtofinda4inch(100mm)flowmeterwith1percentof
indicatedrateaccuracyforlessthan$1000.Therefore,ifyouneedveryhighaccuracy,youmightbeconstrainedtospendmorethan$1000forthemeter.
Lookattheapplication.Doesitrequirehighaccuracy,or,morelikely,isitanapplicationthatrequiresgoodrepeatability?Repeatabilityisusuallycheaperthanaccuracy.Ifallyou
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needisagoodrepeatablesignal,say,tocontrolavalveorfeedachemical,youwillbepayingmorethannecessary
foraflowmeterifyoubuyahighlyaccurateone.Accuracyisimportantinprecisionbatchingandcustodytransfer.
ThatisoneofthereasonsIusepriceasamajorcut.Intheend,wearebacktotheruleoftwooutofthree:accuracy,
repeatability,oreconomypickanytwo.
Hightemperatureorhighpressuremightalsomakeyoureconsiderthepricecut.Wideflowrangeabilitymayrequire
anotherlook,too.Ifyouneeda20:1turndown(i.e.,therangeaspecificflowmetercanmeasurewithacceptable
accuracy),youcangetseveralrelativelyinexpensivemetersformostapplications.Ifyouneeda100:1or300:1
turndown,however,youravailablechoicesdiminishrapidly.Chemicalcompatibilityisanothercutthatmightmake
yourflowmeterchoicemoreexpensive.Therearefewmetersavailableinlargerthan1inchsizesthatarehighly
corrosionresistant,andmostareexpensive.Abrasionresistanceisanotherconsideration.
Ofcourse,youMUSTinstalltheflowmetercorrectlyforittooperatecorrectly.
Attheendofthisprocess,youmayfindyourselfwithoneorpossiblytwoflowmetertypesthatsurvivedyourcuts.The
lastthingyoushouldconsideristheusefullifeexpectancyyouwant.Onceyouhaveselectedbasedonlife,youare
againdowntoprice.Picktheleastexpensiveflowmeterifthereismorethanoneleft.Thisoneshouldmeetyour
requirements.
Thisisasimpleprocess,anditusuallyresultsinselectingtherightflowmeter.ItistheoneIuse,andIrecommendit,
becauseitwillprovideyouwithsomethingnootherselectionprocesswill.Itwillnotoverengineerthemeter.You
willnotbuyanymoreflowmeterthanyouneed.
Thereare,however,peoplewhouse,asmuchaspossible,thesameflowmeterforeveryapplication.Icallthis
"designbyshoehorn."IknowanengineerinapharmaceuticalplantwhotriestouseCoriolismassflowmetersfor
everyapplication,eventhemeasurementofprocesswater.Theywork,butitisalittleoverkill.Iknowasystems
integratorwhotriestouseinexpensivepaddlewheelflowsensorsforeveryapplication,evenhightemperatureandhighviscosityapplications.Theamazingthingisthatoftenthey
worktoo,butthismightbereferredtoas"underkill."Flowmeasurementisbothartandscience.Thereissubstantialknowledgethatissimplylearnedempiricallyderivedbehavior.It
isexperience.Hereissomeofmine.
Manyflowmetermanufacturerstellyouthatyouneedatleast10pipediametersupstreamandfivediametersdownstreamfromaflowmeterofstraight,unobstructedpipe.Mostof
thesemanufacturershavetroublewiththequestion,"ButIdon'thave10andfive,Ihavethreediametersupstreamandtwodiametersdownstream.WhatdoIdonow?"Therearetwo
answerstothequestion.The"straight"and"companyapproved"answeris,"Changeyourpiping,oryourflowmeterwillnotbeaccurate,linear,orrepeatable."
Ofcourse,ifchangingtheplumbingwasanoption,thepoorvictimwouldn'thavecallednowwouldhe?Yes,ifyoucanchangetheplumbing,youshouldalwaysdothatfirst.Too
manytimes,wetrytoselectaflowmetertocureaplumbingissue,andnotreversetheprocess.
Theempiricalansweris,"Divideyourstraightruninthirds,andlocatethecenterlineofthesensoratthepointthatistwothirdsofthedistancefromthestartofthestraightrunsection.
Ifyouareusinganinsertion,orpointvelocitysensor,makesureyouputthesensorattheoutsideedgeofthepipewherethevelocityishighest."Nowwhydoesthiswork?Well,
whenitworks,itisbecauseitminimizesallthe"designsins"youarecommitting.Puttingtheflowsensoratthetwothirdsdistancepointgivesyouasmuchstraightrunasyoucanget
withoutgettinginvolvedinproblemsfromthedownstreamflowobstruction.Forpointvelocitysensors,puttingthesensorintotheflowstreamatthehighsideofthedisturbedvelocity
profilemakesthemmorerepeatable,althoughtheywillusuallyreadhigh.
Installingaflowsensorintoaverticallinewithflowgoingupusuallymakesitworkbetterevenindisturbedflowprofiles,too,becausegravitycanhelpdevelopthevelocityprofilein
someapplications.Averticalriserinstallationusuallyhelpscombatentrainedairorgasesinaliquidstream,too.
In2013,SpitzerandBoyes,LLCdidastudyoftheworld'smagneticflowmeters.Wefoundthatflowmeters,evenmagmeters,arenotcommodityproducts.Wedividedmagnetic
flowmetermodelsintogroupsandcomparedtheirperformanceandreferenceaccuracyagainstalltheothermodelsinthesamegroup.Thegroupswere:ceramiclined,
electrodeless,lowflow(smallerthan12mm/1inch),mediumflow(between12mm/1inchand300450mm/1218inch),highflow(largerthan300450mm/1218inch),highnoise,
lowconductivity,partiallyfull,sanitary,fastresponse,andtwowire.Thechartshowssomeoftheceramiclinedmeterscomparedagainsteachother.Notetheverylargeaccuracy
variations,especiallyatlowflowrates.
Thischartclearlyshowsthedifferencesbetweenmodels,evenbetweenmodelsfromthesamemanufacturer!Wefoundthatthebestsellingmetersarenotnecessarilythemost
accurate.
AsDr.Flowmetersays,"Youpayyourmoney,andyoutakeyourchances."Youcan'tpointandclickyourwaytogoodflowmeterinstallations.Youstillhavetodotheengineering.I
hopeyouhaveenjoyedthissession.Submityourquestionstowaltboyes@spitzerandboyes.com.
RESOURCE
TheConsumerGuideto...
CoriolisMassFlowmeters
DifferentialPressureFlowTransmitters,2ndEdition
MagneticFlowmeters,2ndEdition
UltrasonicandCorrelationFlowmeters
VortexSheddingandFluidicFlowmeters
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