ASSIGNMENT FLUID MECHANICS Submitted by: Umer Rafiq Roll.

No: 77 Semester: 1st Submitted to: Sir Bilal Awaan Topic: Flow Measuring devices Chemical Engineering Department NFC-IEFR, Faisalabad.

FLOW MEASUREMENT DEVICES:

Flow Measurement:
Flow measurement is the quantification of bulk fluid movement. Flow can be measured in a variety of ways. Positive-displacement flow meters accumulate a fixed volume of fluid and then count the number of times the volume is filled to measure flow. Other flow measurement methods rely on forces produced by the flowing stream as it overcomes a known constriction, to indirectly calculate flow. Flow may be measured by measuring the velocity of fluid over a known area.

Mechanical Flow Meter:

All positive displacement flow meters operate by isolating and counting known volumes of a fluid (gas or liquid) while feeding it through the meter. By counting the number of passed isolated volumes, a flow measurement is obtained. Each PD design uses a different means of isolating and counting these volumes. The frequency of the resulting pulse train is a measure of flow rate, while the total number of pulses gives the size of the batch. While PD meters are operated by the kinetic energy of the flowing fluid, metering pumps (described only briefly in this article) determine the flow rate.

Mass Flow Meter:

Mass flow measurement is the basis of most recipe formulations, material balance determinations, and billing and custody transfer operations throughout industry. With these being the most critical flow measurements in a processing plant, the reliability and accuracy of mass flow detection is very important.

Coriolis Mass Flow Meter:

It was G.G. Coriolis, a French engineer, who first noted that all bodies moving on the surface of the Earth tend to drift sideways because of the eastward rotation of the planet. In the Northern Hemisphere the deflection is to the right of the motion; in the Southern, it is to the left. This drift plays a principal role in both the tidal activity of the oceans and the weather of the planet. Coriolis flowmeter is another mechanical device which is used to findout mass flow rate accurately. Practically mass flow rate of different state of matter is a very difficult task to perform. Therefore only some of the devices are made that can measure mass flow rate accurately like conveyor method which can findout mass flow rate of solids only. Similarly coriolis flowmeter is another attempt but is used to findout mass flow rate of liquids only.

In the construction of coriolis flowmeter, we have pair of parallel vibrating tubes or single but in two parallel section shape. The commonly used material for tubes is stainless steel. These tubes will vibrate orthogonal as liquid flows inside tubes. Coriolis flow meter also comes in different shapes like D-shaped, U-shaped, Bshaped, helix-shaped, triangular-shaped and straight.

The ends of tubes are fastened with electromechanical drive unit which start excitation at tube resonant frequency. During this excitation, vibrations produced in the tubes are 180 apart. These vibrations will force fluid particles to move orthogonal to the flow direction. Due to this orthogonal motion, bending will produce in the tubes which will superimpose the effect during vibration. Therefore vibratory motion produced in one tube relative to other is d = kfR, where k is the constant, f is the frequency of tube vibration and R is the mass flow rate of liquid.

Thermal Mass Flow Meter:

Thermal mass flow meters also measure the mass flow rate of gases and liquids directly. Volumetric measurements are affected by all ambient and process conditions that influence unit volume or indirectly affect pressure drop, while mass flow measurement is unaffected by changes in viscosity, density, temperature, or pressure.

Magnetic Flow Meter:

The operation of magnetic flow meters is based on Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction. Magmeters can detect the flow of conductive fluids only. Early magmeter designs required a minimum fluidic conductivity of 1-5 microsiemens per centimeter for their operation. The newer designs have reduced that requirement a hundredfold to between 0.05 and 0.1. The magnetic flow meter consists of a non-magnetic pipe lined with an insulating material. A pair of magnetic coils is situated as shown in Figure 4-1, and a pair of electrodes penetrates the pipe and its lining. If a conductive fluid flows through a pipe of diameter (D) through a magnetic field density (B) generated by the coils, the amount of voltage (E) developed across the electrodes--as predicted by Faraday's law--will be proportional to the velocity (V) of the liquid. Because the magnetic field density and the pipe diameter are fixed values, they can be combined into a calibration factor (K) and the equation reduces to: E = KV The velocity differences at different points of the flow profile are compensated for by a signal-weighing factor. Compensation is also provided by shaping the magnetic coils such that the magnetic flux will be greatest where the signal weighing factor is lowest, and vice versa.

Applications
1. Water & Waste Water 2. Pulp & Paper 3. Cellulose 4. Pharmaceuticals 5. Food & Beverage 6. Cosmetics 7. Mining 8. Chemical Processing 9. Agricultural Fertilizer 10. Liquid Feed Batching

Positive Displacement Flow Meter:

Positive displacement (PD) meters are the types of flowmeters which are suitable for measurement of viscous liquid flows. These are also considered ideal for applications which require use of a simple mechanical meter system. In general, a positive displacement flowmeter consists of a chamber or cavity which restricts the flow. A rotating or reciprocating mechanical device is located inside the chamber to generate fixed-volume discrete parcels from the flowing liquid. Via PD meter units, liquids get separated into exactly calculated increments which are then further counted by a connecting register. Since every measured increment represents a distinct volume, these types of meters are widely used for automatic batching and accounting purposes. Main features:
1.

Positive displacement type flowmeters usually offer high accuracy i.e. about 0.1% of actual flow rate sometimes. Metering accuracy of the unit gets better with the increase in the process fluid viscosity. PD meters also provide excellent repeatability which can be as high as 0.05% of reading. PD meters can work without using a power supply. Moreover, they do not necessitate straight upstream and downstream pipe runs to install them.

2.

3.

4. 5. 6.

PD meters exist in size upto 12 in. Their turndown ratio can be as high as 100:1. Since PD meters have very small clearances between their precisionmachined parts, rapid wear influences their accuracy. Therefore, these types of meters are normally not suggested for measurement of slurries or abrasive fluids. Positive displacement flowmeters are commonly employed as household water meters.

7.

Types:
1. Reciprocating Piston Meters 2. Oval-gear Meters 3. Nutating-disk Meters 4. Rotary-vane Meters

Pitot Tubes:
A pitot tube is a pressure measurement instrument used to measure

fluid flow velocity. The pitot tube was invented by the French engineer Henri Pitot in the early 18th century. It was widely used to determine the airspeed of anaircraft and to measure air and gas velocities in industrial applications. The pitot tube is used to measure the local velocity at a given point in the flow stream and not the average velocity in the pipe or conduit Although the Pitot tube is one of the simplest flow sensors, it is used in a wide range of flow measurement applications such as air speed in racing cars and Air Force fighter jets. In industrial applications, pitot tubes are used to measure air flow in pipes, ducts, and stacks, and liquid flow in pipes, weirs, and open channels. While accuracy and rangeability are relatively low, pitot tubes are simple, reliable, inexpensive, and suited for a variety of environmental conditions, including extremely high temperatures and a wide range of pressures.

The Pitot tube is an inexpensive alternative to an orifice plate. Accuracy ranges from 0.5% to 5% FS, which is comparable to that of an orifice. Its flow rangeability of 3:1 (some operate at 4:1) is also similar to the capability of the orifice plate. The main difference is that, while an orifice measures the full flowstream, the Pitot tube detects the flow velocity at only one point in the

flowstream. An advantage of the slender Pitot tube is that it can be inserted into existing and pressurized pipelines (called hot-tapping) without requiring a shutdown.

Applications:
In industry, the velocities being measured are often those flowing in ducts and tubing where measurements by an anemometer would be difficult to obtain. In these kinds of measurements, the most practical instrument to use is the pitot tube. The pitot tube can be inserted through a small hole in the duct with the pitot connected to a U-tube water gauge or some other differential pressure gauge(alnor) for determining the velocity inside the ducted wind tunnel. One use of this technique is to determine the volume of air that is being delivered to a conditioned space. The fluid flow rate in a duct can then be estimated from: Volume flow rate (cubic feet per minute) = duct area (square feet) velocity (feet per minute) Volume flow rate (cubic meters per second) = duct area (square meters) velocity (meters per second) In aviation, airspeed is typically measured in knots.

Vortex Flow Meter:

A vortex flow meter is typically made of 316 stainless steel or Hastelloy and includes a bluff body, a vortex sensor assembly and the transmitter electronics, although the latter can also be mounted remotely (Figure 4-5). They are typically available in flange sizes from 1/2 in. to 12 in. The installed cost of vortex meters is competitive with that of orifice meters in sizes under six inches. Wafer body meters (flangeless) have the lowest cost, while flanged meters are preferred if the process fluid is hazardous or is at a high temperature.

Bluff body shapes (square, rectangular, t-shaped, trapezoidal) and dimensions have been experimented with to achieve the desired characteristics. Testing has shown that linearity, low Reynolds number limitation, and sensitivity to velocity profile distortion vary only slightly with bluff body shape. In size, the bluff body must have a width that is a large enough fraction of the pipe diameter that the entire flow participates in the shedding. Second, the bluff body must have protruding edges on the upstream face to fix the lines of flow separation, regardless of the flow rate. Third, the bluff body length in the direction of the flow must be a certain multiple of the bluff body width.

Applications:
Vortex meters are used in numerous branches of industry to measure the volume flow of liquids, gases and steam. Applications in the chemicals and petrochemicals industries, for example, in power generation and heat-supply systems involve widely differing fluids: saturated steam, superheated steam, compressed air, nitrogen, liquefied gases, flue gases, carbon dioxide, fully demineralized water, solvents, heattransfer oils, boiler feedwater, condensate, etc. Vortex meters are particularly popular in all sectors of industry for metering steam. Vortex meters measure volume flow, but steam systems are generally rated by mass or energy content, so these meters are frequently used in combination with a pressure and/or temperature sensor and a flow computer. A configuration of this nature helps save energy and is ideal for allocating the costs of generation across multiple consumers.

Turbine Flow Meter:

Invented by Reinhard Woltman in the 18th century, the turbine flow meter is an accurate and reliable flow meter for both liquids and gases. Turbine Flowmeter is a device used to measure the volumetric flow of a fluid. The flowmeter consists of the body, a multiblade rotor (usually 6 to 10 blades depending on size), bearings and supports for the rotor. As a fluid passes through the flowmeter the rotor spins. The speed of the rotor is directly proportional to the fluid velocity or flow rate. As the rotor spins, the balde tips pass through a magnetic field generated by permanent magnets in a pickup coil mounted in close proximity to the rotor but separated from it and the process fluid by the wall of the flowmeter body. Each time a blade passes the magnet, it generates a small alternating current in the pickup coil. The pickup coil is attached to the pickup by two terminals or wires. Each rotor blade passing through the magnetic pickup flux lines produce one alternating current cycle. Depending on the flowmeter size, a certain number of pulses are produced for each volumetric unit of liquid passing through the turbine flowmeter. This is known as the K-Factor of the turbine flowmeter. The variation of this factor over the specified flow range is the Linearity or accuracy of the flowmeter.