Transport Processes Assignment

By Scott ONeill (B00230753)

Introduction and Overview of Measurement Techniques in Fluid Flow

Turbulent flow is typically defined as a Reynolds number greater than 4000. Turbulent flow
has several characteristics which you can use to define it. It is very irregular and as such cant
be described with simple mathematical models. This means that turbulence problems are
normally treated using statistics as opposed to deterministically. Turbulent flows cause rapid
mixing and therefore transfer rates are high. Turbulence flows are governed by the laws of
fluid dynamics. Finally, turbulent flow requires a constant source of energy because
turbulence will disappear into laminar flow quickly because its kinetic energy is converted by
viscous shear stress.

Measuring techniques can be divided into two main types, in the first type some kind of
tracer is introduced into the flow and its movement through the flow is monitored. The
second type of technique is where something is introduced into the flowing fluid which can
detect and measure turbulence quantities by observing the changes in the flow.

However each type of measuring technique has limitations. The first type has problems in
situations where it is required to measure at a single point. Since the tracer is moving through
the flow, it will only be at a single point for a very brief period of time. The second types
limitation is that several prerequisites must be met before reliable measurements can be
made. These include:

The detector must be small so that it does not interfere with the flow.
The element must be smaller than the smallest of eddies in the turbulence.
The instrument must be able to withstand rapid changes in the flow which might
threaten to break it.
The instrument must be sensitive enough to be able to record the smallest changes in
the flow.
The instrument should be stable so that no change in the calibration takes place during
the measurement period


These measuring techniques can be used to monitor various properties in the flow such as
flow rate, velocity, turbulence intensity in different directions, concentrations, temperatures
etc.

Here are some examples of different measuring devices, what they are used for and how they
work.

A rotameter measures the flowrate of a liquid or gas flowing through a pipe. It is placed
vertically in a fluid with the diameter end of a tapered flow tube at the bottom. When a fluid
is poured into the tube, the float is raised from its position at the inlet allowing the fluid to
pass between it and the wall. As it rises more fluid flows by until a point is reached where the
flow area is big enough to allow the entire volume of fluid to pass the float.

A venturi meter is a piece of equipment used to measure flow based on Bernoulli's principle.
Bernoulli's principle states that as the velocity of a fluid increases, the pressure of that fluid
decreases. Flow is calculated by the difference in pressure between the upstream side of a
venturi and its narrow point. The formula to find actual discharge is = volume of fluid
collected/time taken.

Hot Wire Anemometers are measuring devices widely used for flowrates of gases and to a
lesser extent for liquids. They operate on the principal that a heated object in contact with a
fluid at a lower temperature will lose heat to the fluid. As the fluid velocity increases, the rate
of heat flow from the heated wire to the flow stream increases and a cooling effect on the
wire electrode occurs causing its electrical resistance to change.

Orifice meters operate by a pressure measurement being taken before and after the orifice and
the velocity can then be calculated from this differential pressure. For the measurement to be
accurate it must be a steady state turbulent flowing fluid.

A Pitot Tube is a flow velocity meter which is capable of measuring fluid velocities at a
single point. This is done by the pitot tube measuring pressure using a differential
manometer. The fluid velocity can then be obtained from the pressure value by following
incompressible (or compressible) fluid theory.
Particle Image Velocimetry is a non-intrusive way to measure the velocity of a fluid. The
fluid being analysed has tracer particles input into it which are then illuminated by bright
light. The positions of these particles are then recorded at various times on a specialised
camera. Then, by measuring how far the particles have been displaced, the velocity of the
fluid can be found.

Description of the types and operation of LDA systems

Laser Doppler Anemometry (also known as Laser Doppler Velocimetry) is a technique for
measuring the direction and velocity of fluids. In its simplest form, LDA crosses two beams
of laser light in the flow of the fluid being measured. When light is reflected from a moving
object, the frequency of the scattered light is shifted by an amount proportional to the speed
of the object. Therefore you can estimate the velocity of the fluid by observing the frequency
shift. This is the basis for LDA. The flow being measured has particles spread through it that
scatter light and are illuminated by a known frequency of laser light (lasers with wavelengths
in the visible spectrum (390750 nm) are commonly used). The light that is scattered by the
particles is then detected by a photomultiplier tube (PMT), which is an instrument that
generates a current in proportion to absorbed photon energy, and then amplifies that current.
The difference between the incident and scattered light frequencies is called the Doppler
shift. Due to the nature of how lasers work, you can only measure one point in the fluid flow
at a time.


Advantages and disadvantages of LDA

It is non-intrusive since there is nothing inside the flow except for some tracer
particles.
Very wide range of velocities that can be measured: from 0 to supersonic
The distance that you can measure using LDA can be in a scale of centimetres or
metres.
You do not need to calibrate any pieces of equipment
You can measure one two or three velocity components
If the flow is reversed there is no adjustments that need to be made, you can measure
flow in both directions.
Instantaneous and time averaged
Non-Contact type of measurement
You can measure velocity in 3 coordinates (x,y,z)
LDA has a very high frequency response ( up to MHz is possible)
It is very accurate and can be 0.2 % the actual value


Disadvantages:

Sufficient transparency is required between the laser source, the target surface, and
the photodetector, so it is difficult to use in a pipeline.
Accuracy is highly dependent on alignment of emitted and reflected beams.
It is very expensive; However not as much as it used to be due to increase in
technology and availability of lasers and should continue to decrease in price.




Proper Referencing of Source Material

1.Turbulent flow : analysis, measurement, and prediction
Bernard, Peter S.
Hoboken, N.J. ; [Chichester] : John Wiley, 2002.

2. Adrian, R. J. (Ronald J.)
Selected papers on laser doppler velocimetry / R.J. Adrian, editor ; Brian J. Thompson,
general editor, SPIE milestone series.
http://velocimetry.net/ldv_principles.htm