Applications of Flow Fluid Meters :

Venturi Meter
Plumbing :
Venturi meters are used in pipelines at wastewater collection systems and treatment
plants. They are used in wastewater pipes because their overall design structure
allows for solids to pass through it instead of collecting in front of it. Less buildup in
the pipes allows for more accurate readings of the pressure of the wastewater and
thus its velocity.



The Flow of Chemicals in Pipelines :
The temperatures and pressures of chemicals in a pipeline do not affect the accuracy
of a Venturi flowmeter and because of this they are used in crude oil pipelines.
Crude oil pipelines, such as the ones in Alaska, are exposed to extreme temperatures
during the long arctic winter months. Another advantage of using the Venturi meter
in such volatile and frigid environments is that it has no moving parts; there is no risk
of them freezing and breaking due to thermal expansion.




Carburetors
The venturi in carburetors is used to measure airflow in a car engine and to ensure
that a correct amount of fuel is fed to the gas combustion engine when needed
during driving. The air and fuel mixture must be evenly distributed to the engine in
order for it to work properly. The temperatures of air and fuel are constantly
changing due to the shift in temperatures that occur in an engine during idling,
acceleration, high speeds, and low speeds. The venturi meter allows the carburetor
to adjust and calibrate the distribution of fuel and air to the engine as needed.









Orifice Meter

An orifice, in general is an opening. In piping it is usually a special device used
primarilly to measure or restrict the flow of a fluid. These are called metering
devices. Here is the examples :

A flat metal disc with a known diameter hole is called an orifice plate. It is
clamped between special flanges in a section of straight pipe and centered in the
pipe so that the fluid flowing through the pipe also passes through the hole and
then proceeds on down the pipe. The two special flanges both have a small hole
( called a tap) drilled through the sides and on into the pipe opening where the
flow is passing. The pressure from the upstream side or "tap" of the orifice plate
is compared to the downstream pressure. Since it is known that pressure drop
and velocity are related the measured pressure drop across the known orifice is
used in the flow calculation. Other orifice-type metering devices are used to limit
a flow within a certain range. This is common in variable orifice control valves
where a tapered plug changes the size of the orifice opening. Another less
common orifice plate application in piping is in flow restriction in the event of a
pipeline rupture. In refrigeration a common metering device called a capillary.
This is actually a smaller diameter tube which does the same as a hole in a flat
plate, but does it better.
Orifice plates are most commonly used for continuous measurement of fluid flow
in pipes. They are also used in some small river systems to measure flow rates at
locations where the river passes through a culvert or drain. Only a small number
of rivers are appropriate for the use of the technology since the plate must
remain completely immersed i.e. the approach pipe must be full, and the river
must be substantially free of debris.
Once the orifice plate is designed and installed, the flow rate can often be
indicated with an acceptably low uncertainty simply by taking the square root of
the differential pressure across the orifice's pressure tappings and applying an
appropriate constant. Even compressible flows of gases that vary in pressure and
temperature may be measured with acceptable uncertainty by merely taking the
square roots of the absolute pressure and/or temperature, depending on the
purpose of the measurement and the costs of ancillary instrumentation.





Pitot Tube Meter :
The Pitot tube is a device that measures ram air pressure caused by the aircraft
moving through the atmosphere. A correlation exists between the amount of air
pressure induced at the entrance to the tube and a reference point defined by the
properties of still air (static air pressure) existing under the same air density
conditions. The Pitot tube contains redundant heating elements to negate the
effects of ice accumulation. This feature exists on all transport category airplanes
and on most General Aviation (GA) airplanes certified for flight into known icing
conditions. Airbus is suggesting that Pitot tubes be inspected to insure that they
are working properly which means they're capable of providing correct airspeed
information and the heating elements are functioning properly.