Mass ow meter

A rotating mass ow meter to illustrate the operating

principle of the vibrating mass ow meter.
A mass ow meter of the coriolis type double sized version

A mass ow meter, also known as an inertial ow meter

is a device that measures mass ow rate of a uid traveling
through a tube. The mass ow rate is the mass of the uid
traveling past a xed point per unit time.
The mass ow meter does not measure the volume
per unit time (e.g., cubic meters per second) passing
through the device; it measures the mass per unit time
(e.g., kilograms per second) owing through the device.
Volumetric ow rate is the mass ow rate divided by the
uid density. If the density is constant, then the relation-
ship is simple. If the uid has varying density, then the
relationship is not simple. The density of the uid may
change with temperature, pressure, or composition, for
example. The uid may also be a combination of phases When uid is owing through the tubes, the tubes twist
such as a uid with entrained bubbles. slightly.
double sized version

The animations on the right do not represent an actually

existing coriolis ow meter design. The purpose of the
animations is to illustrate the operating principle, and to
1 Operating principle of a coriolis show the connection with rotation.

ow meter Fluid is being pumped through the mass ow meter.

When there is mass ow, the tube twists slightly. The arm
through which uid ows away from the axis of rotation
There are two basic congurations of coriolis ow meter: must exert a force on the uid, to increase its angular mo-
the curved tube ow meter and the straight tube ow meter. mentum, so it bends backwards. The arm through which
This article discusses the curved tube design. uid is pushed back to the axis of rotation must exert a

1
2 3 CALIBRATION

force on the uid to decrease the uids angular momen-

tum again, hence that arm will bend forward.
In other words, the inlet arm is lagging behind the overall
rotation, and the outlet arm leads the overall rotation.

Vibration pattern of the tubes when there is mass ow.

double sized version

2 Density and volume measure-

ments
The principle design of a curved tube mass ow meter. The vi-
bration pattern during no-ow. The mass ow of a u-shaped coriolis ow meter is given
double sized version Iu 2
as: Qm = Ku2Kd 2
where Ku is the temperature dependent stiness of the
The animation on the right represents how curved tube tube, K a shape-dependent factor, d the width, the time
mass ow meters are designed. When the uid is ow- lag, the vibration frequency and Iu the inertia of the
ing, it is led through two parallel tubes. An actuator (not tube. As the inertia of the tube depend on its contents,
shown) induces a vibration of the tubes. The two par- knowledge of the uid density is needed for the calcula-
allel tubes are counter-vibrating, to make the measuring tion of an accurate mass ow rate.
device less sensitive to outside vibrations. The actual fre-
If the density changes too often for manual calibration to
quency of the vibration depends on the size of the mass
be sucient, the coriolis ow meter can be adapted to
ow meter, and ranges from 80 to 1000 vibrations per
measure the density as well. The natural vibration fre-
second. The amplitude of the vibration is too small to be
quency of the ow tubes depend on the combined mass
seen, but it can be felt by touch.
of the tube and the uid contained in it. By setting the
When no uid is owing, the vibration of the two tubes is tube in motion and measuring the natural frequency, the
symmetrical, as shown in the animations. mass of the uid contained in the tube can be deduced.
The animation on the right represents what happens dur- Dividing the mass on the known volume of the tube gives
ing mass ow. When there is mass ow, there is some us the density of the uid.
twisting of the tubes. The arm through which uid ows An instantaneous density measurement allows the calcu-
away from the axis of rotation must exert a force on the lation of ow in volume per time by dividing mass ow
uid to increase its angular momentum, so it is lagging be- with density.
hind the overall vibration. The arm through which uid
is pushed back towards the axis of rotation must exert a
force on the uid to decrease the uids angular momen-
tum again, hence that arm leads the overall vibration. 3 Calibration
The inlet arm and the outlet arm vibrate with the same
frequency as the overall vibration, but when there is mass Both mass ow and density measurements depend on the
ow the two vibrations are out of sync: the inlet arm is vibration of the tube. Calibration is aected by changes
behind, the outlet arm is ahead. The two vibrations are in the rigidity of the ow tubes.
shifted in phase with respect to each other, and the degree Changes in temperature and pressure will cause the tube
of phase-shift is a measure for the amount of mass that is rigidity to change, but these can be compensated for
owing through the tubes. through pressure and temperature zero and span compen-
 3

sation factors.
Additional eects on tube rigidity will cause shifts in the
calibration factor over time due to degradation of the ow
tubes. These eects include pitting, cracking, coating,
erosion or corrosion. It is not possible to compensate for
these changes dynamically, but eorts to monitor the ef-
fects may be made through regular meter calibration or
verication checks. If a change is deemed to have oc-
curred, but is considered to be acceptable, the oset may
be added to the existing calibration factor to ensure con-
tinued accurate measurement.

4 See also
Coriolis eect

Flow measurement
Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis

Oscillating U-tube

5 External links
Lecture slides on ow measurement, University of
Minnesota
4 6 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1 Text
Mass ow meter Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_flow_meter?oldid=667745078 Contributors: OverlordQ, Forbsey,
Hooperbloob, Atlant, Caesura, Wtshymanski, Gene Nygaard, Angr, Joriki, Linas, Cleonis, GregorB, Jake Wartenberg, Gaius Cornelius,
ChemGardener, SmackBot, Gilliam, Schmiteye, Bluebot, Tsca.bot, Finejon, Paul venter, Egoadvocate, Thijs!bot, Mikelantis, User A1,
Resinoth, Glrx, CommonsDelinker, Melon00, KylieTastic, TWCarlson, VolkovBot, Falcon8765, EverGreg, Undead warrior, Matthewolin,
Nickstuckert, ClueBot, Helenabella, WDavis1911, Excirial, XLinkBot, Addbot, Icenta, Yobot, AnomieBOT, Xakepxakep, Materialscien-
tist, FrescoBot, NCS2004, Dontbeugly, Sammy-e99, SeoMac, ErikvanB, Ursus.Bear, Onel5969, MagnInd, ZroBot, ChunkyPastaSauce,
ClueBot NG, Frietjes, Acbrands, EricEnfermero, Mrjakewalter, Steveozi, Watchwolf49z, Kkmack01, Davidking018 and Anonymous: 62

6.2 Images
File:Coriolis_meter_rotating_flow_256x256.gif Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Coriolis_meter_
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File:Coriolis_meter_vibrating_no-flow_256x256.gif Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Coriolis_meter_
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