Analysis of swirl, viscosity and

temperature effects on turbine

flowmeters
by L. A. Salami, ,
BTech (Mech) PhD, CEng, MIMechE

This paper shows that swirl has a great influence on turbine N Number of blades on rotor
meter characteristics and the error per degree of swirl is P Blade helical pitch
about 2.5%. It also demonstrates that the viscosity effect PS Static pressure at a point in the flow r from the
on the turbine meter is not correlated by Reynolds’ number pipe axis
especially at high viscosities. Range of viscosity covered is Pt Total pressure registered by a pitot tube placed
1-400 centipoise. Temperature effects were shown to be at a point r from the pipe centre
better correlated using an empirical relation based on pulses Pw Wall static pressure
per unit mass flow rather than pulses per unit volumetric p -
= Jo
_

flow. Temperature range covered is 20-60°C. Q Non-dimensional flowrate ÜF d

A theoretical model has been proposed which gives a fair
~,. Radial flow due to centrifugal forces
agreement with experimental results provided that the Radial distance at any point from the
r, F pipe
changes in the axial velocity profile with swirl are taken
r
into consideration. The same model has been used to _

centres non-dimensional radial distance -

explain the effects of viscosity and temperature. Ro

r~ Outer radius of journal in journal bearing
Notation Re Reynolds’ number of blade or plate, i~’,. c/n or nlv
Ro Meter inside at the position at which the
A A parameter in swirl correction on total head rotor is mounted
tube (tan2e Ü2/i); also a constant and area of .

t Temperature of liquid in degc

meter bore T Torque on rotor
~4e Area of clearance space between rotor and stator Axial velocity in meter at a radial distance r
AR
us
Aspect ratio of rotor blades from the meter axis
b Fraction of the swirl generated that actually Axial component of the velocity given by
reaches the rotor owing to the influence of the
y,,
yawmeter &~y~ at any position ~° from the meter
_
stay vanes axis
.~3p F Constants pertaining to leakage flow _

<[7 Non-dimensional axial velocity UIUO

c Blade chord C7* Non-dimensional axial velocity at a given
CD Coefficient of profile drag
I
temperature after correction for expansion of the
C’ Adi:’,
Y
also a constant
U~
meter
Mean
Ur/Uo
velocity across the pipe section at ambient
CL Coefficient of lift, C L 0: sin a temperature
U,,f The value of Ü at a reference usually ambient
d Test-pipeline inside diameter
1~ Drag on rotor-blade element; also represents temperature
diameter of 254 mm pipe in the calibration rig, Us Induced swirl due to viscosity
and a constant V Absolute velocity in front of rotor blade
f Function , Leakage velocity at right angles to the chord of
.~’ Function of ~~ and T the blade element at the blade tip
h Radial gap between journal and bearing lv, ~ Relative velocity of fluid to the blade; F~ true
_

absolute velocity in a flow with swirl

k, K, k Constants pertaining to bearing loss, also a
constant ’V Absolute velocity given by yawmeter
w Non-dimensional meter coefficient, WRROIUO
~, J~ Overall length of rotor; non-dimensional
overall axial length of rotor, I/R wis Correction to non-dimensional meter coefficient
due to induced swirl
1b Length of journal in journal bearing Non-dimensional meter coefficient at reference
L, Lift on rotor element ~‘,.~~
M, me~ Constant of proportionality in the formula for temperature
ws Non-dimension swirl velocity woo /Uo
C&dquo;,~ above me effective value of m a, aj Angle of incidence (or attack) on rotor blade
M. C Meter coefficient pulses/kg or pulses/litre
element; ai induced angle
n, if Exponent of velocity power law LJ-- ~ ~~’~~ ia blade 5, rza, 5o Linear expansivity, or coefficient of linear
angular speed in rev/s. expansion; Eii rotor material, ammeter body
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Benin, Benin Q Angle which E§ makes with the axial direction
City, Nigeria. 8, 8 sG Swirl angle; ~~~ swirl generator setting

183
At Temperature change relative to reference
temperature
e Relative error, i e, percentage change near zero
swirl of the meter coefficient relative to its value
at zero swirl per degree of swirl generated
~t Dynamic viscosity of liquid
p Kinematic viscosity of liquid
p Density of liquid
T Parameter taking into account blade geometry
(planform, twist, etc)
~ Blade angle, i e, angle that the rotor blade makes
with the pipe axis
~ Hub-to-tip ratio of rotor
COR, ú) ~ Rotor angular velocity
wr
Tangential angular velocity of the blade element
minus the swirl angular velocity; wr = c.~~ - c~~
COS Angular velocity at any point in the pipe due to
swirl
Subscript
b would be important if a suitable explanation could be given
Bearing
d Driving
r Value of a parameter at a particular radial
distance, r
Reference temperature
ref
s Swirl
§ combinations of these - the investigation described here
Secondary and leakage flow losses
t Tip
~’ Any temperature except ambient
1 Introduction
A few decades ago the turbine flowmeter was introduced
into flow measurement in various industries. Since then it
has become quite popular because it displays good accuracy
and excellent repeatability. However, the meter is quite
susceptible to various flow parameters such as inlet velocity
profile, viscosity temperature, swirl, etc, apart from the
method of calibration employed and site conditions (Salami,
1981). Swirl, for instance, could easily be introduced by
site conditions, e g unavoidable installation of a meter near
a pipe fitting. Temperature changes could be due to the
meter being used at temperatures different from that at
which it was calibrated; for example, a meter being used
under desert conditions where the temperature is extremely
high during the day but very cold at night. Viscosity is also
very important especially now that there is an ever-growing
range of liquids to be metered, e g in the chemical and
petroleum industries.
A considerable amount of work has been done on
turbine flowmeters, but none has been able to evolve a
theoretical model which could be used to explain the
effects of quite a range of flow parameters on turbine flow-
meters. An attempt has been made in this investigation to
develop a theoretical model which could be used to explain
swirl, viscosity and temperature effects on turbine flow-
meters.
On swirl effect, up to recently only very little literature
has been published on the quantitative effects of swirl on
turbine flowmeters although a qualitative account was
demonstrated by Shafer (1962) for very high swirl. Work
by Akaike et al (1978) has also confirmed the drastic effect
of swirl on turbine flowmeter performance due to a bend. In
this paper the effect of small swirl of up to l~° is investi-
184
gated. It is also shown that it is possible to calculate this
effect once the swirl distribution is known.
Another important parameter investigated is the
viscosity effect of the liquid on the meter. A turbine flow-
meter would most likely give different readings at the same
flowrate for two liquids with different viscosities. This is
because the viscosity of the liquid partly determines the
velocity distribution upstream of the meter and also the
losses in various parts of the meter and thereby the meter
characteristic.
The turbine flowmeter would, in practice, be calibrated
in a fluid with a viscosity and density equal or very close to
that of the liquid to be metered, and if necessary, correc-
tions made for slight differences in these properties for the
two liquids. It would be useful, however, if the meter
characteristic obtained from using different viscosities
could be correlated. This would permit a single meter
characteristic to be obtained from which flowrates at any
viscosity could be read. Also, it is generally known that the
responses of two meters to viscosity changes may be
different. Since there are many designs on the market it
to these results so that one can predict how other meters
are likely to behave with changes in viscosity.
While there are many methods available to investigate
the effects of Reynolds’ number or viscosity - e g by
changing the flowrate, the temperature, the liquid itself or
has been carried out using different concentrations of
hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (marketed under the name
’Methocel 90HG’) in water. Consequently, the experiment
has been carried out under almost constant temperature
and density. It may therefore be possible to differentiate
between Reynolds’ number and viscosity effects.
Temperature effect, which is also investigated is
important in that it will not only affect the viscosity but
will also change the density of the liquid and the size of the
meter. Now, it is not always possible to operate a meter at
constant temperature, as the meter may have to be used at
temperatures different from that at which it was calibrated.
It would therefore be useful to know what corrections must
be applied to obtain the true flowrate.
Two turbine flowmeters with very different geometrical
characteristics were used for the investigations. One is that
used by Jepson & Bean (1969) and would be referred to as
Jepson’s meter, while the other is a commercial meter. The
essential differences are in Table I .
TABLE 1
The investigations were carried out on two test facilities.
Swirl effects were carried out on the constant-head water
test line of the research laboratory. Other investigations
were carried out on an entirely new test rig which was
specifically designed for investigating viscosity and tempera-
ture effects. Although the full description of this latter rig
is given in Salami (1972), a brief description is given later
on in Section 3.
 2 Literature survey
The attitude of most researchers in this field has been
that any swirl in the flow could always be removed by
suitably designed flow straighteners and, consequently, how
a meter responds to swirl is immaterial. This approach has
led to little quantitative research on the effect of swirl on
turbine flowmeters. Thompson and Grey (1970) did derive
an equation for the modification of the angle made by the
inlet velocity with the meter axis due to the swirl intro-
duced to the flow by the use of pre-swirlers; no attempt
was made to justify this theoretical approach.
Of the other flow parameters investigated here, Reynolds’
number, viscosity and temperature effect are always
regarded as almost synonymous in most literature on
turbine flowmeters. A brief review will now be given of
Reynolds’ number effects on this type of meter.
Reynolds’ number effects have been investigated both
experimentally and analytically in many papers; such as
Hochreiter (1958), Lee & Karlby (1960), Shafer (1962),
Kalkhof (1968) and Lee & Evans (1965). Since the
Reynolds’ number is a function of typical velocity in the
meter and the viscosity of the liquid, the investigations have
been carried out by:
(a) changing the flowrate; and
(b) changing the viscosity.
The latter is achieved by:
~i~ changing the liquid in the calibration rig;
(ii) using different blends of a highly viscous and a thin
liquid; and
(iii) changing the temperature of the liquid.
A greater flexibility in changing the viscosity is usually
obtained by combining temperature changes with (i) and
(ii) above.
The viscosity range covered by the investigations, which
is also important, is as follows:
e Shafer (1962) 1. 18 _I 9.x 1 0-6 m2!s
< Hochreiter (1958) 0.7-700 x 10’~m~/s
~ Lee & Karlby (1960) 21-54 xlO~m~/s
Kalkhof (1968) not specifically stated.
The graphs of references Hochreiter (1958) and Lee &
Karlby (1960) show good correlation in terms of the meter
Reynolds’ number. In fact, the authors of the latter paper
then proceeded to design a suitable compensator to remove,
or at least to lessen, the Reynolds’ number effect of the
400 mm (16 in) meter used.
In Shafer (1962) it is seen that the characteristics are not
a unique function of Reynolds’ number.
Generally, at high
Reynolds’ number this parameter correlates the viscosity
effects, but at low Reynolds’ number the meter character-
istics separate according to the viscosity of the liquid. This
separation of the meter characteristics at the higher
viscosities when it is plotted on Reynolds’ number basis
is attributed to the fact that the retarding forces are
neglected in the general expression
~ /~
- =0 -
Q v
...~I)
for a given meter which correlated the data for Hochreiter
~195F~) and Lee & Karlby (1960) above. (~/G is related to
the meter characteristics).
In Kalkhof (1968), a direct plot of the meter character-
isticsagainst Reynolds’ number was not made for the
different meters tested. Nevertheless, a correlation of the
meter data on pipe Reynolds’ number was found using the
flow at which the meter just begins to rotate. The function
correlating the data varies from meter to meter. Both
Kalkhof (1968) and Thompson and Grey (1970) took the
effect of the changes of the velocity profile in the upstream
of the meter due to Reynolds’ number into account, but
the work of the latter on Reynolds’ number effect is very
limited. More recent work by Bennett (1979) deals with the
effect of viscosity on the turndown ratio - i e, the ratio of
the maximum flowrate to the minimum flow over which
the meter constant remains constant.
A theoretical model put forward by Lee & Karlby
(1960) assumes that the losses from the rotor blade account
for the shape of the calibration curve. From the work
carried out here it does appear that this may not be com-
pletely true, and it will suffice to say that the shape of the
calibration curve may be Reynolds’ number dependent.
3 Test rig
The head for the constant-head water test rig, Fig 1, is
a tank mounted about 21.5 m above the test
provided by
length. Water is fed into the tank from an underground
sump by a variable-speed submersible pump. Water is
delivered from the overhead tank to the horizontal test line
through a 254 mm-diameter pipe. Just before the test
length, a conical reducing piece reduces the diameter from
254mm to 50.8 mm or 38 mm diameter, depending on
which meter is being tested. A 5 tonne weighing tank is
used to collect the water during flow measurement. The
constant head is provided by means of an overflow pipe
from the overhead tank to the sump.
The schematic diagram of the new rig designed for the
purpose of investigating viscosity and temperature effects in
particular is shown in Fig 2. Because of the wide range of
viscosity to be handled in this investigation (up to
500 x 10-lSm2/s) a positive-displacement (screw) pump is
used. Preliminary investigations showed that the flow and
pressure fluctuation effects were reduced to a negligible
proportion by interposing the 254 mm pipe between the
pump and the test length. Three banks of heaters are
provided in the sump for heating the liquid in it, but the
temperature is maintained constant by temperature
controllers. Agitation of the water in the sump is effected
by using the transfer pump (which in normal operation is
used to transfer water from the weighing tank back to the
sump) to remove water from the cold end of the sump and
mix it with the heated liquid passing over the heaters before
the liquid reaches the suction pipe.
The weighing tank has a capacity of 1 tonne and is
covered to reduce evaporation to a minimum during
temperature tests. Pressure gauges are provided to ensure
adequate pressure monitoring in the system to prevent
cavitation. Other instrumentation includes thermometers
and counter/timers, the latter being for time measurement
and pulse counting. Commissioning tests show that the
repeatability of results for meters used on both rigs were
quite fair (Salami, 1972).
The internal surfaces of the pipes for both rigs are
coated with epoxy resin to prevent rust. Honeycomb flow
straighteners are provided in the horizontal 254 mm-
diameter pipe before the test length.
185
Fig 1 Layout of constant-head rig

3.1 Swirl flat blades. Although the swirl produced by inclining these
blades equally to the axis of the generator is not uniform
In the investigation on swirl effect> water at almost along the radial direction, its magnitude at any point is
constant temperature was used. The flowrate was main- fairly proportional to the inclination of the blade known as
tained at around 5 kg/s. the swirl generator setting, ~~. (Salami, 1972a). The
The swirl is produced by a swirl generator (Fig 3) which setting can be made to within ± 0. degree by means of the
is essentially a short piece of pipe having 50.8 mm bore in vernier on the swirl generator.
which are mounted four identical but individually controlled The insert in Fig 3 shows the details of the beginning of

Fig 2 Schematic layout of test rig

186
Fig 3 Schematic layout of rig and equipment
the 50.8 mm-bore test length connected to the horizontal
254 mm-diameter pipe line coming from the constant-head
tank. During the calibration of the swirl generator, the
universal yawmeter employed is positioned downstream so
that the plane of traverse coincides with the mid-plane of
the rotor, The axial flow before the swirl generator at the
beginning of the 50.8 mm-bore test length is fairly uniform
but becomes fully developed toward the end of the test
length.
The swirl is measured using a universal yawmeter. The
tip of the yawmeter is made up off three tubes in a plane.
The outer tubes are cut off by planes at 35° to the plane
containing the axis of the central tube to form the sensing
element for the swirl, while the centre tube merely acts as
a total head probe. The yawmeter is mounted on a
50.8 mm-diameter-bore universal micrometer traversing gear
which permits the tip of the yawmeter to be located at any
point on the traverse plane as the gear can rotate about the
pipe axis. A worm and wheel arrangement on the traversing
gear gives the inclination of the yawmeter to the pipe axis,
which is the swirl angle, 8, when pressures in the outer
tubes of the yawmeter are equal. Connecting these tubes to
a sensitive water ’Betz’ micromanometer permits the swirl
angle to be measured to within ± 0.05°.
Three wall static tappings are drilled into the traversing
gear in the plane containing the tip of the yawmeter. The
manifold joining the tappings is connected to one side of an
ordinary U-tube water manometer and the centre tube of
the yawmeter to the other side of the manometer to give
the velocity head at the traverse point.
The traverse plane is three pipe diameters downstream of
the plane containing the axis of rotation of the blades off
the swirl generator. When the swirl tests are carried out on
the meter the plane midway along the length of the rotor is
made to coincide with the traverse plane by means of a
spacer tube interposed between the generator and the
flowmeter.
3.2 Viscosity and temperature
Fig 2 shows the schematic layout of the test rig used.
The viscosity of the liquid is changed by adding ’Methocel
90HG’ to the water. This is one of the cheapest and most
convenient ways of achieving this aim. The concentration
187
of ’Methocel 90HG’ required to change the viscosity appre-
ciably is not much; only 3% is required to give the
maximum viscosity of about 500 x 10~~m~/s desired. At
this level of concentration the solution is still Newtonian
and changes in density are relatively small.
Because of the enormous amount of foam produced at
low concentrations, ’Polyglycol PI 200’ is added to control
the foaming so that the foam does not upset the functioning
of the rig.
3.3 Meters tested
For the swirl investigations Jepson’s meter with a
50.8 mm bore and a low hub-to-tip ratio, ~, of 0.125 was
used. Other particulars of the meter are as follows: number
of blades 3; blade tip diameter 50.44 mm; tip clearance
Q.l’l$ mm; helical pitch 159.5 mm; blade axial length
11.11 mm. The miniature ball bearings in which the rotor
rotates are housed in streamlined hubs which are supported
by a pair of three thin radial vanes, one at either end of the
rotor. The axial length of the vanes is 6.33 mm. A light-cell
pick-up system is used for counting the revolutions of the
rotor.
The main for using low 0 and no other integral
reasons
flow-straightener except the stay vanes that support the
bearing housing is to make the flow reaching the meter to
be as far as possible very close to the one obtained by
traversing in the pipe just ahead of the meter. Even then, as
will be seen later, the radial vanes did affect the value of
swirl getting to the meter.
Viscosity and temperature effects were investigated
using both Jepson’s and the commercial meters because
they have very contrasting features as already mentioned. A
section through the commercial meter is shown in the insert
on Fig 2. The size of the meter is 38 mm diameter.
The main features of the commercial meter are that the
rotor, 22.8 mm in diameter, is mounted in the throat of a
venturi, 1-5.4 mum in diameter, thus giving a tip clearance of
1.27 mm (10% of throat diameter). The venturi then
expands in diameter on both sides of the throat until it is
38 mm. Magnetic pick-up is employed to determine the
speed of rotation and the hub-to-blade tip ratio is 0.55. The
number of blades is three and blade geometry is helicoid.
4 Test procedures
4.1 Swirl experiments
After the calibration of the swirl generator at a set
flowrate, the yawmeter was replaced by the turbine
flowmeter (see insert on Fig 3). Using the same flowrate,
the blade angle of the generator was set at various values
within the range -12° to 12&dquo; in incremental steps of 4°.
The corresponding reading of Jepson’s meter and the
flowrate were recorded.
The above procedure was carried out just after the
reducing piece RP, where the axial flow is almost uniform
and at about 85 d (where d represents test-pipe diameter)
downstream where it is known that the flow is fully
developed to find the effect of the axial velocity distribution
on the swirl effect.
4.2 Viscosity experiments
Jepson’s meter was mounted just after the reducing
piece where the flow is almost uniform in the 50 mm-
188
diameter test pipeline and calibrated in water using about
five flowrates between 1 and 7 kg/s. This position of the
meter will be referred to as the uniform-flow position. The
meter was moved to a position at which the flow is fully
developed and the above experiments repeated at roughly
the same flowrates. This position will be referred to as the
fully developed flow position.
Using the commercial meter the above test was repeated
in the test line of 38 mm diameter with flowrates in the
range 1-3.5 kg/s; the fully developed flow position for this
meter being about 114 d from the reducing piece.
Changing the viscosity of the water by increasing the
concentration of the Methocel in it in steps of 0.5% by
weight time, the above tests were carried out up to the
concentration of 3% that was required.
During each test the temperature of the solution was
taken at regular intervals and their mean gave the test
temperature. The viscosity of the liquid was also checked
regularly using the direct-reading viscometer to ensure that
it has not changed appreciably. However, Redwood No 2
viscometer was used eventually to determine the kinematic
viscosity of the liquid. Steps were taken to ensure that test
temperature was reproduced as closely as possible during
theviscosity determination.
4.3
Temperature experiments
Both meters were calibrated in water at three tempera-
tures : ambient; around 40°C; and 60°C. The ranges of the
flowrates for the commercial meter were between 0.4 and
3.? kg/s for the ambient temperature and between 0.9 and
3.’? kg; for the higher temperatures. In order to minimise
the error, roughly the same amount of water was collected
for each test. The time for collection therefore, increased at
the lower flowrates and this inevitably increased the loss
due to evaporation. Even though steps were taken to reduce
this loss by covering the weighing tank, etc, it was found
that the loss still occurred, especially from the diverted
flow entering the tank. It was found that the loss due to
evaporation began to affect the accuracy of calibration
quite appreciably for flowrates slower than 0.9 kg/s, hence,
this lower limit for the commercial meter at higher
temperatures.
Tests on Jepson’s meter were not much affected by loss
due to evaporation, as the flowrates were relatively higher.
Roughly the same range of flowrate of between 1 and
7 kg/s was therefore used at all test temperatures.
5 Experimental results
5.1 Results from the calibration of the swirl generator
5.1.1 Swirl distribution,
shows the swirl angle distribution for various
Fig 4
generator setting, 0,G, for the uniform flow. Positive swirl
is defined as the swirl which, when upstream of the rotor,
rotates in the same direction as the rotor. The following
points were discovered from the traverse of the distribution:
(a) That for a given magnitude of generator setting there is
very little difference in magnitude between the positive
and negative swirl distribution.
(b) That the swirl distribution is not uniform nor does tan
(swirl) vary as the reciprocal of the radial position as in
free vortex flow. This is not a very serious handicap
provided that 8,. can be described mathematically. More
 quadratic in terms of the radial distance i- but different
linear relations are used for 0<F<0.1,0.1 < F< ~.~,
and 0.2 < i° < 0.3. Mathematically, the following
expressions relate 0, to 8,~~

0, 0.652 ~8,~~ - f~.8)

= at i= 0.1

~=1.107(~-0.8) at i=0.2

Or= 1.357 (8gG - 0.8) at F= 0.3

~=~c(L145~-2.208F-1.867) for

0.3~~<1.0 ...(2)
For a given swirl-generator setting, the magnitude
and the shape of the swirl distribution curves for the
fully developed flow are slightly different to those for
the uniform axial flow. However, the results for the
former could be correlated in a similar manner. Corres-
ponding expressions for the fully developed flow are:
8,. = 0.700 (~c-1-7) at ~=0.11

0, = 1.281 (8sG -1 1.7) at r-= 0.2

6~ = 1.~91 (8~~ - 1.7~ at F= 0.3

Or = 0gG (2.093 ~ - 3.~1~8 i + 1.970) for

0.3 ~ r~ ~ 1.0 ...

(3)
The theoretical curves given by Eqns (2) and (3)
joined by smooth curves and are shown in Figs 4(a)
and 4(b), and the agreement with the experimental
.

points is as can be seen.

(c) The repeatability of the calibration of the swirl

generator is within about ± 0.2°.

5.1.2 Axial-velocity distribution

Fig 5 shows that the non-dimensional axial velocity

distribution is dependent on the swirl generator setting.
Although this figure has been drawn for the uniform flow, a
similar trend also obtains for the fully developed flow.
These velocities are yet to be corrected for the blockage
effect of the yawmeter, which is quite substantial on
account of its peculiar shape (see insert in Fig 3). The
distributions for the I 2° and 6° settings will also be

,-, 1

Fig 4 Calibration curves for the swirl generator at (a) the

upstream and (b) downstream positions for various settings

important, though, is the realisation that for most of the
flow i ~, ~ > t~.3 --~ the swiri generated, 6~, at a point is
proportional to the generator setting 6,~~. For i° ~ 0.3,
0, is partly constant and partly varies as 0,G. The swirl
distribution for ~=> 0.3 can be approximated by a
Fig 5 Nar~-c~ir~ensior~a! axial velocity distribution, V,
obtained from the experimental results for the upstream
meter position. The velocity has been obtained from the
difference between the total pressure and the wall static
pressure
189
corrected for the effect of swirl on the wall static pressure,
and the details of the calculation for the correction are
shown in Appendix l . For lower swirl-generator setting
than 6°, the correction for swirl effect is negligibly small.

5.2 Effect of turbine flowmeters on swirl

Traverses carried out at a few flow conditions with the

stay vanes of the meter in the usual position but with the
rotor removed and the yawmeter inserted at the position of
the mid-plane of the rotor, showed that not all the swirl
generated actually reached the rotor. This demonstrates
that the stay vanes act as a flow straightener. On average,
only about 0.6 of the swirl generated actually gets to the
rotor. The fraction varies only slightly with radius as well as
with velocity, distribution being 0.55 for the upstream
position where the flow is almost uniform to 0.65 for the
fully developed flow at the downstream position. It was not
possible to leave in the stay vane for all traverses because it
gave very asymmetric axial velocity and swirl distributions.

5.3 Swirl effect on turbine flowmeters

The meter coefficient plotted in Fig 6 shows the effect

of swirl on the meter for the uniform and fully developed
flows, respectively. On the whole, the curves are very
similar; they are almost linear but they are such that the
slopes of the tangents to them increase slightly on either
side of the zero swirl. The sign of the error is also dependent
on the direction of the swirl being positive for positive swirl
and negative for negative swirl. In the linear region near
zero swirl there is an error, c, of about ± 1.25% per

degree of swirl generator setting for the uniform flow, while

for the fully developed flow it is -~ 1.35% per degree.
These figures would be considerably higher had it not been
for the effects of the stay vanes.
At higher swirls the error is slightly larger for the
positive swirl, being about 18% and 21%, respectively, for
the upstream and downstream meter positions at swirl
generator setting of 1?°. The corresponding figures for swirl
generator setting of -1 ?° are - 15% and - 18%, respec-
tively. There is thus a discrepancy of about 3% between
+12° and - I2° swirl generator setting which is almost
independent of the position of the meter. It would be
shown later that the cause of the discrepancy is the effect
of the changing axial-velocity distribution with swirl
generator setting, which is evident from Fig 5.

5.4 Viscosity effect

At the following concentrations of Methocel in water,
the viscosities of the solution are as follows:
Water l .~? x l ~‘~ rn~/s
~% Methocel 3.71 x 10-6m2/s
1% Methocel 1 fl.’7I ~ I Cl-~ rn~/s
I ~6% Methocel 27.40 x 10’&dquo; M2/S
2% Methocel 51.30 x 10’~ m~/s
2~% Methocel 164.30 x 14~~~’m~/s
3% Methocel 411.00 x 10 -6 M2/S
Figs 7 and 8 show the effects of viscosity and flowrate on Fig 6 Comparison between theoretical predictions and
the meter coefficient for Jepson’s and for the commercial experimental results for (a) the upstream and ib) down-
meters, respectively. stream positions

190

~’.~. ? 1 Viscosity effect
Fig 7 shows that Jepson’s meter was considerably
affected by the viscosity. The meter characteristic which
was almost constant for water (zero Methocel concentra-
tion) dropped very considerably at the higher viscosities.
Except at lower viscosities, the curves separated out
according to viscosity. At the highest viscosities the charac-
teristic has dropped about 50% relative to its value for
water.
The results obtained for the uniform and the fully
developed flow conditions are almost identical except at
the lower viscosity, thus suggesting that the upstream
velocity distribution may not be very important when the
viscosity is high. However, there is a conspicuously wider
gap between 1 % and 1.5% Methocel concentration at the
fully developed flow than for the uniform flow.
For the commercial meter, Fig 8 shows that the effect
of viscosity is quite complicated, but the overall effect is
not much as all the curves for the various viscosities lie
within a band of i 3% (Fig 8a). The implication of this is
that if the meter is used in this range of viscosity the worst
reading cannot be more than 6% higher than the water
calibration. In Fig 8b, the curves are separated out for the
sake of clarity. It is seen that at the lower viscosities, the
curves are simply raised parallel to themselves, C9 and ~.5°l~
concentration. For intermediate concentrations, 1.5% and
2%, the shapes of the curves are almost identical, and it is
only at the higher viscosities of 2.5% and 3% concentration
that the curves begin to show the droop and separation
according to viscosity that was noticed in the Jepson’s
meter.
Fig 7 Viscosity effect on the meter-
calibration curve for the full-diameter
rotor meter in the ~Irn~st-ursiforr~ and
fully developed flow
Again, there is not much difference in the viscosity
effect when the meter is tested in uniform flow compared
to when it is tested in fully developed flow, except at the
lower viscosities.
5.4.2. Effect of flowrate
The effect of flowrate on the Jepson meter is that the
meter characteristics generally increased with flowrates, the
only exception being the ~4-% Methocel concentration which
shows a more complicated shape. For the commercial meter
at lower viscosities, the meter characteristics rise with
decrease in flowrate. At intermediate viscosities around
1.5% and 2% Methocel concentration, the rise is checked
considerably at the lower flowrate, while at the higher
viscosities the trend has been reversed, the characteristics
now showing a considerable fall with decrease in flowrate.
5.5 Temperature effect
A typical result for the effect of temperature on them
commercial meter is shown in Fig 9a for temperatures of
24°~, 40° C and 60°C, respectively. The graphs are raised
almost vertically as the temperature is increased, but the
rise is more at the higher than at the lower flowrate, thus
changing the shape of the curves. In this range of tempera-
ture the density has decreased from 997 to 980 kg/m3 and
the kinematic viscosity from 0.915 to 0.472 x I f?°r’ rn~Js. At
the lowest flowrate used, of 0.9 kg/s, because of evapora-
tion loss the curves have not started dropping with decrease
in flowrate.
191
 Fig 9a Calibration curves for the commercial meter in the
upstream position at various temperatures. Gravimetric
units are used

Fig 9b Calibration curves at various temperatures for the

full-diameter rotor meter in the fully developed flow.
Gravimetric units are used and all tests are carried out on
the same day

among other things, that there is little interference between

adjacent blades because they are relatively far apart, but
where there is a lapse a factor could be used to correct for
this. Also, the flow angle 0 is assumed to remain substan-
tially constant as the flow passes through the rotor because
there is very little fluid deflection. The effects of most
parameters investigated are explained by how each para-
meter affects the flow velocity before it enters the rotor,
since this flow velocity affects the angle 0 and hence the
driving torque on the rotor.
Based on this theory a general equation for obtaining the
meter characteristic is obtained from Appendix 1 and the
expression is:
Fig 8 Viscosity effect on the commercial rnet~r-caii~ratior~
curves for the downstream meter position

.Jj ’+t,~,&horbar;&horbar;&horbar;-f~-(n/-~)~-
] i ; j 1 + ] /F F U&dquo; -(iV-’ W~~)F~UJ
For the
Jepson’s meter (Fig 9b), the meter character- -Q~(~-~)~
istics simply raised parallel to themselves as the
were
temperature was increased, their shapes remaining almost
the same. The range of flowrate was 1 k- to 7 kg all
temperature tests. 1~L~- ~I ~ ~~.~j I + 21rR p 0) i21JJ dF
B ~ / L B P
k B
.
6 Theoretical model -’&horA7~<?
bar;&horbar;&horbar;&hM
orbar;&horbar;=0
Isolated Aerofoil Theory has been used as the basis of where W is the non-dimensional meter characteristic and
the theoretical model being proposed. This theory assumes, H~ the swirl distribution.
192
6.1 Computer program for evaluating swirl effect fore assumed which corresponds to the exponent for the
tlowrate used under fully developed flow conditions. For
6. 1. 1 swirl model
the main body of the flow, axial velocities are taken at 211
The swirl investigation was carried out at roughly the equally spaced points in the range 0 < ~.;;; 0.95 from the
same flowrate. It would be reasonable, therefore, to assume graph of CJ already corrected for (a) and (b) above. Using
that the bearing torque and the leakage flow are constant. the trapezoidal rule for the latter region and exact integra-
Also, if the influence of F is assumed to be negligible, then tion with the assumed value of n in the outer region beyond
the above equation simplifies to: ~ = ~.95, ~ in Eqn (7) is evaluated in a section of the com-
puter program. The value of ~ so obtained is then used to
r~
’°Yr f ,,2 -1 correct the original values of U’ by proportion so that the

- (2x ~7t~pt’ V ~ (W
~J~r~~~~ new value of Q is unity. The resulting distribution of U is
what is used in evaluating Wsr and in solving the model
equation, which form the latter stages of the program.
~ ~D~2 l ~‘~ &dquo; ~sY ~ 2 ~
~.1.3 Evaluation c~f s~rlrl effect
x
t ~ ’~- ij~J
~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ JY ~J /
dr
Having obtained the distribution of ~7, the next stage of
the computer program evaluates Wsr from Eqn (6) and
C= 0. (5) multiplies it by b to determine the swirl actually getting to
In eqn the rotor. The final stage of the computer program uses the
(5) the integrand is the net driving torques and the distributions of U and 1~~,. so obtained to solve the model
constant C the drag torquves, t/and ~~ are the exact non-
dimensional axial and tangential (or swirl) velocity distribu- equation, Eqn (5), for I~, the non-dimensional meter
tion, respectively, at the rotor. M~., defined as cj~-Ro/C/o, coefficient.
can be related to the swirl angle as

6.2 Model for viscosity effect

=~’~~~°-~s~g~° ~’~ Rio ~7
-- = .. - =
tan 0 - _(6)
...
Before going on to put forward the model that could be
,sr r Uy Uo F
used to explain viscosity effect, it would be important to
show the shortcomings of correlating the result based on
6.1.2 Establishment of axial velocity distribution Reynolds’ number only.
The velocity distribution ~7, to be used in the computer
6.2.1 ~’e~nr~la‘~’ numt~er effect,
is obtained from the yawmeter reading, partly by graphical
method and partly by a section of the computer program. Fig 7 has been plotted on a Reynolds’ number basis to
In determining the flowrate by means of yawmeter in a give Fig 10. From this it could be seen that Reynolds’
flow with swirl there will inevitably be the following errors: number correlates the data at high values of this parameter
but at lower values the curves separate from each other
(a) blockage effect of the yawmeter; according to the viscosity of the liquid. There is also the
(b) effect of swirl on wall-static pressure reading; and sudden drop in the meter coefficient for the fully deve-
(c) error normally associated with pitot tube traverses. loped flow which is completely absent in the uniform
Blockage effect for a particular traverse point has been condition. For the commercial meter, Reynolds’ number
seems to correlate the data quite satisfactorily down to very
evaluated by finding the effective flow area (internal pipe
area minus projected area of yawmeter tube in the direction low values (Fig 11).
of flow) as a percentage of the internal pipe area. The effect
of swirl is dealt with in the second part of Appendix 1. 6.2.1 .3 Model for Reynolds’’ number effects
After applying these corrections to velocity profile similar Now considering again the general meter equation derived
to that shown in Fig 5, another slightly different velocity
in Appendix 1, it will reduce to the following if the flow is
distribution is obtained. It is found, though, that when the assumed to be swirl free:
integration of the flow profile so obtained is carried out it
does not usually give the same value as that obtained from
the collect-and-weigh method of flow measurement used
for the investigations; i e,
-

’‘r
; ~~+I m F 2~rR~, r~U~ - r~UtV~- ~&dquo;~rtVp~~l
P j ’

V2
s l .~j ~~’ ~ ~. 2) ~ arl~ ~ ~ di
a , 1 +j2xRo ~ f d ~°
_

~l - +

~’~ ~r ~l~ c~
-

6=2 .-.(7)
~ ~~i~ ,
,
is different from unity. The reason for this discrepancy is -&horbar;&horbar;-&horbar;=00 ... j8 j
..

mainly due to the errors normally associated with pitot
traverse and these are
(i) finite number of traverse points;
(ii) uncertainty as to the value of exponent to be used
near the wall.
It would be difficult to know the exact exponent n at
the wall due to the swirl and the asymmetry of the flow
created by the swirl generator. A value of n = 8.2 is there-
MRe M
The integrand, the net driving torque, is a function of
Reynolds’ number because it is a function of the upstream
velocity profile U and the coefficient of drag CDR both of
which vary with Reynolds’ number.The next term
kW2 jNlRe, the due to the bearing and friction in small
clearances, is also a function of the Reynolds’ number. It is
only the last term, owing to secondary losses, such as
changes in leakage flow, that is independent of Reynolds
193

number. Since the tip clearance for Jepson’s meter is quite
small, this parameter will not be sufficient to explain the
separating out of the curves according to the viscosity.
Consequently, it is evident that Reynolds’ number and
viscosity effects are not necessarily the same thing.
fi.2.2 Viscosity effect
Some interesting features of the results presented above
are that, first, there is no flow separation. This is very
important because it is known that the flow is laminar and
fully developed at the downstream position for the Jepson’s
meter. With this knowledge a plot has been made of the
distribution of the angle of attack along the blade from the
194
Fig 10 Correlation of viscosity effect
on Reyno!!ds° number basis for the full-
diameter rotor meter in the almost-
uniform and fully developed flow.
Note the separation of the calibration.
curves from each other at low
Reynolds’ numbers and the well
defined transition on the downstream
curve
hub to the tip for a given flowrate assuming a parabolic
velocity distribution (Fig 12). It could be seen that the
angle of attack is quite large especially near the wall - over
4~° -- and yet there is no stalling of the blades.
Second, at low Reynolds’ number the behaviour of the
meters is independent of whether they were in uniform or
fully developed flow.
Third, that for a given Reynolds’ number there is an
increase in the meter coefficient with viscosity for the
Jepson’s meter.
The above deductions lead to the following important
conclusions about the effect of viscosity:
(a) Swirl is introduced into the flow just before it enters
the meter.
Fig 11I Correlation of viscosity effects
for the commercial meter in the
upstream position
 Also in the same Appendix it is demonstrated that the

change in the clearance size is also dependent on the change

in the temperature. This modifies the leakage flow. Conse-
quently, the meter coefficient (as can be seen from the
above model) will be a function of Reynolds’ number and
temperature and would be given by

rr ~ ~ ~l ~° m 1 i F~ ~ ~’~R P °~.~,~~2 ~ ~.~~~ 6t~~- G’~i~’~~LI~

i~ I + I /F B p / &dquo;

/r/~ ’ 2~1~~, a dr
~

B .
r
x ~I - ; i°~ l ~ i-2 d~
Fig 12 Distribution of the angle of attack along the rotor
blade for the full=diameter rotor meter at 3 pulses/lb.
Laminar-flow velocity distribution has been assumed in the
-

K
~17Re
i

j B ~=
[Nl
~ ~~ ~~ 0
~ °...
’ ’ ~(13)
&dquo;-~~

where fl* is given by Eqn (12) and f~ (t~ t) is the change in

pipe
there is a redistribution of the axial flow in the vicinity
(b)
of the rotor. This is in line with the theory already
proposed by the author in Salami (1972b).
Based on these conclusions, a study of the fluid interac-
tion with the turbine meter is carried out in Appendix 2(a)
along theoretical lines. From the study, and taking Wjg as
the combined influence of the induced swirl and the radial
flow, the equation for the turbine meter model for viscosity
effect is found to be as follows:
leakage flow due to increase of the relative clearance size.
From the above equation and from the regular displace-
ment of the curves on Fig 9 when plotted on Reynolds’
number bases with respects to temperature (Fig 13), it can
be inferred that the overall effect of temperature on the
meter coefficient is
6~1,.~~ + kf 11t = f (Re~ ... ~1 ~~
where hlrefis the meter coefficient at a reference
temperature.

Yr rrc 27rR,
.I~~!’/
IF
I + MI /F~ 2?rRoF2U2 _
P
p
~. ~ ~
~~;~~~
&dquo;J1
_ i~r~.~)

i~x,r)~‘~~
--’ ~’~r~g~ -n

~l + ~ i~tJ
~L 1
- B9~z~ ~ JL
+
/~-a~ 1 ++2~r.FiQ ~/a Jjra ~dr°
1
P
dr

kb~~ B
----::=0....(9)
Nl
M~e
Now the integrand has been shown earlier to be a function
of Reynolds’ number provided that the term W - Wig is
taken together. Thus, ~’ - ~V~,~ is a function of Reynolds’
number. But Wi, which is the combined influence of the
Fig 13a Correlation of meter characteristics on Reynolds’
induced swirl and the radial flow is a function of viscosity. number basis for the commercial meter at the upstream
Therefore position. Gravimetric units are used
’V - f&) = f(Re) ...(10)
should be a suitable model for the viscosity number effect
of the meter. From the investigations carried out here,,f (.g)
appears to be a linear function of 11, hence

~~1~~’,~=.~~~e~ .. 1)

6.3 Model for temperature effect

When the flow in a pipe is heated, the viscosity changes
as well as the density of the fluid and the dimensions of the
meter. In Appendix 2(b) it is shown that the effective
velocity distribution to be used in the turbine meter
equation !7* is a function of the change in temperature,
At, relative to a reference (usually ambient or test)
temperature, i e, Fig 13b Correlation of meter characteristics on Reynolds’
number basis for the full-diameter rotor meter in the fully
~~’=~~,~&reg;.~~~tj ...(12) developed flow. Gravimetric units are used
195
7 Correlation of test results

Fig 6 shows the correlation obtained between the experi-

mental and the theoretical swirl models. There is fair
agreement.
Also presented on the same figure is the result obtained
by using velocity profile at zero swirl for other swirl
generator settings. It should be noted that the swirl effect
using this profile is the same whatever the direction of the
swirl. This does not agree with the experimental result,
which shows that the magnitude of the effect of swirl for
the positive is greater than for the negative swirl. Moreover,
the discrepancy between these two sets of points increases
with generator setting being about 3% for 12° setting and
also 3% for 8~,~ _ -12°. This difference in the discrepancy
is accounted for by the changes in the axial flow velocity
profile with the amount of swirl generated. The effect of
changes in the axial flow is thus to assist the swirl effect for
positive swirl and to oppose it in negative swirl.
On the whole, the effect of changes in the axial velocity
profile is not as drastic as the effect of swirl but for
accurate prediction the effect of velocity profile must be
taken into account.
The large effect of swirl explains the difficulty one
encounters when one intends to predict the actual meter
characteristics very precisely. In practical turbine flow-
meters, integral flow straighteners are usually provided just
ahead and just downstream of the rotor. It is quite possible
for the straightener to be out of alignment with the axis of 14Correlation of viscosity affects for the full-diameter
Fig
the meter by ±1°. According to the work here, this will rotor meter in the almost-uniform and fully-developed pipe
introduce an error of about 2.5% if there is nothing flow. Note the introduction of the viscosity term in the
between the flow straightener and the rotor. Then there is meter characteristic
also the effect of the straightener introducing asymmetry to
the flow and hence possibly increasing the discrepancy
between the theoretical and actual model. These effects are
very difficult to take into account in theoretical models and
may make standardisation of turbine flow that bit more
difficult.
Moreover, as the error in the alignment of the straightener
would likely be different for two otherwise identical meters,
this work adds weight to the practice of individual calibra-
tion of turbine flow meters.
It is very unlikely that the findings here will be much
affected by the flowrate, although this aspect was not investi-
gated exhaustively. The shape of the calibration curve of a
series of identical meters is unlikely to be affected by the
slight error due to misalignment of the straighteners. The
calibration curve will simply be moved parallel to itself
along the y axis.
Fig 14 shows the correlation obtained for the viscosity
effect for the Jepson’s meter in the uniform flow and fully
developed flow using Eqn 1 l. The same value of the
constant K correlates the results for both cases, thus
showing that the upstream velocity profile does not play a
major role in this case. However, it should be noted that the
velocity profile in the pipe undergoes a transition from
turbulent to laminar flow as the viscosity increases. This
sudden change results in an increase in angle of attack all
over the blade length but it is most pronounced near the
blade tip, with a consequent increase in blade drag. The
overall its a sudden drop in the meter coefficient
shown only when the meter is in the fully developed flow.
For the commercial meter (Fig 11) it will be noted that Fig 15 Correlation of temperature effects on Reynolds’
the meter coefficient did not change much for the wide number basis for the commercial and Jepson’s meters in the
range of viscosity employed. This is because of the large tip fully developed flow. Volumetric units are used to take into
clearance and the fact that the rotor is mounted in the account density changes. The maximum scatter is about 0.5%

196

_
Fig 16 Cc~rre3atian of the temperature effects on Reynolds’’
number basis for the commercial and the Jepson’s meters in
the fully developed flow using gravimetric units and the
temperature change. Maximum scatter 0.2%, ~&dquo;= tempera-
=
ture of liquid, MIC meter characterisation in gravimetric
=
units, pulses/kg
throat of a venturi, both of which ensure that the angle ef
attack near the blade tip and hence the coefficient of drag
is not too large. Thus, although there is redistribution of
flow just as in the Jepson’s meter there is no corresponding
poor flow conditions at the tip to be improved. The effect
of redistribution is therefore less drastic.
Moreover, the flow straighteners are quite long and
numerous and terminate very close to the rotor. There is
thus very little time for swirl to be imparted to the flow
coming from the flow straightener before it enters the
rotor. It is only at a relatively higher viscosity compared
with the Jepson’s meter that the curves begin to be influenced
by the viscosity. Consequently, Reynolds’’ number correlates
the data for the meter quite well except for the two highest
viscosities.
Summarising: at low viscosity, the changes in the
upstream velocity of the meter have a predominant effect
on the meter coefficient but at higher viscosity the effect off
the viscosity on the redistribution of the flow is greater.
Thus, the investigation has demonstrated that Reynolds’
number and viscosity effects are not necessarily the same
thing.
Plotting the meter coefficient based on volume flow,
Fig 15 was obtained for the temperature effect for the com-
mercial and Jepson’s meters. The correlation is fair but
there is considerable scatter of up to 0.5%. However, a
much better correlation was obtained for both meters
(Fig 16) when the meter coefficient was based of gravi-
metric unit using Eqn(14). Thus using the meter coefficient
at 2~3°C as a reference, the meter coefficient at any other
temperature is given by
NIC = (MC)20 + 0.00275 (t - 20) =.~(RE) ...
(15)
for Jepson’s meter and
MC = (MC)20 + 0.03 5 2 (t - 20) = f~~~~j a .. (~~~
for the commercial meter. The constants 0.00275 and
0.0352 were derived from figures such as Fig 13,
Conclusion
Swirl
The investigation described above on swirl effect has
shown, how sensitive the turbine flowmeter is to swirl. If all
the swirl generated had reached the rotor, the error in the
meter characteristics would have been 2.5% per degree of
swirl. Similar results are obtained for the fully developed
flow regime, even though these are not presented here.
Consequently, swirl should not be allowed to reach the
rotor.
’ Flow straighteners, which are normally used to remove
swirl, may, if not properly aligned, generate someswirl at
the downstream end and thus affect the meter character-
istics. Therefore, theoretical models may not be able to
predict meter characteristics very precisely. Moreover, the
investigation highlights the importance of individual calibra-
tion of turbine flowmeters.
Reynolds’ number
It has also been demonstrated here that the Reynolds’
number correlates the meter characteristics for small meters
only when this parameter is large. At low Reynolds’
number this parameter does not correlate the data and for
the Jepson’s meter an additional term involving the
viscosity is suggested. Thus viscosity effects, as far as the
small meters tested here are concerned, may not be the
same thing as Reynolds’ number effect.
Viscosity
For the viscosity range covered (11-400 x 10-6 m2/s) the
coefficient of Jepson’s meter at the highest viscosity
decreases by over 1 S~’o at the highest flowrate and about
45% at the lowest flowrate, of its value in the water test.
The corresponding figures for the commercial meter are a
rise of about 3% at the highest flowrate and a decrease of
3% at the lowest flowrate. It does seem that a method of
reducing the dependence of the meter characteristics on
viscosity effects is to use large tip clearances. The correla-
tion for Jepson’s meter is fair when a viscosity term is
incorporated as in Eqn 4 i i. ~.
The results also show that the upstream velocity distri-
bution has profound influence on the meter calibration
curve - e g, as illustrated on Fig 14 for the transition from
turbulent to laminar pipe flow.
Temperature
Finally, temperature effect has also been analysed and it
has been shown that it is mainly accounted for by the
changes in the density of the water and the size of the
meter due to temperature changes. However, a better
197
empirical correlation has been obtained based on the fact bearing torque, Tb and the torque due to secondary loss Tj.
that there is a linear relationship between the changes in the Thus
meter characteristics based on mass flow and the tem-
perature. T’~~T~+T~ . &dquo; (17)
It is the retarding torques on the right-hand side of Eqn (17)
Acknowledgement which actually determine the exact speed of rotation of the
meter.
The author is very grateful to Prof. S. P. Hutton and Now with the nomenclature in 17 the net
Fig driving
thanks him for his help and unceasing interest in the work
torque is the sum of the resolved components of the lift and
presented in this paper. The assistance given by all the staff drag forces in the tangential direction. Thus, considering the
of the Mechanical Engineering Workshop at the University blade element shown above at radial distance r the
of Cardiff is very much appreciated.
a driving
torque dTd is given by
References dTd=Nr(Lrcos13 .~,. sin ~3~ , .. (18)
Akaike, S., Toyokura, T., Sugiyama, S. and Amemori, H. where Nits the number of blades on the rotor and subscript
1978. ’Study of flow straightening of turbine flowmeter’, r refers to the radial position of the element being corn-
Bul JSME, 21 (157), 1152-1159. sidered.
Bennett, E. J. J. 1979. ’Accurate measurement of flow by
turbine flowmeter’, Meas and Cont, 12
, 49-54.
L~ = ~~~T~C~,, ° cdr ... (19)
Dommarsch, D. O., Sherry, S. S. and Connoly, T. E. 1967. 1~,. = ~~ p V~ ~’,~,. ° cdr ...
(20)
Airplane Aerodynamics (4th edn), Pergamon Press,
Oxford. dT~ = ~~ Np Y~c (C~,. cos ~i - CD sin 0) r - do ...
(21)
Hochreiter, H. M. 1958. ’Dimensionless correlation of Now
coefficients of turbine-type flowmeters’, Trans ASME,
, 1363-1368,
80 C~ =m sin (cx - a,~ = rrt sina ...
(22)
Jepson, P. and Bean, P. G. 1969. ’Effect of upstream
velocity profiles on turbine flowmeter registration, Treating the blade as wings with finite span (Dommarsch
et al, 1967) have shown that the induced angle aj can be
Mech Engng Sci, 503&mdash;510.
J
Kalkhof, H. G. 1968. ’Zur Fehlerkurue der Turbinewad given by
Zahler’, Erdol und Kohle Erdgas, Petrochemie, 21 (10), ~r,
627&mdash;632. -
... (23)
Lakshminarayana, B. and Horlock, J. H. 1963. ’Secondary ..r)
flows and losses in cascades and axial flow turbo- where .~t~ is the aspect ratio and the geometry of the
machines’, Int J Mech Sc, 5,
287&mdash;307. blade. Assuming that the angle of attack is small, the
Lee, W. F. Z. and Evans, H. J. 1965. ’Density and Reynolds
number effect on gas turbine flowmeters’, Trans ASME
J Basic Engng, 87,1043&mdash;1057.
Lee, W. F. Z. and Karlby, H. 1960. ’A study of viscosity
effects and its compensation on turbine-type flow-
meter’, Trans ASME J Basic Engng, 82, 712&mdash;727.
Salami, L. A. 1972. Turbine-typeflowmeter calibration
rig, Southampton University Report ME/71/9.
Salami, L. A. 1972a. Swirl effects on turbine flowmeter and
the effectiveness of different types offlow straighteners,
Southampton Univ Report ME/73/3.
Salami, L. A. 1972b, Effect of velocity profile just upstream
of a turbine flowmeter on its characteristics, Southamp-
Univ Report ME/72/2.
ton
Salami, L. A. 1981. ’Towards standardization of turbine-
type flowmeters’, Proc Int Conf on Advances in Flow
Measurement Techniques. Coventry, England, BHRA
Fluid Engineering, 279&mdash;292.
Schlichting, H. 1968. Boundary layer (6th edn),
McGraw-Hill Book Co, New York, 93-101.
Shafer, M. R. 1982. ’Performance characteristics of turbine
flowmeter’, Trans ASME J of Basic Engng, 84,471&mdash;485.
Thompson, R. E. and Grey, J. 1970. ’Turbine flowmeter
performance model’, J Basic Engng, 92, 712&mdash;723.

APPENDIX 1
A. Theoretical model
When the meter is rotating steadily, the driving torque,
just balances the retarding torque made up of the
Fig 17 The development of the velocity triangle for a
turbine-type flowmeter with swirl in the flow at entry (B)
from the absolute velocities (A)

198
effective lift parameter dCLIda (= me) can be shown to be applying Petroffs Law for lightly loaded journal bearing
given by
m
... (24)
T~ = 2nr§
~ =
&horbar;&horbar16;~&horbar;>w&horbar;&horbar;
R
_ ~ (34)
...
~(3~
~~ .~ l + 1 /F’ (AR, ~} where r~ and lbare the outer radius and length of the
or simply journal, respectively, and h is the radial gap between the
m
journal and the bearing which is assumed uniform.
... (~S} Therefore
’n~ ° 11 -~ 11/F’/F
+
~~ r~~ ~fl
where is the two-dimensional lift parameter for a flat
m ~
,~~nx~;r~
plate and is equal to 2TT.
h J.1.’? -’ R2 U2
Therefore Eqn (25) which takes the effect of the induced where
angle into account
~~ ~ kRo and <~ = 27rn
1
CL * m sin (16 - Q) / j 1 + - I j / B F/
... {26} ’ ?~~~b,~~; ~ ~R~~ ~~
h Re ~
2
°

Therefore
2~M,, p.R~l
~~ ~ ~r/~os ~3 ... (27) =&horbar;&horbar;~.&horbar;~~~
h r~~
.. 2 -

...l3S)
c = I/cos 4J ...
(28) For a given bearing geometry
and
g ~ 3 jy2 u2
tan ¢ = y~rr~/p ...
(29) ~&dquo;~= Be ~ ,..(36~
Thus When W does not vary much, e g in water-calibration and
temperature tests, then W is regarded constant and
= Np1/§i
dTd
2 cc~s~ ~i cos ~ 1 -~ 1 JF’~rrc sin ~ cc~s ~i ~ ~°~~ sin ~i}r · dr /
Re ~c
...(37)
p 2 1 M sin cx 1
~ _

2 Bcosj3cos~ 1+1/F The problem of torque loss due to leakage has been
extensively discussed in Salami (1972b). The leakage flow,
tan ¡3 B it was argued, was made up of two components. One com-

Now
-CD.-&horbar;&horbar;-,&horbar;&horbar;&horbar;-R-’~
cos t3 cos
r’dr (30)
...

ponent is the direct leakage flow which is normally taken

care of by the limits of integration. The other component,
the induced leakage flow, is due to the amount of retained
sin a sin ~~ - 13) liftor circulation at the rotor tip (see Lakshminarayana &

cos 13 cas ip Horlock, 1963). This leakage flow is assumed to depend on

Cos 0 cos 4l the viscosity of the fluid at the clearance tip. Thus
tan 4) - tan
~1, ’~’~. ~‘~) °.~~~ ~r~~) ...(38)
~TTt’
V:)r ’ r
=&horbar;~~L-
...(31) where at is the angle of attack at the blade tip
p Ur
~.=M4 ...(39)
where P is the pitch of the blade helicoid, the same for all
points, and wy the tangential angular velocity of the blade and therefore, the torque loss T;~ due to the liquid bypassing
element minus the swirl velocity. From Fig 17 it is also the rotor is
clear that
~&dquo;,~= B l~~ ...(40)
tan ~ ~,~, · ~
cos 13 cos tb U, ~l[1~. + ~~~ o ~}~ ~ ~l + ~ )~ ~ ...
~1~. .! 1 ... ~32)
J L p
From Eqns and (40)

Thus Td * Tb + 7§ * ’~~~~~ + BU).... (4 i )

~~°r ti~p LT pI m 2 tr~ ~r~~ wr. ~
r
~-
2 (1+1/F)~’&dquo;~~~’~T
J,h 2 ) ~ U,
,
~-
Therefore non-dimcnsionalising the velocity and
by Uo and ~~,, respectively
the lengths

-- ~I ~-
x
~ L
+ &dquo;~ U,U~ ° ~ ~] J[i r(2~)~
(1Fr~.f + ~~ p &dquo;
L p
~~ ] ) dr -- ~r
Ro’ Ro’
_

Uo
and
...(33)
For the bearing and small clearances the drag torque is 6~ = ~’~ B ‘~
t~= &horbar;&horbar;&horbar;
assumed to be similar to that of the journal bearing. Hence, Uo
199
and where Pt,. is the yawmeter total pressure reading. Now the
true point velocity Vtr is given by

~’Vsr= ~~pUo° ~Q ... 42)

’

v2
PrY-1’~=p ...
(48)
substituting Eqns (41) and (42) into Eqn (36) gives the
general turbine flowmeter formula which is Non-dimensionalised by the mean velocity tIa this becomes
D
B V2tr

rh ~{I(1+ljF)
J- ~Y~ + ~ 1/~ p~~~~~~~U~-{~’~- p ~~~Y~~~~~ uo ’’f~-
~~&dquo;-’~
;:2lJ2 - (W - Wsr) J =
...(49)
...
(49)
2Uo 0

_ C17Y { ~~ - 6’4~sY~ ~‘ 2 ~ combining Eqns (46) and (49) gives

/f(~
j {~’V --~_2~r)’
6~sY)~ Y~j ~127TR 2 dr
L {~ ?nlZ~/ ~ 2 J~
Y~ _ p _
~ x
PU2 + C=
2Uo --.!!..... (50)
X 1+ 1 -F ~ )
~L p 0 0
~

K B However, the true axial velocity Ur = Vtr cas 0. Therefore

- = - p=0
-- IVIRe-~1 °F~~ =0 ...(43)
... (43)
2
U2
W in the above equation is the non-dimensional form of the ~vr+~~’°
y cos
cos’08
meter coefficient as the numerator oR Ro (see appropriate
therefore
expression in Eqn (42)) can be converted to pulse/s and Uo
to ~=cos0B/~+2C ...(51)
B. ~~~~~~~t~s~~ to the axial velocity distribution due Inserting this new value of CJ into Eqn (46) instead of r K,~
does not have much effect on the next value of &copy; obtained .
to sv~i~l effects A typical downstream velocity profile to be corrected
When the swirl is high, the axial velocity given by the for both swirl and blockage effects is shown in Fig. The
yawmeter Uy, will have to be corrected for swirl effects. co-ordinates of this curve are fed into a section of computer
After simplification the momentum equation for the radial program where the corrections are carried out.
direction is

1 3 22 APPENDIX 2
~ I ~ ~ ~’~Y~ c~ Y ~ ° t-a
p3~ r
...(44) A. ’~‘h~~sr~t6~~~ consideration of fluid interaction
with turbine flowmeter due to viscosity
where Pr is the static pressure at any point in the plane of
traverse distance r from the pipe axis. Integrating from the Under Section 6.2.2, Viscosity Effect, it was concluded
pipe wall where the pressure is pw the above become that there is an introduction of swirl into the flow just
before it enters the rotor and that there is redistribution of

1’w - ~’~Y = p ~ Y R .4et.)sY &dquo; I’2

r
do
the axial flow in the vicinity of the rotor. Based on these
conclusions a study of the fluid interaction with the meter
is carried out below to determine the overall effect of
D- P
~w r~~~.t.~
R
viscosity of the fluid on the meter.
’*S~
D
P J y.Cr..3SYYY‘ ~F’
J~ r
The introduction of the swirl is due to the rotation of
the meter and the viscosity of the fluid. The magnitude of
the swirl at any point will depend on the rotor’s angular

-¡’R - tan~8 ~jY ~r

~ r
...(45) speed. the radial distance of the point and the viscosity of
the fluid. The direction of the swirl will be in the direction
of rotation of the rotor which, according to the convention
Dividing both sides by U2 and non-dimensionalising the adopted here, will be positive.
radial distances
From the work on swirl effect discussed earlier, other
things including Reynolds’ number remaining equal,
C= =
pu20 r tan=B ~~ d r~
rF F
positive swirl results in increased meter coefficient. This is
achieved by the angle of attack increasing all over the blade,
over and above what it should have been if the flow were
f!I swirl free. The increase, because the distribution of the
= J,: an2ltanz~ _ra
~‘ ~’ Y
c~~ {t~ aa first
first approximatifln~
approximation) swirl above, would be smaller near the hub but would be
considerable near the blade tip. The driving torque is conse.
quently increased. However, because of the induced swirl,
=
Adi .. . {4.6~ the rotor suffers an increased drag torque which will be
Y equal to the change in angular momentum of the flow. It
will now be shown that this drag is a function of the
Since tan, 0 is already known from Fig 4 and
P, yr from the
velocity traverse, C could be evaluated graphically at Reynolds number based on the rotation of the meter.
For the above the induced swirl, v,,, can be expressed in
various traverse positions. Now
the form
i~ ~yY~Z ‘ ~tY - &dquo;‘~’w ...
(47) ~s~- kti~tr ...
(52)
200
In this form k has dimensions which is not desirable. If apart from the increase due to the decrease in Reynolds’
however, is made equal to .

number.
The effect of the radial flow will depend on its value.
c
UoRop

... (53~ From the above reasoning the radial flow Q, is given by
UoRop
Q,. = kn~ ... (5 9 )
c is now non-dimensional; all the symbols carrying their
From Schlichting (1968) the exact solution for the radial
usual meaning. Thus, the change in the angular momentum
flow coming from a rotating disc in a fluid otherwise at rest
at any radial element which will be equal to the increased
and the boundary layer in the laminar regime is given by
torque dT is
dT p2lTr dr Qr ~V~
=
... (60)
t.~’~,t~~~
Thus it would be assumed that the rotor behaves like a
cnpr rotating disc. Now
-
’2 u c~r~
=p2~~&horbar;&horbar;&horbar;dr ...(54)
...
(~~~
UoRop
Qr =
kYíJfi kpRe1l2a
=
.. ,
~61 ~
2?’rcHu r

~, y ~cn ~.cJ~~ (°
a~
¡-3 f (r) dr ... (5 5 ~ For a given Reynolds’
~Y ‘~ l~~ . &dquo; (5 ‘’ ~
number

where U, = Uo,~ (r).

Hence the benefits of the radial flow (which is in the form
For a given meter and laminar profile f r3 f (r) dr will be
constant, hence of increased meter coefficient) will be higher the greater the
viscosity of the fluid. However, because of the small blade
ro:27!’c~ ...(56) chord for the Jepson’s meter, the increase in meter csaeffi-
cient due to this effect will be much smaller than that of
ie e
the induced swirl.
~&dquo; ~ ~c~c ... ~~’7~ Finally, the redistribution of flow due to leakage flow
will now be considered. In Jepson’s meter because of the
which is similar to the drag torque for bearing and small small tip clearance there will be some retained lift and this
clearance. will cause a pressure difference across the tip and con-
Therefore sequently, an induced leakage flow in the clearance will
arise. Because the clearance is small, only 1.4% of the total
0
T
= .F~ _ ~~Q~z meter area, the influence of the leakage flow is likely to be
(5 8)
...(58)
. ~ .

small compared with other factors that are responsible for

Re
determining the meter characteristics.
see Appendix 1, Eqn (36). For the commercial meter, because of the larger
Now the redistribution of the axial velocity will be clearance, the retained lift is likely to be small and the
caused by: induced leakage flow negligible. The leakage flow will
therefore, be dictated by the upstream velocity profile.
(a) the
blockage produced by the meter rotor; From the above explanation the equation for the turbine
(b) the
speed of rotation of the meter in conjunction with meter model for viscosity effect will be similar to that for
the
viscosity; and swirl effect. Thus with Wi, denoting the combined influence
(c) the
leakage at the blade tip. of the induced swirl and the radial flow, the model for
The effect of the blockage is likely to be small for this viscosity effect is given by
meter as it has been employed for the experiment with this
in mind. Thus, the hub is only 0.125d and the blades are Yr m B Ro -2 1
relatively thin. Moreover, the effect of blockage is likely to .~ 1 ’~’ ~ ~L~’ l. ~ YM~ ~,r2U
r ’1 + ¡IF --
J~Ui+i/F~Lp
rh
P
2

-v ~;.2j2l/(W
~F ~ ~~ ~ ~4~~s~~
ivj~)
’&dquo;j
be fairly constant for the tests and will affect the results
uniformly.
to
The speed on its part, causes the fluid close to the rotor
flow outwards towards the blade tip under centrifugal
force. The viscosity, on the other hand, provides the grip of
CD, (W 7~l !-- ~°C’1?r&dquo;j,JaY~f+rg2
Wil) F, U

the rotor on the liquid. Thus, if the viscosity is small - e g,

~rater - this effect is not much although it is not negligible
xi ~ ~ ;~~rF~e~
p 1 ~~’ ~Y
~
¡
either (Salami, 1972b). KW2 F
For a given speed, the redistribution is a function of - &horbar;&horbar; - &horbar;
= 0.... (63)
viscosity alone. Thus the viscosity affects the meter in two A~ N7
ways, one is that it determines the drag on the blade and
the second is that it assists in the redistribution of the
velocity profile. By pushing more fluid towards the tip of B. Theoretical consideration of temperature effect
the rotor the angle of attack is reduced near the tip and this
will reduce the drag and also prevent stalling on the blade. If the flow in a pipe is heated, the viscosity changes as
This phenomenon would also partly explain the very steep well as does the density. However, for the new value of
drop meter coefficient with decrease in flow for a given Reynolds’ number obtained there exists only one velocity
viscosity because, as the speed drops, the amount of the distribution, U, and therefore the meter coefficient, W,
redistribution of the flow will be less and the angle of should be mainly a function of Reynolds’ number. Now, W
attack will increase, and consequently the drag will increase is defined in terms of Uo at the reference (usually, ambient)

201
temperature. Thus, the effective velocity distribution Cf* at Art the temperature change relative to the reference
any temperature to be used in Eqn (8) is found by assuming temperature and ~i.¡ and ~i.o the coefficients of linear expan-
that at a given Reynolds’ number, sion of the rotor and the meter body, respectively. If the
materials of the meter are the same, then there is no change
Ü := Ü ref in the relative size of the clearance space and hence the
therefore leakage flow. But if, on the other hand, the materials are
different, then the relative size will change, as in the com-
f7 -
C/
’~YT’ ~ ~1. § ~O ~ ~YT ~ AT mercial meter. In this case, the meter body made from
UOT Uo UO T Uo AY~j’ aluminium is more expansive than the rotor made of
stainless steel. From Eqn (65) this results in an increase in
= ~ [(I ~- F(/ t)1 ~ Üref the relative size of the clearance space, more fluid bypasses
therefore the rotor and the meter coefficient drops with temperature.
It should also be pointed out that there is a small change
~ - ~~,’- ~~~~) ...
(64) in leakage flow due to the change in Reynolds’ number, but
the effect of the of the this will be reflected in the integrand since U above is a
Consequently, expansion pipe
function of Reynolds’ number.
A~/A,.~~, is to decrease U,,f by a function of temperature. The meter coefficient from the above will be a function
Now, the last term in Eqn (4) which takes the effect of
leakage into account will alter the meter coefficient if its or Reynolds’ number and temperature hence:
value is changed. Leakage flow will normally bypass the
rotor and will do no work in turning the rotor; a decrease in
leakage flow will mean higher meter characteristics and vice
versa. When the temperature is increased, the size of the
rh ;&horbar;&horbar;&horbar; 21r Ro ,2 fJ*2 - F2 ci- wlJ
a ~.h &horbartHl+l/F/ p

clearance space, ~4p, relative to the area of the pipe may

change depending on the metals used for the rotor and
meter body. It can be shown that ratio is given by
’ ~’ ~Dr~t=~ ’~ &t~ ~’ t + ~ 1, ~ rR ~ z r2 df
~ rc Re ~ ~~~,~ ~~~~~r)~~ o
2
4
~ g~
A, =1 _(Rt
~ D ref [i -
Q ~ =1 -
2 (&i - zio) ~~l
[i-2(~-~)Af] ...(65)
...

where ~ICt/R~)~~ is the ratio of radius of the tip to the inner

(65) nlRe iN&dquo;I
’

where ~‘ is given by Eqn (64) and fi (1~ t) is the change in

... (66)

radius of the bore of the meter at a reference temperature. leakage flow due to increase of the relative clearance size.

202