20/11/2018 Differential Pressure Flow Meters Primary Elements

DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE FLOW METERS PRIMARY

FLOW MEASUREMENT

ELEMENTS DEVELOPED THROUGH INNOVATION

Differential pressure (DP) flow meters consist of two elements: a DP flow transmitter and a primary element.

JESSE YODER — DECEMBER 1, 2015 SHARE ON:

Cameron’s NuFlo DP cone meter cutaway with direct-mount instrument connection. Courtesy of Cameron

Differential pressure (DP) flow meters consist of two elements: a DP flow transmitter and a primary element. The primary element places a constriction in the flow stream to create a pressure drop. Pressure taps are placed upstream and downstream from the primary element. The DP transmitter then
computes flow by making use of Bernoulli’s theorem, which is based on the difference between upstream and downstream pressure.

One disadvantage of this type of meter is that it must create pressure drop to compute the flow rate. Many different types of primary elements create varying amounts of pressure drop. The most common is the orifice plate, which is usually a metal round plate that contains one or more round holes.

In 1896, Max Gehre received one of the first patents on orifice meters. The first commercial orifice plate meter appeared in 1909 and was used to measure steam flow. Shortly thereafter, the oil and gas industry began using orifice plate meters because of their ease of standardization and low
maintenance. In 1912, Thomas Weymouth of the United Natural Gas Company performed experimental work on the use of orifice meters to measure natural gas. Weymouth used pressure taps located 1 inch upstream and 1 inch downstream of a square-edged orifice. The Foxboro Company licensed
Weymouth’s work and used it as a basis for building orifice meters shortly after this time.

The increased use of orifice meters captured the attention of several engineering organizations, and the National Bureau of Standards became involved in this
research. In 1930, a joint test program generated a coefficient prediction equation based on extensive tests. That year, the American Gas Association issued AGA-1, a
report on the use of differential pressure meters with orifice plates for custody transfer measurement.

Other types of primary elements such as Venturi tubes, flow nozzles, Pitot tubes and wedge elements also play unique roles. Since Venturi tubes do not have a sharp edge, they are especially useful for measuring the flow of any fluid containing suspended solids. Flow nozzles resemble Venturis but
are shorter. They are used to measure flow in applications where erosion or cavitation could damage an orifice plate. Single-port and averaging Pitot tubes are often used to measure the flow of air and to measure the flow of stack gas and exhaust emissions.

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