Name – Jatin Pandey

Roll No. – 2K18/CEME/20

Batch – Mechanical Engineering

Instrumentation Assignment

Measurement of Fluid flow, types and working principles

S.No. TOPIC NAME Page No.

(1) Preface 2

(2) Introduction to fluid flow 3–4

(3) Types of Measurement of fluid flow 5

Obstruction/Mechanical flowmeters
(4) Orifice meter 6 – 11
Venturimeter
Pitot tube
Flow nozzle
Inferential type flow meters
(5) Rotameter 12– 13
Electrical type flow meters
(6) Electromagnetic flow meter 14 – 16
Ultrasonic flow meter
Other flow meters
(7) Ultrasonic flow meter 16

Conclusion
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References

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Preface
Fluid flow is a diverse field concerned with the motion of a wide variety of
fluids
encountered both in daily life and in scientific applications. It encompasses
movement of weather systems by. atmospheric winds, travel and dispersion of
air pollutants, flow around aircraft and spacecraft bodies, oil and gas pipeline
flow, irrigation and waste water flow, and many others. The types of fluid
motions encountered in descriptions of these phenomena include closed-
conduit, open
channel, supersonic, subsonic, steady, unsteady, laminar, and turbulent flow.
Measurements of the properties of these flows are Instrumental in the
functioning of the nation's industries and the advancement of scientific
technology, and impact the lives of every consumer.
This report presents the concept of the Measurement System for Fluid Flow
as it exists today and the activities and mechanisms it employs to generate and
implement measurement data. The system structure is presented, and data and
information gathered on the interrelationships between the Identifiable parts are
reported.
The basic structural element of this measurement system is the combination of
the fundamental units of mass, length, and time to describe fluid response to
external forces. Such responses are generally velocity (m/s), mass flow rate
(kg/s), or volume flow rate (m 3 /s ), but can include specialized quantities like
Mach number and frequency of flow fluctuations. Also affecting this response
are the inherent fluid properties, such as viscosity, density, thermal and
electrical conductivity, and bulk modulus of elasticity.
The measurement of fluid flow is important in applications ranging from
measurements of blood-flow rates in human artery to the measurement of liquid
oxygen in a rocket.
Flow-rate-measurement devices frequently require accurate pressure and
temperature measurements in order to calculate the output of the instrument.
Accurate measurement of flow rate(2)of liquids and gases is an essential
requirement for maintaining the quality and control the flow rates of incoming
liquids or gases in order to achieve the control objective. As a result, accurate
measurement of flow rate is very important.
INTRODUCTION TO FLUID FLOW
A fluid is a state of matter (or matter – in – transition) in which its molecules
move freely and do not bear a constant relationship in space to other molecules.
Thus it has the ability to take up the shape of its container.
Flow is defined as the quantity of fluid (gas, liquid, vapor or sublimate) that
passes a point per unit time. Flow is sometimes written as ∆Q (rate of change of
a quantity)
A simple equation to represent this is:

Quantity (Q)
Flow ( F )=
Time (t)

The most widely used flow metering principle involves placing a fixed area
flow restriction of some type in the pipe or duct carrying the fluid. This flow
restriction causes a pressure drop that varies with the flow rate. Thus,
measurement of the pressure drop by means of a suitable differential-pressure
pick up allows flow rate measurement.
Needless to say that there could be diverse requirements of flow measurement,
depending upon the situation. It could be volumetric or mass flow rate, the
medium could be gas or liquid, the measurement could be intrusive or
nonintrusive, and so on. As a result there are different types of flow measuring
techniques that are used in industries.

Classification of Fluid Flows

Many types of flows are encompassed by the fluid flow measurement system.
The more common types of geometrical configurations are closed conduit
flows, open-channel flows with a free surface, wakes, jets, and flows around
bodies. Flows are also classified as to whether they are laminar or
turbulent.
Laminar flow:- usually observed at low velocities or with fluids of high
viscosity, is flow in layers moving smoothly relative to one another.
Turbulent flow:- on the other hand, is an Irregular flow with random, diffusive,
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and dispersive motions. Further classifications of fluid flows include whether
their velocity is less than, equal to, or greater than the speed of sound, and
whether they are steady or unsteady.
The velocity relative to the speed of sound is generally characterized by the
Mach number, which is a measure of the importance of compressibility effects
in the fluid. A Mach number of 1 characterizes a flow with a speed equal to the
speed of sound.
Incompressible flows:- i.e., low Mach number, in which the fluid density is
considered constant in time, cover most liquid and some gas flows.
Compressible flows:- where fluid density varies significantly with time, occur
in many applications including high-speed aircraft and spacecraft flight.
Steady flow is a flow pattern that does not vary in time, while unsteady flows
consist of time-dependent fluid motions, such as a pulsating flow in an
automobile exhaust pipe.

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 Types of Measurement of fluid flow

Flow meter is a device that measures the rate of flow or quantity of a moving
fluid in an open or closed conduit. Flow measuring devices are generally
classified into four groups.
 Mechanical/Obstruction type flow meters: Fixed restriction variable head
type flow meters using different sensors like orifice plate, venturi tube, flow
nozzle, pitot tube, dall tube, quantity meters like positive displacement
meters, mass flow meters etc. fall under mechanical type flow meters.
 Inferential type flow meters: Variable area flow meters (Rotameters),
turbine flow meter, target flow meters etc.
 Electrical type flow meters: Electromagnetic flow meter, Ultrasonic
flowmeter, Laser doppler Anemometers etc. fall under electrical type flow
meters.
 Other flow meters: Purge flow regulators, Flow meters for Solids flow
measurement, Cross-correlation flow meter, Vortex shedding flow meters,
flow switches etc.

The working principle construction, calibration etc. of the above flow meters
will be discussed in the following sections.

• Devices used to measure flow rate on different fluid flow principle:

– Venturi meter (based on pressure difference)
– Orifice meter (based on pressure difference)
– Rotameter (based on drag forces)
– Pitot tube
– Magnetic (magnetic field is used to measure flow rate)
– Ultrasonic (ultrasonic waves are used to measure flow rate)
– Turbine flow meter (based on variable area)

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 Obstruction type flowmeter

Obstruction or head type flowmeters are of two types: differential pressure type
and variable area type. Orifice meter, Venturimeter, Pitot tube fall under the
first category, while rotameter is of the second category. In all the cases, an
obstruction is created in the flow passage and the pressure drop across the
obstruction is related with the flow rate.
Basic Principle

It is well know that flow can be of two types: viscous and turbulent. Whether a
flow is viscous or turbulent can be decided by the Reynold’s number RD. If RD
> 2000, the flow is turbulent. In the present case we will assume that the flow is
turbulent, that is the normal case for practical situations. We consider the fluid
flow through a closed channel of variable cross section, as shown in fig. The
channel is of varying cross section and we consider two cross sections of the
channel, 1 and 2. Let the pressure, velocity, cross sectional area and height
above the datum be expressed as p1 , v 1 , A1∧z 1 for section 1 and the
corresponding values for section 2 be p2 , v 2 , A2 ∧z2 respectively. We also assume
that the fluid flowing is incompressible.
Now from Bernoulli’s equation:
p 1 v 21 p 2 v 22
+ + z 1= + + z 2
γ 2g γ 2g
where γ is the specific weight of the fluid.

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From the above expression, we can infer that if there is an obstruction in the
flow path that causes the variation of the cross sectional area inside the closed
flow channel, there would be difference in static pressures at two points and by
measuring the pressure difference, one can obtain the flow rate using eqn. (3).
However, this expression is valid for incompressible fluids (i.e. liquids) only
and the relationship between the volumetric flow rate and pressure difference is
nonlinear. A special signal conditioning circuit, called square rooting circuit is
to be used for getting a linear relationship.

Orifice flow meter

Depending on the type of obstruction, we can have different types of flow

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meters. Most common among them is the orifice type flowmeter, where an
orifice plate is placed in the pipe line, as shown in fig.2. If d 1∧d2 are the
diameters of the pipe line and the orifice opening, then the flow rate can be
obtained using eqn. (3) by measuring the pressure difference ( p1− p2 ).
Basic Principle
The orifice plate inserted in the pipeline causes an increase in flow velocity and
a corresponding decrease in pressure. The flow pattern shows an effective
decrease in cross section beyond the orifice plate, with a maximum velocity and
minimum pressure at the vena contracta.
The flow expression obtained from eqn.(3) is not an accurate expression in the
actual case, and some correction factor, named as discharge co-efficient (C d)
has to be incorporated in (3), as

C d is defined as the ratio of the actual flow and the ideal flow and is always less

than one. There are in fact two main reasons due to which the actual flow rate is
less than the ideal one (obtained from eqn. (3)). The first is that the assumption
of frictionless flow is not always valid. The amount of friction depends on the
Reynold’s number (RD). The more important point is that, the minimum flow
area is not the orifice area A2, but is somewhat less and it occurs at a distance
from the orifice plate, known as the Vena Contracta, and we are taking a
pressure tapping around that point in order to obtain the maximum pressure
drop. As a result, the correction factor C d <1, has to be incorporated.
In fact C d depends on β, as well as on RD. But it has been observed that for
RD>104, the flow is totally turbulent and C d is independent on RD. In this
range, the typical value of C d for orifice plate varies between 0.6 and 0.7.

 Orifice Plate

The major advantages of orifice plate are that it is low cost device, simple in
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construction and easy to install in the pipeline as shown in fig.3. The orifice
plate is a circular plate with a hole in the center. Pressure tappings are normally
taken distances D and 0.5D upstream and downstream the orifice respectively
(D is the internal diameter of the pipe). But there are many more types of
pressure tappings those are in use.
 Venturimeter
The venturi flow meter, while considered an obstruction flow meter, is less of
an obstruction than the orifice type. It still does have a certain amount of
pressure drop, but it is significantly less than the orifice type meter.
Basic Principle

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The major disadvantage of using orifice plate is the permanent pressure drop
that is normally experienced in the orifice plate as shown in fig.3. The pressure
drops significantly after the orifice and can be recovered only partially. The
magnitude of the permanent pressure drop is around 40%, which is sometimes
objectionable. It requires more pressure to pump the liquid. This problem can be
overcome by improving the design of the restrictions. Venturimeter and flow
nozzles are two such devices.
The construction of a venturimeter is shown in above fig.. Here it is so designed
that the change in the flow path is gradual. As a result, there is no permanent
pressure drop in the flow path. The discharge coefficient C d varies between 0.95
and 0.98. The construction also provides high mechanical strength for the meter.
However, the major disadvantage is the high cost of the meter.
 Flow nozzle
A flow nozzle consists of a restriction with an elliptical contour approach
section that terminates in a cylindrical throat section. Pressure drop between the
locations one pipe diameter upstream and one-half pipe diameter downstream is
measured. Flow nozzles provide an intermediate pressure drop between orifice
plates and venturi tubes; also, they are applicable to some slurry systems that
would be otherwise difficult to measure.

The flow calculations for the long radius nozzle are similar to that of the orifice
plate, with the exception of the values of the discharge coefficient.

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 Pitot tube
The Pitot tube is a simple device that allows for the measurement of the flow
pressure in a moving fluid. This device is a section of tube that measures the
pressure at the tip and the pressure at the side of the tube. Reading this
differential pressure and applying Bernoulli’s equation will allow for the
calculation of the fluid velocity. The below diagram shows how the Pitot tube is
constructed of two tubes, one inside the other, to create a static pressure port
and a flow pressure port. Applying Bernoulli’s equation we get:

With the velocity of the fluid now known, you can simply multiply it by the
area of the duct to get the total volume flow.

This process is extremely useful in locations where there is a significant volume

in a large duct or pipe. The differential pressure between the two ports is
typically quite small for air flow, and the use of water monometers is a common
method of measuring the pressure differential. Small differential pressure
transducers are also quite common when an electronic readout is required or
desired.
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Inferential type flow meters

 Rotameter
The Orificemeter, Venturimeter and flow nozzle work on the principle of
constant area variable pressure drop. Here the area of obstruction is constant,
and the pressure drop changes with flow rate. On the other hand Rotameter
works as a constant pressure drop variable area meter.
Basic Principle

The rotameter is a variable area meter that employs a vertical tube of varying
diameter, with an object inserted in it. This object is known as the float. This
type meter is used only in a vertical position, as gravity is a primary force
involved in the calibration of the device. The float is moved vertically in the
variable diameter tube by a combination of buoyancy forces and flow pressure
forces. The flow pressure forces are created by the fluid trying to move around
the float, by using the gap between the float and the sides of the tube. As the
forces move the float up the tube, the widening gap between the tube and the
float allow these forces to be reduced, and gravity tends to force the float back
down the tube toward the bottom. At the equilibrium point for a given flow, the
forces of flow and buoyancy in the vertical direction are balanced the mass of
the float being pulled down by gravity. This area is generally readout as the
position of a float in the orifice.

For large flow rate measurement, the rotameter is normally place in a bypass
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line. The major source of error in rotameter is due to the variation of density of
the fluid. Besides, the presence of viscous force may also provide an additional
force to the float.
Basic Equations
 Electrical type flow meters
 Electromagnetic Flowmeter
Electromagnetic flowmeter is different from all other flowmeters due to its
uniqueness on several accounts. The advantages of this type of flowmeter can
be summarized as:
 It causes no obstruction to flow path.
 It gives complete linear output in form of voltage.
 The output is unaffected by changes in pressure, temperature and
viscosity of the fluid.
 Reverse flow can also be measured.
 Flow velocity as low as 10-6m/sec can be measured.

Basic Principle
Electromagnetic flow meters use Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction for
making a flow measurement. Faraday’s law states that, whenever a conductor of
length ‘l’ moves with a velocity ‘v’ perpendicular to a magnetic field ‘B’, an
emf ‘e’ is induced in a mutually perpendicular direction which is given by
e=B lv ……(1)
Where B=Magnetic flux density ¿/m 2 ¿
l=length of conductor ( m )

v=Velocity of the conductor ¿/ s ¿

The volume flow rate Q is given by

π d2
Q= ( )
4
v ……(2)

From equation (2)

v=e / Bl

Q=π d 2 e/4 B l
Q=K e

Where K is a meter constant

In the electromagnetic meter, the constant
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the pipe by magnet and the flowing liquid acts as a conductor. The flowing

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liquid can be regarded as a continuous series of discs passing through the
magnetic field, the bore of the pipe being directly proportional to length of the
conductor. Thus the emf generated is directly proportional to the velocity of
flow. The complete compensation for variation in the field-strength due to
voltage fluctuation can be had by using a null-balance form of measuring
instrument energized from the same source as the magnet.

Thus the emf across the electrodes will be directly proportional to the velocity
of flows of the metered liquid and it will not be influenced by variations in the
specific resistance of the liquid if there is no current flow through it. For this
purpose null balance potentiometer is used. A simplified circuit is shown in Fig.
above. The meter can only be used for liquids having moderate conductivities
(more than 10 μmho /cm). As a result, it is not suitable for gases or liquid
hydrocarbons. The accuracy is around ±1%.

 Ultrasonic Flow Meters

Pressure variations travel through a fluid at the velocity of sound relative to the
fluid. If fluid is in motion with certain velocity, then the absolute velocity of
pressure disturbance propagation is the algebraic sum of the two. The term
‘ultrasonic’ refers to the pressure differences (usually are short bursts of sine
waves) whose frequency is above the range audible to human hearing which is
20 to 20000 Hz.
Basic Principle
The ultrasonic flow meter operates on the principle that the velocity of sound in
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a fluid in motion is the resultant of the velocity of sound in the fluid at rest plus
or minus the velocity of the fluid itself.
Types of Ultrasonic Flow Meters
(i) Transit time flow meters
(ii) Doppler Flow meter.

Other flow meters

 Vortex type Flowmeter
Formation of vortex on a flowing stream by an obstruction like straw or stone is
a common observation. But what is probably not commonly known is the fact
that, the frequency of vortex formation is proportional to flow velocity.
Basic Principle
It is based on the principle of vertex shading. When a blunt object is placed on
the passage of a flowing stream, vortices are formed. A vortes of this sort is
called Karman Vortex. If the flow is turbulent and the Reynold’s number is
R D >104 , then the frequency of vortex formation is given by:
N st
f= v
d
where , d = width of blunt object
v=¿ velocity of fluid
N st =¿ A constant, Strouhal number
 Conclusion
In this lesson, we have learnt about various techniques of flow measurement in
industrial processes. It has been seen that most of the flow measurement
techniques are based on the principle of obstruction type flowmeter. Orifice
meters and venture meters are the two most popular types of transducers for
flow measurement. However, they require, additional differential pressure
transducers for converting the differential pressure generated into appropriate
electrical signals and also square rooting devices in order to obtain a linear
output proportional to flowrate. Comparatively, electromagnetic flowmeter
provides a direct method for measurement of flowrate and gives a proportional
voltage output with respect to flow. It also does not provide any obstruction to
the flow path; as a result, there is no pressure drop. But this technique is suitable
for conducting fluids only and cannot be used for gases. Moreover, often the
polarization property of water creates problems and calls for an involved signal
conditioning circuit.
There are few other types of flowmeters,
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not be discussed here due to paucity of space. Some of them is the purge flow
meter and cross correlation flowmeter. This type of flowmeter is also non-
intrusive type, i.e., it does not provide any obstruction to the flow passage. But
it is quite costly, compared to other flowmeters. Positive displacement
flowmeter is an integral type of flowmeter, in the sense, that it measures total
flow in a given amount of time, and finds wide use in water meters, petrol
pumps etc. Its construction is normally different from other types of flowmeters,
though turbine type flowmeter with a counter to count the number of
revolutions can also be used for this purpose.

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 References
1) NPTEL/Mechanical Measurement System/ Flow measurement/ Lecture
Series- https://nptel.ac.in/courses/112107242/
2) National Bureau of Standards (US Department of Commerce). 1976. The
National Measurement System for Fluid Flow. Edited by William C. Haight.
Coordinator P. S. Klebanoff, Fillmer W. Ruegg, Gershon Kulin

3) American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). 1971. Fluid meters:

Their theory and application. Edited by H. S. Bean. 6ed.
4) International Organization of Standards (ISO 5167-1). 1991. Measurement
of fluid flow by means of pressure differential devices, Part 1: Orifice plates,
nozzles, and Venturi tubes inserted in circular cross-section conduits running
full. Reference number: ISO 5167-1:1991(E).

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