University of Benin

FLOW

MEASUREMENT

Engr. Martin Osikhuemhe

 Introduction

 The accurate measurement of the flowrates of fluids (liquids and gases) is a very important requirement for
maintaining the quality of industrial processes.

 In most industries, the control loops regulates or controls the flowrates of liquids or gases in order to meet

the control objective

 Depending on the situation, there could be different requirements of flow measurements:

I. It could be volumetric or mas flow rate

II. the medium gas or liquid and;

III. the measurement could be intrusive or non-intrusive

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 Types of Flowmeters
 Obstruction type(differential pressure or variable area)

 Inferential (turbine type)

 Electromagnetic flow meters

 Positive displacement flow meters

 Vortex meters

 Ultrasonic
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 Mass flowmeter

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 Obstruction flow meters
 Obstruction flow meters operate by introducing a restriction in the cross sectional area of a flowing fluid
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 Obstruction Flow Meters
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 Obstruction Flow Meters

Obstruction or head type flow meters are of two types, these are:

 the differential pressure types

E.g. Venturi meter, orifice plate, Pitot tube

 the variable area type.

E.g. Rotameter
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 Venturi Meter
 Venturi meter is one of the most important application of the Bernoulli’s theorem.

 It is used to measure the rate of discharge in a pipeline and it is often fixed in the different sections of
the pipeline to know the discharge.

As shown below, the venturimeter consists of:

 converging conical tube this leads to the next cylindrical portion

 This is called the throat. It is of smaller diameter than the pipeline,

 the diverging section in which the diameter increases to that of the main pipeline.

The pressure difference from the flow rate, Q can be determined if measured between the entry
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sections 1 and the throat 2.

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Uniben Venturimeter

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Uniben Venturimeter

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Uniben Venturimeter

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 Venturimeter
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Uniben Venturimeter

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Uniben Venturimeter

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 Venturimeter

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 Venturimeter

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 Venturimeter

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 Venturimeter

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 ORIFICE PLATE
 The venturimeter operates by changing the cross section of the flow,
so that the cross-sectional area is less at the downstream pressure
tapping than at the upstream tapping.

 A similar effect can be achieved by inserting an orifice in the plate,

which has an opening in it. The opening in the plate is smaller than
the internal diameter of the pipeline. This is shown below.

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 ORIFICE PLATE

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 ORIFICE PLATE

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 Theory of small orifices discharging to atmosphere
 An orifice is an opening, usually circular in the side of a base or a
tank reservoir, through which fluid is discharged in the form of a jet,
usually into the atmosphere.

 The volume rate of flow through the orifice depends on the head of
liquid above the level of flow measurement.

 A small orifice is one which has a diameter or vertical dimension

which is small compared with the head producing it.

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 Theory of small orifices discharging to atmosphere

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 Theory of small orifices discharging to atmosphere

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 Theory of Large orifices
 If the vertical height of an orifice is large, so that the head producing
flow is substantially less at the top of the opening than at the bottom,
the discharge calculated from the formula for a small orifice, using
the head, ‘h’, measured to the center of the orifice will not be true
value,

 Since the velocity will vary substantially from top to the bottom of the
opening.

 The method used is to calculate flow through a thin horizontal

strip(shown below), and integrate from top to bottom of the opening
to obtain the theoretical discharge, from which the actual discharge
can be computed

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 Theory of Large orifices

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 Notches and Weirs

 A notch is an opening in the side of a measuring tank or reservoir

extending above the free surface.

 It is in effect, a large orifice which has no upper edge, so that it has a

variable area, depending on the level of free surface.

 A weir is a notch on a large scale, used for example measuring the

flow of a river.

 The method for determining the theoretical flow through a notch is

same as that for flow through large orifice.

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 Notches and Weirs

A V-Notch A Compound Weir

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 Notches and Weirs

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 Rectangular and Vee Notches

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 Rectangular and Vee Notches

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 Rectangular and Vee Notches

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 Errors in Flow Measurement
 In industry, whether it is the chemical, power, or oil and gas industry,
accurate flow measurement is of very high importance.

 Inaccurate flow measurements lead to poor flow and related controls,

bad quality products, and incorrect fiscal and allocation measurement,
which lead to poor allocation of revenues among partners.

 In addition, an unsafe process due to wrong quantities could lead to

facility damage and create an unsafe environment for facility workers.

 Inaccurate flow readings can potentially cause serious or disastrous

results.

 The points below discuss some common flow measurement mistakes

and corrective actions

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 Errors in Flow Measurement
1. Flowmeter selection
 First, flowmeter suitability should be defined based on flow range, process
parameters, desired accuracy and repeatability, piping geometry upstream of a
flowmeter, filter requirements, continuous or totalized readings, analog or digital
signals, possible impact of vibrations on flowmeters accuracy, data update
frequency, meter access for possible maintenance
2. Gas Carry Under condition
 Improper separation of liquid and gas in separation vessel and shrinkage effect
is one of the major reasons for free and entrained gas conditions in the liquid’s
measurement.
 Shrinkage is the tendency to lose lighter components of the liquid as the
pressure is lowered in the liquid processing train
3. Straight run requirement.
 Most of flowmeters (particularly differential pressure-based) are designed to
operate correctly and accurately in process pipeline where the process fluid
exhibits a homogeneous and symmetrical velocity profile before entering the
flowmeter device.
 So the performance of many flowmeters can be significantly affected by a non-
homogeneous velocity profile
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 Errors in Flow Measurement
4. Liquid Carry over

5. Improper Meter installation

6. Erosion and Wear

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 THANK YOU AND GOODLUCK

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