Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/ULTSYM.2008.
0124
New Developments in Ultrasonic Gas Analysis and
Flowmetering
Saul Jacobson
Elster-Instromet NV
Essen, Belgium
s.jacobson@elster-instromet.com
Abstract— Ultrasonic methods have important advantages in the
measurement of gas flow, including the ability to measure almost
any gas or gas mixture over a wide pressure range and turndown
ratio. Ultrasonic gas flowmeters also are capable of measuring bi-
directional flow and may be non-intrusive with no pressure loss.
In certain cases the sensors may even be clamped on the outside
of the pipe. Traditionally the Transit-time method has been used,
but more recently interesting developments in Tag Cross-
correlation have yielded promising results, particularly for low-
pressure clamp-on applications. Ultrasonic flowmeters for gas
have been commercially available since the 1980s, and they are
widely accepted today for flaregas and stackgas monitoring and
for a wide variety of industrial and fuel gas measurements.
Highly accurate multi-path meters are approved and commonly
used for custody transfer measurement of natural gas. In
addition to the many advantages ultrasonic methods have in the
measurement of the gas flowrate, ultrasonic propagation
characteristics of the gas may also be measured to determine
properties of the gas, such as its molecular weight, density or
energy content. Soundspeed, in conjunction with temperature
and pressure measurement were first used in the 1980s to
determine the molecular weight and derive the mass flowrate of
flaregas. Ultrasonic flowmeters for custody transfer natural gas
gained acceptance in the 1990s with the publication of the
American Gas Association AGA-9 report, which includes
guidelines on the measurement and use of the gas soundspeed.
More recently gas soundspeed and other properties such as
attenuation have been used for the analysis of binary gases and
pseudo-binary gases such as breathing gases, biogas, landfill gas,
and process gases. Acoustic impedance has been measured and
used to determine the density of high pressure gases. This paper
reviews the methods to analyze binary, ternary and multi-
component gases .
I. INTRODUCTION
Ultrasonic flowmeters have been widely used for gas
measurement. At the high end multi-path ultrasonic
flowmeters are used in natural gas custody transfer
applications, providing accuracies better than 0.5%. Emissions
monitoring is a growing market, and here ultrasonic meters are
being used for flaregas and stack gas flowmetering. The
versatility of ultrasonic flowmeters is well suited to the
process industry, and ultrasonics has been used for a wide
range of gases, pressures and pipe sizes. Ultrasonic
flowmetering has even been applied to steam flow, where the
high turndown and zero pressure drop can be an advantage.
See references [1], [2] and [3].
978-1-4244-2480-1/08/$25.00 ©2008 IEEE
An Ultrasonic Flowmeter for gas has the advantages seen in its
liquid counterpart: high turn-down, non-intrusive, no pressure
drop, bi-directional measurement, no moving parts,
maintenance free and it can be used with a wide range of pipe
sizes. Ultrasonic gas meters have the advantage over most
other technologies of being able to measure at low and high
pressure, and of providing a composition independent flow
velocity measurement (profile effects notwithstanding).
Ultrasonics is also unique among flowmetering methods in
that the transducers may be clamped on to the outside of the
pipe wall, and no penetration of the pipe is required.
Originally limited to liquid applications only, in recent years
clamp-on techniques have been applied to gas as well, [4].
Applications also include temperature extremes. Thermal
buffers such as coiled foil or bundles of many thin rods enable
transducers to be used with fluids, including gases, well above
their Curie point as well as down to cryogenic temperatures,
[5], [6], [7].
Two methods have principally been used for ultrasonic gas
flowmetering, namely, Transit-time and Tag Cross-correlation.
Doppler methods, which have seen widespread use in liquid
ultrasonic flowmeters, have not been used for gas, due to the
absence in general of suitable reflectors. The Transit-time and
Tag Correlation methods are described below. Transit-time
principles have been applied in gas flow measurements at
audible frequencies too, as exemplified by the work of Kleppe
and colleagues [8]. Frequencies on the order of 1.5 kHz were
used in CEM (continuous emissions monitoring) applications
starting around 1990.
In certain applications other ultrasonic measurements, for
example, the gas soundspeed may also be used to determine
gas properties such as composition or density. This is often
another major advantage of ultrasonic methods, as the gas
properties may be combined with the measured flow velocity
to provide mass or energy flow, or used to replace gas
analysers.
II. TRANSIT TIME METHOD
A transit-time flow measurement system uses two ultrasonic
transducers that function as both ultrasonic transmitter and
receiver placed respectively upstream and downstream on the
pipe as shown in figure 1. Ultrasonic pulses are transmitted
alternately upstream and downstream and the transit time of
508 2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings
the up- and downstream pulses are measured. The pulse III. TAG CROSS-CORRELATION METHOD
travelling with the flow requires less time to transit between A second ultrasonic method used successfully for the
the transducers than the pulse travelling against the flow, and measurement of gas flow is the Tag Cross-correlation method.
the transit time difference can be used to compute the average Typically, two pairs of transducers are placed a distance apart
flow velocity. in the direction of flow, and positioned to transmit
diametrically across the pipe as shown in figure 3. Figure 3
-----------(1) illustrates a clamp-on configuration, but this technique may be
applied to wetted and clamp-on transducers, [10], [13].
-----------(2)
Turbulent flow will have a pattern of eddies, and these eddies
where: will modulate the ultrasonic beam as they pass between the
transducer pairs. The eddies have a finite lifetime, and
= average flow velocity along the acoustic path, and provided that the transducer pairs are placed sufficiently close
C = fluid soundspeed together, the pattern of turbulence and resulting modulation
will be similar for the downstream pair of transducers as for
Combining (1) and (2) gives: the upstream pair, but delayed by time, , where:
-----------(6)
------------(3)
The delay time, , is normally determined from the peak of
where
the correlation function (see figure 4):
The volumetric flowrate is given by: -----------(7)
------------(4)
IV. GAS CLAMP-ON
where is a meter factor to take profile effects into account,
and is the cross-sectional area of the pipe.
The main problem with clamp-on gas measurement is the
extremely small amount of ultrasonic energy that can be
Also by combining (1) and (2) the soundspeed may also be coupled from transmitter to the pipe and then to the fluid, and
calculated directly from the equation: back to the receiver, resulting in poor signal-to-noise ratio. A
second, but less severe problem is the relatively high acoustic
------------(5) attenuation in the gas compared with most liquids. This is
discussed in more detail below.

The transducers may also be clamped onto the outside of the Table 1. Acoustic Impedances of Important Materials
pipe, and, while more common in the case of liquid flow
measurement, clamp-on transducers have also been used Material Sound speed Density Z = ρc,
successfully for gas flow as well, [4]. A clamp-on m/s kg/m3 Mrayls
configuration is shown in figure 2. The equations become Air 343 1.3 0.0004
more complex, as Snell’s law must be taken into account as Water 1482 1000 1.5
the ultrasonic pulse transits the boundaries between transducer
wedge, pipe wall, and fluid, and back again, but the principle PVC 2395 1400 3.4
remains the same. The difficulties and developments in clamp- Steel 5890 7710 45
on ultrasonic flowmetering for gas are discussed in a separate
section below.

While the simple case of an ultrasonic pulse transmission is
described above, sending a burst or coded signal and the
calculation of the directly using correlation techniques has
become common in commercial transit-time flowmeters, [9].
As a result of the very large difference in Acoustic
Impedances between steel and air (and most gases), only a tiny
fraction of the transmitted energy travels through the pipe wall
and the gas to reach the receiving transducer. Only about 5
billionths of the energy reaches the receiver for gas compared
to water in a steel pipe.

509 2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

A significant amount of the transmitted acoustic energy is difficult measurement is the acoustic impedance of the gas,
coupled into the pipe wall, and travels around the pipe wall as which may require a dedicated set of transducers, but this is
coherent noise or “cross-talk”. This cross-talk for gases at low another acoustic means of determining gas properties.
or moderate pressures overwhelms the gas-borne signal.
A. SPEED OF SOUND
The attenuation of ultrasound in air is also much greater than
water at equivalent frequencies. This is also true for most
gases versus most liquids. Except for larger pipes, this effect is The speed of sound for an ideal gas mixture consisting of
relatively insignificant compared to the coupling losses components is given by the equation:
described above.
------------(8)
In spite of these difficulties, clamp-on gas flowmeters using
both the Transit-time method and the Tag Correlation method
are commercially available, [4]. Methods to mitigate the poor
ratio of the gas-borne signal to the pipe-borne short circuit ------------(9)
have included damping materials on the outside of the pipe
[11], [12], the use of coded signals, quadrature demodulation,
------------(10)
and special transducer configurations, [13]. Generally
speaking the transit-time method has seen greatest success in
higher pressure gases and steam, and the tag cross-correlation
method has seen success even down to atmospheric pressure, where:
but requires a Reynolds number above about 10,000. is the gas soundspeed
is the universal gas constant
A table comparing the two methods is shown below:
is the absolute temperature
Table 2. Comparison of Gas Clamp-on Flowmetering Methods is the specific heat ratio of gas component i
is the molecular weight of gas component i
Characteristic Transit-time Cross-correlation
Flow Range: ... are the concentrations of the gas components
Low flow Can measure to zero Good for Re >= 10 000 respectively
limit (low flows with Possible for Re >= 4000
reduced accuracy) In the case of a binary gas, where the ’s and molecular
High flow Typically limited to 10 Up to 80 m/s or higher
limit to 15 m/s weights of the two gases are known, and the temperature, ,
Profile Effects Sensitive to cross-flow. Relatively insensitive to
Other profile effects cross-flow and swirl.
and the gas soundspeed, , are measured, we have sufficient
similar to liquid transit- Other profile effects information to calculate the respective concentrations of the
time. similar to transit-time
meters in theory. two gas components, and , [14]. There may also be
Pressure Range Typically > 10 Bar Atmospheric pressure sufficient information for “pseudo-binary” gases, consisting of
(gage) and above for most gases a well defined gas mixture, for example, air, and a second
Possible >= 4 Bar including air
(gage)
component, for example, hydrogen.
Ease of setup Spacing coupling etc. Potentially very simple. In the case of a gas mixture of more than two components,
generally more critical more information is needed to determine composition. Gases
than liquid apps. saturated with water vapour are a special case, as the
concentration of one component, H2O, can be determined
directly from saturated water vapour tables, if temperature and
pressure are known.
V. MEASUREMENT OF GAS PROPERTIES
Several researchers have recognized that, when a gas mixture
Sometimes certain ultrasonic measurements obtained as a “by- is saturated, and the third component of a ternary gas mixture
product” of the transit-time or correlation measurement may is water vapour, the volume percent of the water vapour may
be used to determine other gas properties, such as the gas be determined using saturated water vapour tables. Examples
composition, molecular weight, or calorific value. In the case where this has been exploited include an analyser intended for
of the transit-time flowmeter, and sometimes the tag cross- monitoring the generation of hydrogen by electrolysis of
correlation as well, the soundspeed is calculated directly from water, which gives a saturated mixture of H2 and N2, [15], and
equation 5. Usually the ultrasonic receiver of the flowmeter the analysis of breathing gas, where the gas mixture consists
will provide a received signal strength indicator, and this may of air, carbon dioxide and water vapour, [16].
be used to calculate the acoustic attenuation of the gas. A more

510 2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

 empirically determined it is possible to determine percent
Table 3. Saturated Vapour Pressure of Water methane in biogas to within 1 or 2% over the range of interest.

Another successful application of gas analysis based on

Ps %Volume soundspeed is the determination of molecular weight in flare
Saturated Ambient gas, [20]. Flare gas consists primarily of hydrocarbons, and the
Temperature Vapor Pressure Pressure
inventors determined that, while the ’s varied with molecular
°C mb (1013 mb)
weight, an empirical relationship exists between and
-10 2.86 0.3% molecular weight:
0 6.11 0.6%
----------------(11)
10 12.2 1.2%
Using this equation, and the equation 8, we have sufficient
20 23.3 2.3%
information to calculate molecular weight when gas
30 42.3 4.2% soundspeed and temperature are known.

40 73.5 7.3% Using the virial equations, this technique was extended to
cases where known quantities of non-hydrocarbons are
50 122.9 12% included in the gas mixture, [21].
60 198.4 20%
70 310.6 31% B. ATTENUATION
80 472.7 47%
Attenuation is perhaps a less robust parameter for determining
90 701.2 69% gas parameters than soundspeed. Attenuation requires careful
calibration and can be affected by flow turbulence, entrained
100 1013 100%
particles or droplets in the gas, or even transducer degradation
over time. Nevertheless attenuation has been used, separately
or in combination with soundspeed to determine gas
The author used this principle to develop an analyser for properties. Petculescu et al [22] describe a prototype sensor
biogas, [17]. Biogas consists primarily of methane and carbon based on attenuation for multi-component gases, concluding
dioxide, and immediately after the digester the gas is saturated that “...combining sound speed and attenuation measurement
with water vapour. The volume percentage of methane is in a simple sensor offers the potential to identify and quantify
typically between 40% and 70% of the dry gas and is an the gases making up a multicomponent mixture." However,
important parameter in determining the health of the process, the author is not aware of any commercial sensors for gas
as well as the energy content of the biogas. A typical biogas based on acoustic attenuation.
digester will operate at around 40˚C for a mesophil process, to
about 60˚C for a thermophil process, so it can be seen from
table 3 that the percent volume of water vapour can be quite C. ACOUSTIC IMPEDANCE
significant - from 7% to 20%.
Acoustic impedance appears an attractive means of
The equations 8, 9 and 10 are accurate for ideal gases, and real determining gas density, as the acoustic impedance is given
gases will deviate somewhat. The gases discussed above, by:
nitrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, etc.,
approximate ideal gases at low pressure, but the ’s do exhibit ------------(12)
a small temperature dependence. Water vapour is less “ideal”.
Figure 9 shows the for water vapour derived from two where is the gas density and is the soundspeed.
sources, [18] and [19]. The relationship, , was used
Therefore, if the soundspeed and acoustic impedance are
to calculate from tables in [19]. In fact, based on measured, the density of the gas may be calculated. However,
the measurement of gas acoustic impedance is extremely
empirical results for “simulated biogas” consisting of a
difficult in practice, particularly in a process environment.
saturated mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, a good fit to
Mylvaganam et al, [23], used the effect of gas loading on the
equations was obtained only by adjusting the for water transducer and the resulting change in its electrical impedance
vapour significantly from the published values. Using the to develop a prototype gas density sensor. However, as in the

511 2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

case of acoustic attenuation, the author is not aware of any [10] Hans, V, and Poppen,V.: “Flow Measurement with Crosscorrelated
Ultrasonic Signals”. Proceedings of FLOMEKO 96, pp. 729-732,
commercial sensors for gas analysis based on this principle.
Beijing/China (1996).

[11] Baumoel, J.: “Mounting Structure for Transducers with Energy

VI. CONCLUSION Absorbing Means”, United States Patent number 5, 131, 278 (1992)

Ultrasonic flowmeters for gas have been gaining acceptance in
recent years, and have seen an expanding share in diverse
markets, from simple process monitoring applications to
multi-path systems for high accuracy custody transfer of
natural gas. Part of this rapid growth has been due to the
“traditional” advantages of ultrasonic flowmetering: wide
turn-down, high accuracy, no pressure drop, no moving parts,
etc. Recent developments have provided additional benefits to
ultrasonic gas flowmetering. These include the unique ability
of ultrasonic flowmeters to measure clamp-on, without
penetrating the pipe wall, and the use of ultrasonic
measurements other than flowrate, such as soundspeed, to
determine process gas properties.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author wishes to extend a special thanks to Larry
Lynnworth (Lynnworth Technical Services, Waltham, MA,
USA) for his many helpful suggestions and feedback. The
work on biogas analysis includes important contributions from
Pierre Uberschlag (E&H Flowtec, Reinach, Switzerland).
[12] Ao, X. and Bradshaw, J. E. Flow measurement system with reduced noise
and crosstalk, United States Patent number 7,000,485 (2006)
[13] Shen, C., Jacobson S.A.: “Coherent Multi-path Flow Measurement
System”, United States Patent number 6,293,156
[14] Valdes, J. L. and Cadet, G.: “Ultrasonic Time-of-Flight Method for On-
Line Quantitation of in Situ Generated Arsine”, J. Analytical Chemistry, 63
(4) 366-369 (1991).
[15]Sakai, Masanobu, and Torii, Shuji: “Apparatus and Method for
Measuring Gas Concentration”, Japanese Patent JP2004325297
[16]Mault, J.R.: “Respiratory Gas Sensors in Flow Path”, WIPO Patent
Application WO/2002/017991
[17] Jacobson, S.A.: “Apparatus and Method for the Ultrasonic Determination
of the Concentrations of Components in a Gas Mixture” , International Patent
number WO 2008/003627
[18] Reid, R.C., Prausnitz J.M., and Sherwood, T.K.: "The Properties of Gases
and Liquids, 3rd Edition", McGraw Hill, 1977
[19] Wagner, W. and Kurse, A.:”Properties of Water and Steam: Industrial
Standard IAPWS-IF97 for the Thermodynamic Properties and Supplementary
Equations”, Springer, 1998.
[20]Smalling, J.W., Braswell, L.D., and Lynnworth, L.C.: “Apparatus and
Method for Measuring Fluid Flow Parameters”, United States patent number
4,596,133.

REFERENCES [21]Hammond, R.H.: “Ultrasonic Measurement System with Molecular

[1] AGA-9, “Measurement of gas by ultrasonic meters”, A.G.A. Report no. 9,
American Gas Association, Transmission Measurement Committee (June
1998).
[2] Ao, X. et al: “Ultrasonic Clamp-On Flow Measurement of Natural Gas,
Steam and Compressed Air” Proc. 5th ISFFM (Int’l Symposium Fluid Flow
Measurement), (April 2002).
Weight Determination”, United States Patent number 6,216,091.
[22] Petculescu, A., et al: “A Prototype Acoustic Gas Sensor based on
Attenuation”, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 120(4) October, 2006.
[23] Mylvaganam, S., Halstensen, M., Engen, H. and Esbensen, K.: “Gas
Density Metering in Ultrasonic Gas Flowmeters using Impedance
Measurement and Chemometrics”, 1999 IEE Symposium, pp 435 – 439.

[3] Urata, Y., Freeke, J., Matson, J.E., Lynnworth, L.C.: “Steam Flowmeters”,
Proc. Ultrasonics Symposium, IEEE (1998), Vol. 1, pp. 545-550.

[4] Lynnworth, L.C.: “Clamp-On Flowmeters for Fluids”, Sensors, Vol 18 No.
8, August, 2001.

[5]Lynnworth, L.C. , Liu, Y. and Umina, J.A.:”Extensional Bundle

Waveguide Techniques for Measuring Flow of Hot Fluids”, IEEE Trans
UFFC, Vol. 52, No. 4, pages 538-544 (April 2005).

[6] Babkin, N. V.: “Buffer for Ultrasonic Transducer,” USSR Patent number
172543, (1964)

[7] Heijnsdijk ,A. M. and van der Klooster, J. M.: “Ultrasonic Waveguide,”
United States Patent number 6,400,648, (2002).

[8]Kleppe, J. A.: “Acoustic gas flow measurement in large ducts and. stacks,”
Sensors, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 18–21, 85–87, 1995

[9] Jacobson, S.A., Lynnworth, L.C., and Korba, J.M.: “Differential

Correlation Analyzer”, United States Patent number 4,787,252. (1987)

512 2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

 FIGURES

Fig. 1. Transit-time Flowmeter with Wetted Transducers

Fig. 2. Transit-time Flowmeter with Clamp-on Transducers.

513 2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

Fig. 3. Tag Cross-correlation Flowmeter (with Clamp-on Transducers)

Fig. 4. Typical Demodulated Signals and Cross-correlation Function

514 2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

 100%
A. STEEL
PIPE WITH
WATER 12.2%

1,5%

100%
B. STEEL
PIPE WITH
AIR 0,0009%

0,000 000 008%

Fig. 5. Acoustic Energy coupled into Pipe and Fluid for Liquid Clamp-on (top) and Gas Clamp-on
(bottom)

Fig. 6. Oscillogram of Received Signal for Liquid Clamp-on

515 2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

Fig. 7. Oscillogram of Received Signal for Gas Clamp-on

Fig. 8. Gamma for Water Vapour derived from Reid [18] and Wagner and Kurse [19]

516 2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings