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Inlet Air Flow Meter for an Internal Combustion Engine

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DOI: 10.13140/2.1.3010.4649

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 Prinsloo, G.J. 2011. Inlet Air Flow Meter for an Internal Combustion Engine.
Bachelor Engineering Thesis, Mechatronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University,
South Africa. doi 10.13140/2.1.3010.4649.

Design and Development

of an
Inlet Air Flow Meter
for an
InternalCombustion
Engine

Mr. G.J.Prinsloo

October 2011
Design and Development
of an
Inlet Air Flow Meter
for an
InternalCombustion
Engine
Mechatronics Project 478

Mr G.J.Prinsloo
Student nr: 15021556

October 2011

ii
 Executive Summary
Title of Project
Design & Development of an Inlet Air Flow Meter for an Internal Combustion Engine
Objectives
Design and test an Inlet Air Flow Meter for accurate measurement of mass flow rate of
atmospheric air into an engine during engine dynamometer tests. The meter will be used to
determine the air-fuel ratio and volumetric efficiency of internal combustion engines.
Which aspects of the project are new/unique?
1. Designed, developed and tested a fully Digital Air Flow Meter System which performs high
precision real-time flow measurements. Accommodates a wide range of mass flow rates.
2. Design includes a unique pulsation detection feature with LED and sound warning alert.
3. Computes Reynolds number continuously on the basis of each flow rate sample.
4. Designed and developed a unique Laminar Flow Element (LFE) using ceramic substrate
technology commonly used in automotive exhaust catalyst convertors.
5. Designed and developed a high precision (16bit) digital pressure transducer feeding into
digital processor to perform flow rate calculations using high precision calibration tables,
including compensation for flow pressure and temperature variations.
6. Implementing a system configuration for a multi-purpose air flow meter which will not
influence the volumetric efficiency and performance of an engine during operation.
What are the (expected) findings?
An Inlet Air Flow Meter can be designed and constructed to be sufficiently accurate for
dynamometer applications, compared to commercial air flow meters.
What value do the results have?
The Inlet Air Flow Meter will be used to evaluate newBio-fuel formulations and the
performance of such fuel formulations in internal combustion engines.
Which aspects of the project will carry on after completion?
Potential design changes to the Inlet Air Flow meter elements to increase the performance of
internal combustion engines running on Bio-fuels, possibly air pulse frequency analysis.

What are the expected advantages of continuation?

Bio-fuel researchers require accurate Inlet Air Flow Meters to compare performances of
various Bio-fuel formulations in internal combustion engines.
What arrangements have been made to expedite continuation?
The design configuration will provide adequate flexibility to accommodate future
experimentation, while allowing for the evaluation of production demands and marketing
potential for the Air Flow Meter in the above and other applications.

iii
ABSTRACT
Bio-fuel researchers require accurate inlet air flow meters to compare
performances of various Bio-fuel formulations in internal combustion engines.
The objective of this study is to design, construct and evaluate a precision gas
flow meter to be used as an inlet air flow meter for an internal combustion
engine.The challenge in automotive applications with accurate airflow
measurement is the presence of pulsating flow streams causing turbulent flows.
This project describes the design, development and testing of a fully digital flow
measurement system, which incorporate features such as flow measurement in
different International System of Units (SI) units, atmospheric and temperature
compensation, pulsation warning indicator, Reynolds number updates, data
logging to computer, and a sweep (oscilloscope) display of flow rate.
This project describes the design, development and testing of a fully digital flow
measurement system, which incorporate features such as flow measurement in
different SI units, atmospheric and temperature compensation, pulsation warning
indicator, Reynolds number updates, data logging to computer, and a sweep
(oscilloscope) display for the volumetric flow rate.
The international standard ISO 5167 covers the geometry and method of use of
laminar flow elements or tubes when they are inserted in a conduit running in full
to determine the flow rate of the fluid flowing in the conduit.
This inlet air flow meter is used to perform real-time measurement of the volume
and mass flow rates of theinlet air during operation in such manner that it does
not influence the flow rate, the volumetric efficiency or the performance of the
engine. The meter was designed to accommodate a wide range of massflow
rates including pulsating flows typical of single-cylinder engines. The designed
meter is suitable for accurate measurement of mass flow rate of atmospheric air
into an engine during engine dynamometer tests and provides the user with data
to determine the air-fuel ratio and volumetric efficiency of the engine.
The inlet air flow meter developed as part of this study will be used in future to
evaluate and compare the efficiency of new Bio-fuel formulations and their
performance in internal combustion engines for the Bio-fuels Research Group at
Stellenbosch University.
The development took place over a period of nine months and the cost for the
development slightly exceeds R200 000 (ZAR), a less than 5% deviation from the
estimated development cost budget.

iv
ECSA OUTCOMES EVALUATION
ECSA OUTCOMES ASSESSED IN THIS MODULE
Outcome Addressed in sections
1. Problem solving: Demonstrate 2; 3; 4; and 5; Appendix A;
competence to identify, assess, formulate and User Manual
solve convergent and divergent engineering
problems creatively and innovatively.
2. Application of scientific and engineering 2; 3; 5; 10; 11; Appendix B;
knowledge: Demonstrate competence to Appendix C; Appendix D;
apply knowledge of mathematics, basic
Appendix E; Appendix F;
science and engineering sciences from first
principles to solve engineering problems. Appendix G

3. Engineering Design: Demonstrate 3; 4; 5; Appendix B;

competence to perform creative, procedural Appendix D; Appendix E;
and non-procedural design and synthesis of
Project File
components, systems, engineering works,
products or processes.
5. Engineering methods, skills and tools, 3,; 4; 5; Appendix B;
including Information Technology: Appendix C; Appendix D;
Demonstrate competence to use appropriate
Appendix E; User Manual
engineering methods, skills and tools, including
those based on information technology.
6: Professional and technical 2; 3; Project Proposal; Progress
communication: Demonstrate competence to Report; Preliminary Draft; Final
communicate effectively, both orally and in Report; Oral Presentation, Project
writing, with engineering audiences and the Poster; User Manual
community at large.
8. Individual, team and multi-disciplinary 3; 4; 5; Appendix B;
working: Demonstrate competence to work Appendix C; Appendix D;
effectively as an individual, in teams and in
Appendix E
multi-disciplinary environments.
9: Independent learning ability: Demonstrate 2; 3; Appendix F; Appendix G;
competence to engage in independent learning Appendix H; Appendix I
through well-developed learning skills.
References

v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Appreciation is gratefully acknowledged to Mr. R.W. Haines from the

Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at Stellenbosch
University for his direction in this project, as well as to Mr. Cobus Zietsman
for his help with the setup of the lab experiments and his assistance with
the accurate calibration of the digital air flow meter instrument designed
and implemented in this project.

vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................... ix

LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................... xi

NOMENCLATURE .................................................................................... xii

1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1

2. LITERATURE STUDY ....................................................................... 4

2.1. Introduction .................................................................................... 4
2.2. Bio-fuels Test Facility .................................................................... 4
2.3. Classes of Air Flow Sensors ........................................................ 6
2.4. Laminar Flow ................................................................................. 6
2.5. Reynolds Number ......................................................................... 7
2.6. Laminar Flow Meters .................................................................... 7
2.7. Ricardo Alcock Flow Meter .......................................................... 8
2.8. Computation of Volume Flow Rate .............................................. 9
2.9. Volumetric Efficiency................................................................... 10
2.10. ISO Standard for Laminar Flow Meters .................................... 10
2.11. Summary ...................................................................................... 11
3. FLOW METER DESIGN .................................................................. 12
3.1. Introduction .................................................................................. 12
3.2. Concept Design Requirements .................................................. 12
3.3. Preferred Concept Selection ...................................................... 13
3.4. Air flow meter system components ........................................... 14
3.5. Summary ...................................................................................... 26
4. DIGITAL METER DESIGN OVERVIEW .......................................... 27
4.1. Introduction .................................................................................. 27
4.2. Laminar Inlet air Flow Meter System ......................................... 27
4.3. Processing Unit Function Keys .................................................. 28
4.4. Processing Unit Software Flowchart ......................................... 30
4.5. Calculating Pressure from Digital Transducer .......................... 30
4.6. Temperature and Atmospheric Compensation ........................ 31
4.7. LFE Reynolds Number ............................................................... 34
4.8. Pulsation Warning Indicator Feature ......................................... 35
4.9. Data Logging to Computer ......................................................... 36
4.10. Summary of Flow Meter Features ............................................. 37
4.11. ISO Definition of Uncertainty ...................................................... 38
4.12. Summary ...................................................................................... 39

vii
5. EXPERIMENTS & TEST RESULTS ................................................ 40
5.1. Introduction .................................................................................. 40
5.2. Experimental Goals and Objectives .......................................... 40
5.3. Experiment 1: Linear ΔP/qv Relationship ?............................... 40
5.4. Experiment 2: System Pressure Drop ....................................... 43
5.5. Experiment 3: Calibration and Repeatability ............................ 45
5.6. Experiment 4: Pulsation and Field Test .................................... 47
5.7. Summary ...................................................................................... 48
6. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS................................................... 49

7. REFERENCES ................................................................................ 51

APPENDIX A: PROJECT TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.................. 53

APPENDIX B: CIRCUIT SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM ................................... 55

APPENDIX C: SOFTWARE FLOWCHART.............................................. 57

APPENDIX D: FLOW METER SOFTWARE SOURCE CODE ................. 59

APPENDIX E: LFE DESIGN CAD DRAWINGS ....................................... 61

APPENDIX F: FLOW METER TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS .............. 67

APPENDIX G: FLOW METER CALIBRATION CURVE ........................... 71

APPENDIX H: FLOW METER DATALOGGING SAMPLE ....................... 74

APPENDIX I: GANTT CHART FOR DEVELOPMENT ............................. 76

APPENDIX J: COST BREAKDOWN FOR DEVELOPMENT ................... 78

viii
LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1: Laminar airflow measurement principle (IQS, 2011) ............................. 1

Figure 2: System architecture for proposed air flow meter system ....................... 2
Figure 3: Cycles of operation of internal combustion engine (Persoons, 2006) .... 4
Figure 4: Typical pulsating flow of intake air stream (Persoons, 2006) ................ 5
Figure 5: Air flow pattern in single cylinder, four stroke engine (Persoons, 2006) 5
Figure 6: Laminar vs Turbulent pressure/flow rate relations (McGill, 2011) ......... 6
Figure 7: Poiseuille law holds where tube Ø <<< tube length .............................. 8
Figure 8: Construction of Ricardo Alcock Laminar Flow Element......................... 9
Figure 9: General construction of LFE and housing (Dearborn, 1961) ............... 13
Figure 10: Construction of LFE honeycomb structure (Dearborn, 1961) ............ 14
Figure 11: Construction of Exhaust Catalyst as potential LFE (Reference) ........ 16
Figure 12: Catalyst Substrates: (left) Metal and (right) Ceramic......................... 16
Figure 13: Ceramic Catalyst Substrate as potential LFE Matrix ......................... 16
Figure 14: CAD design drawing for the proposed LFE housing ......................... 18
Figure 15: Cutaway of the designed LFE metering matrix assembly ................. 19
Figure 16: Construction of the designed LFE assembly ..................................... 20
Figure 17: Air filer fitted to laminar flow element inlet ......................................... 20
Figure 18: Filter to prevent ceramic particles/dust entering engine .................... 21
Figure 19: Schematic diagram of pressure transducer design (AMSYS, 2009).. 22
Figure 20: Pressure Transducer Ports & Connections (AMSYS, 2009) ............. 22
Figure 21: Pressure transducer housing and assembly ..................................... 23
Figure 22: Pressure transducer cable assembly with connectors ...................... 23
Figure 23: Schematic diagram for microcontrollerto transducer bus .................. 24
Figure 24: Schematic diagram for microcontroller functions key bus ................. 25
Figure 25: Schematic diagram for microcontroller LCD bus ............................... 25
Figure 26: Flow meter processing unit & electronics in stainless enclosure ....... 26
Figure 27: LCD screenshots of the air flow meter processing unit ..................... 27
Figure 28: Key Functions Keys for the Air Flow Measurement System .............. 28

ix
Figure 29: LCD Screenshot showing Reynolds Number of LFE......................... 34
Figure 30: Screenshot of Flow Measurement System ....................................... 35
Figure 31: Processing unit and USB computer connection ................................ 36
Figure 32: Processing unit and USB computer connection ................................ 36
Figure 33: Experimental setup for calibration of air flow meter .......................... 41
Figure 34: Volume flow rate vs. pressure drop over the LFE (P 1-P2) ................. 42
Figure 35: System pressure drop experiment setup .......................................... 43
Figure 36: Volume flow rate vs. pressure drop over entire LFE ......................... 44
Figure 37: Volume flow rate vs. pressure drop (P 1-P2), calibration data ............. 45
Figure 38: LFE Calibration & Repeatability graph .............................................. 46
Figure 39: LFE connected to VW Golf 1.9TDi engine test setup ........................ 47
Figure 40: Schematic diagram for the Inlet Air Flow Meter ................................ 56
Figure 41: Flow Chart for the inlet air flow meter processing unit software ........ 58
Figure 42: CAD Drawing of Laminar Flow Element (3D Composite body) ......... 62
Figure 43: CAD Drawing of Laminar Flow Element (3D Exploded view) ............ 63
Figure 44: CAD Drawing of Laminar Flow Element (Inlet element) .................... 64
Figure 45: CAD Drawing of Laminar Flow Element (flow element sleeve) ......... 65
Figure 46: CAD Cutaway of Laminar Flow Element Assembly .......................... 66
Figure 47: Inlet Air Flow Meter Calibration Curve (14 Oct 2011) ........................ 72

x
LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 1: List of concept design features and requirements ................................ 12

Table 2: Inlet air flow meter system components and functions ......................... 14
Table 3: Reynolds for Ceramic Substrate on VW Golf TDI 1.9l parameters ....... 17
Table 4: List of flow units displayed through F1 and F2 keys ............................. 29
Table 5: Volumetric Flow Rate Temperature Compensation (Meriam, 2011) ..... 33
Table 6: Equipment to determine Linear ΔP/qv Relationship .............................. 40
Table 7: Inlet air flow meter pressure differential specification ........................... 46
Table 8: Inlet air flow meter system performance .............................................. 48
Table 9: Digital Inlet Air Flow Meter: Technical Specifications ........................... 68
Table 10: Inlet Air Flow Meter Calibration Table (14 Oct 2011).......................... 73
Table 11: Inlet Air Flow Meter Datalogging Example ......................................... 75
Table 12: Gantt Chart for Inlet Air Flow Meter Development.............................. 77
Table 13: Actual Cost Breakdown for Inlet Air Flow Meter Development ........... 79

xi
NOMENCLATURE

Mechanical
ISO International Standards Organization
MAF MAF mass air flow system
Rpm revolutions per minute
K isentropic exponent
m mass of medium
P static pressure
∆P differential pressure
q flow rate, rate of flow
qm mass flow rate, rate of mass flow
qV volume flow rate, rate of volume flow
qV_c calibrated (calibration curve) rate of volume flow
qV_a actual (temperature compensated ) volume flow rate
qV_s standard (temperature/pressure compensated) volume flow rate
Re Reynolds number
Rep pipe Reynolds number
Red orifice or throat Reynolds number)
SI International Units of Standard
T Temperature
u flow velocity
β diameter ratio
ηV volumetric efficiency
μ Viscosity
ρ Density
pressure ratio
Ø diameter of tube

Electrical/Electronic
ADC Analog to Digital Conversion
CAN Controller Area Network
Counts Resolution of Digital/Analog Convertor
CPU Central processing unit
DAC Digital to Analog Conversion
DSP Digital Signal Processor
HIL Hardware‐in‐the‐Loop

xii
I Current (Ampere)
I/O Input / Output
I2C Inter - Integrated Circuit Digital Interface
LED Light emitting diode
LCD Liquid Crystal Display
MEMS Micro‐Electromechanical Systems
OBC Onboard Computer
PC Personal Computer
PCB Printed Circuit Board
R Resistance Ohm
RF Radio Frequency
SRS System Requirements Specification
UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter
URS User Requirements Specification
USB Universal Serial Bus
V Volts
Ω Resistance - Ohm

xiii
1. INTRODUCTION

The objective of this project is to design, manufacture and test an inlet air flow
meterto measure the mass flow rate of atmospheric air into an engine during engine
dynamometer tests using Bio-fuel formulations.
The inlet air flow meter needs to be developed to determine the air-fuel ratio and
volumetric efficiency of the engine. Real-time measurement of the mass flow rate of
the inlet air is required and during operation the meter must not influence the
volumetric efficiency and performance of the engine.
The meter will be designed to accommodate a wide range of mass flow rates
including pulsating flows typical of single-cylinder engines. The output of the meter
will be displayed on a visual display and will include a computer interface for
downloading the data on the Dynamometer computer system.
One class of air flow meters remains accurate despite pulsating flows are laminar
flow meters (Dearborn, 1961). These meters typically include laminar flow elements
to effect smoothing of the airflow stream over the laminar measurement section.
This causes a pressure differential over the measuring section, which differential is
linearly proportional to the fluid volume flow rate.
The primary device may be anorifice plate, a nozzle, a venturi tube, or parallel
laminar tubes as shown in Figure 1.

∆p

Figure 1: Laminar airflow measurement principle (IQS, 2011)

The operating principle of a laminar air flow measurement is based on the

installation of a primary device into a pipeline in which a fluid is running full.
The insertion of theprimary device causes a static pressure difference between the
upstream side and the throat or downstream side of the air flow measuring device
which, under laminar flow conditions, relates to the volumetric flow rate.
The international measurement standard ISO 5167 (ISO, 2003) defines terms and
symbols and establishes the general principles for methods of measurement and
computation of the flow rate of fluid flowing in a conduit by means of pressure

1
differential devices (orifice plates, nozzles and venturi tubes), which are typically
inserted into a circular cross-section conduit.
ISO 5167 specifies the general requirements for methods of measurement,
installation and determination of the uncertainty of the measurement of flow rate
(ISO, 2003) as well as pipe size and Reynolds number for which these pressure
differential devices are to be used.
The airflow rate can thus be calculated accurately from the measured value of the
pressure difference over the primary device as well as from the knowledge of the
characteristics of the flowing fluid and the application (Upp, 2002).
Figure 2 depicts a high level overview or system architecture for the proposed
development of a high precision laminar airflow meter in block diagram format. This
diagram shows the various components of the inlet air flow meter system.

Air flow measurement Intake Engine Dyno Test

Laminar Flow Element (LFE)

Signal Transducer

Pressure and Temperature

Transducers

Processing Unit
Datalog Station

Digital Micro Controller

Function Keys/ LCD Screen/

User input User output

Figure 2: System architecture for proposed air flow meter system

This project report describes the design, development and testing of a fully digital
flow measurement system, which incorporate features such as flow measurement
in different ISO units, atmospheric and temperature compensation, pulsation

2
warning indicator, Reynolds number updates, data logging to computer, and a
sweep (oscilloscope) display of flow rate.
The description of the development is done in terms of Figure 2, where it is
illustrated that an airflow measurement systemtypically comprises of different
components which interfaces with others to create an air flow measurement
system. These components include:
Laminar Flow Element – Section containing a matrix measurement section
where differential pressure/ temperature parameters are taken.
Signal Transducers – Signal transducers to convert the pressure, differential
pressure and temperature parameters into digital signals.
Digital Microcontroller – Heart of the system which interfaces to all the
components and executes the main control for the flow measurement while
performing calibration lookup and flow rate compensation.
User interface – It is responsible for displaying user menu options and data
parameters on an LCD screen while accommodating user input through a
set of functions keys.
Data logging Station – This contains the hardware for communication with
the Personal Computer (PC) through USB interface to store the flow
measurement parameters.

The design and development of an inlet air flow meter and system will be described
in terms of the development activities detailed below.
Chapter 2 describes the literature study for the project while Chapter 3 describes
the proposed design solutions, drawings, schematics and assemblies for the main
components of the inlet air flow meter system are discussed and detailed. Then,
Chapter 4 provides an overview of the system and design features. Chapter 5
describes the experiments and test results, while Chapter 6 provides a summary,
conclusions and directions for future research. References and literature resources
related to the project are listed in Chapter 7.
Appendix A provides a broad economic analysis of the airflow meter system and
development project. The circuit diagrams of the electronic designs, user interfaces,
pressure transducer, data bus interface and microcontroller are detailed in
Appendix B. Appendix C shows the microcontroller software flowchart with a portion
of the associated microcontroller software source code given in Appendix D.
The CAD design drawings for the laminar flow element and measuring matrix are
given in Appendix E. This is followed by the air flow meter Technical Specifications
in Appendix F and the air flow meter Calibration Curve attached in Appendix G.
Appendix H shows a data logging sample run of the inlet air flow meter during a test
run on a VW Golf engine. Project Managements issues are detailed in Appendix I
and J respectively showing the Gantt chart for the development as well as a cost
analysis and breakdown for each of the development activities.

3
2. LITERATURE STUDY
2.1. Introduction
This chapter details the literature study and describes the practical problems faced
with air flow meter systems. The discussion serves as motivation for the
development of an inlet airflow meter while introducing the theories behind the
design and development of an inlet air flow meter.
This chapter also studies the literature on airflow sensors, elements and meters to
determine the current level of airflow measurement technology and to identify
existing airflow measurement strategies for inlet combustion systems.
The categories of applications will be investigated from the perspective of the
demands placed on the flow meters as well as for applications suitable for airflow
measurement in pulsating airflow systems (Benjamin, 2001), (Harrison, 2004).

2.2. Bio-fuels Test Facility

The existing engine test laboratory at the University of Stellenbosch already
provides for basic bio-diesel (Eisentraut, 2011) engine testing.
This infrastructure and apparatus could be used to provide better support for the
bio-ethanol research and the inlet air flow meter designed in this project will be
utilised to measure the airflow rate of the engine air intake during engine tests on a
dynamometer engine test bench.
The inlet air flow of an internal combustion engine can vary widely. The flow rate
can range from a very low level to a very high level which makes it difficult to
accurately measure the flow. Most flow measurement devices are not capable of
maintaining their sensitivity over such a wide range. However, intake turbulations
can lead to inaccurate measurements (Hinze, 1959).
An air flow meteris used to measure various aspects of the flow of air, such as the
volume of the air, the speed of the air or the mass of the air. Air flow meters are
frequently used to infer mass flow after taking various flow measurements such as
absolute pressure, differential pressure, viscosity and temperature as air flows.
The four strokes or cycles of a four stroke internal combustion engine are shown in
Figure 3. As the position of the cylinder changes to follow the cycles of operation of
a four stroke combustion engine, the airflow at the intake valve would change.

Figure 3: Cycles of operation of internal combustion engine (Persoons, 2006)

4
Internal combustion engines can further produce step changes in intake flow rate
for very short time periods. This flow rate often pulsates and can even reverse its
flow direction due to the abrupt closure of the intake valve channel.

Figure 4 shows a typical example of these turbulences in the flow pattern of a

single cylinder, four stroke and diesel engine. In such single cylinder engines,
accurate flow rate measurement becomes even more difficult since forward and
reverse flows cause substantial turbulences in the airflow stream.
In general, flow meters are not capable of reacting to quick flow changes, while
maintaining their sensitivity with reverse air flow streams. This has been a
challenge researched since the early 1950’s (Gordon, 1961).

Figure 4: Typical pulsating flow of intake air stream (Persoons, 2006)

Engine cylinder air flow simulation(IQS, 2011) indicates negative airflow stream
patterns (as much as -40m/s), describing reverse airflow pulses flowing back into
the inlet manifold and tube as a result of abrupt valve closures (Hinze, 1959).
One example of pulses causing an error in flow rate measurement is shown in
Figure 5 (between crank angles 360° to 540°). These pulses are particularly
noticeable in single cylinder engines (Francis, 2002).

Figure 5: Air flow pattern in single cylinder, four stroke engine (Persoons, 2006)
The reverse air flow due to valve closure causes pulsation can clearly be observed
in Figure 5. The red area under main intake pulse contour reflects the volume of air
flowing into the cylinder chamber. Since pulses and turbulences in the inlet airflow
stream causes errors in the measurement of the volume and mass flow rate, a
solution is required to average or smooth the flow.

5
It must be noted that the air flow rate pattern observed in Figure 5 was measured
directly at the valve intake making it easy to observe the exact air flow pattern
during a single intake stroke.

2.3. Classes of Air Flow Sensors

Air flow sensors can be categorized in terms of the air flow principles used in
measuring the air flow. These principles allows for different technologies used in the
precise measurement of the airflow rate and mass airflow rate (ASME, 1971).
Different air flow types can be measured using different air flow meters. In general
an airflow stream can either be: Laminar, Turbulent or any intermediate between
these two extremes, called marginally laminar or disturbed laminar flow.
Air flow meters vary in how they obtain and report a readings but the list of parts
may include pressure ports, bellows, spindles, pinions, gear mechanisms, gauges,
cell caps, magnets, sensors, pistons, and electronic parts (Reuter, 2001).

2.4. Laminar Flow

Laminar flow is a specific condition of flow of a fluid where there is minimum
turbulence. In general, fluid in the center of a tube flows faster since the flow is less
prone to influences from wall turbulences. This means that the flow is less turbulent
in the centre or more laminar, while the fluid flowing along the tube walls in general
remains slower(Thomas, 2001).
Figure 6 shows the general relationship between volume flow rate and air flow
pressure for laminar and turbulent flows. This graph shows that laminar flow results
in a linear relationship. Under laminar flow conditions, the pressure difference
between two points along a tube is directly proportional to the volumetric flow rate.

Figure 6: Laminar vs Turbulent pressure/flow rate relations (McGill, 2011)

Under these conditions, flow is generally laminar, but some localized chaotic fluid
movements can be observed in Figure 6. These turbulent flows are referred to as
Eddies or Eddie currents. Eddies occur where the tube narrows or branches, or
where there are irregularities in the tube surface (McGill, 2011).

6
2.5. Reynolds Number
The Reynolds number determines if flow will be laminar or turbulent. This is a
dimensionless value because it expresses the ratio of two identical units.
One can predict whether flow in a tube will be laminar or turbulent from the
Reynolds Number (Re). Flow tends to be turbulent when Re is greater than
2000 and laminar when Re is less than 2000. Although this is only an
approximation, the rule holds for any fluid.
Flow in a system can be determined by calculating the Reynolds Number (Re)
(McGill, 2011):
Re= Ø v ρ / μ (1)
Where: Re= Reynolds Number;
ρ = density of the fluid (g/ml);
Ø = diameter of the tube (cm);
v = average velocity (cm/s);
μ = viscosity of the fluid (g/ s.cm).
If ρ, μ and v for a fluid are constant, then tube diameter (Ø) is the greatest
determinant of Reynolds number. This provides an indication of the importance of
the diameter (Ø) of the laminar flow element matrix metering section tubes.

2.6. Laminar Flow Meters

According to the International ISO standards (ISO, 2003), the principle of the
method of one type of flow measurement is based on the installation of a primary
device (such as an orifice plate, a nozzle or a venturi tube) into a pipeline in which a
fluid is running full.
The installation of the primary device causes a static pressure difference between
the upstream side and the throat or downstream side of the device. The flow rate
can be determined from the measured value of this pressure difference and from
the knowledge of the characteristics of the flowing fluid as well as the
circumstances under which the device is being used.
The underlying principle of operation of laminar flow meters is governed by
Poiseuille's law. Through this principle, the flow rate and volumetric flow rate of
airflow of a fluid can be determined by creating a pressure drop across a unique
internal restriction, in this case the LFE, while measuring differential pressure
across this element (Ø<<<Length).
The static pressure tapping should ideally be separate from the tapings provided for
measuring the differential pressure. However, it is permissible to link simultaneously
one pressure tapping with a differential pressure measuring device and a static
pressure measuring device, provided that it is verified that this double connection
does not lead to any distortion of the differential pressure (ISO, 2003).
In mathematical terms, the Poiseuille equation holds for the tube air flow model and
conditions given in Figure 7 (Dearborn, 1961).

7
 ∆p

Ø
Figure 7: Poiseuille law holds where tube Ø <<< tube length
The differential pressure is used to calculate the airflow rate and volumetric airflow
rate from the LFE Calibration Flow Curve (more accurate) or by using the Poiseuille
equation (less accurate). The Poiseuille equation states (Cengel, 2006):

qV = (P1- P2) π Ø4 / 128μ L (2)

Where: qV= volumetric flow rate;

P1 =Static pressure at the high pressure (inlet) port;
P2 =Static pressure at the low pressure (outlet) port;
Ø = Diameter of the restriction;
μ = absolute viscosity of the fluid;
L = Length of the restriction.

Since π, r and L are constant; Equation 2 can be rewritten as:

qV = K (ΔP/μ ) (3)
Where K is a constant factor determined by the geometry of the restriction.
Equation 3 shows the linear relationship between volumetric flow rate (qV)
differential pressure (ΔP) and absolute viscosity (μ) in a simpler form.
Any method of determining reliable values of the density, static pressure and
temperature of the fluid is acceptable if it does not interfere with the distribution of
the flow in any way at the cross-section where measurement is made.
It is assumed that the device is geometrically similar to one on which calibration has
been carried out if the conditions of use are the same, see ISO 5167 (ISO, 2003).

2.7. Ricardo Alcock Flow Meter

The Ricardo Alcock air flow meter is designed to eliminate the serious errors which arise
with pulsating flow. These errors are due partly to root-mean-square effects, and partly
to the effect of the flow in and out of the pressure/manometer connections due to the
pressure variations (Dearborn, 1961).
The underlying principle of operation of the Ricardo Alcock laminar flow meter is the
Poiseuille law. The differential pressure is used to calculate the airflow rate and
volumetric airflow rate from the LFE Calibration Flow Curve (more accurate) or by
using the Poiseuille equation (less accurate).The Ricardo Alcock laminar flow air
meter arrangement is shown diagrammatically in Figure 8 (Cussons, 1981):

8
 Figure 8: Construction of Ricardo Alcock Laminar Flow Element
In the Ricardo Alcock laminar flow air meter arrangement shown in Figure 8, the air
enters through an air filter and then passes through the laminar flow element, which is
made up of alternate layers of flat and corrugated strip metal wound upon a core or
alternatively honeycomb ceramic substrate (Cussons, 1981).
In the Ricardo Alcock air flow meter, the Matrix Meter Element is a honeycomb of long
narrow round, triangular or square passages, typically around 76 mm long and 0.43 mm
in height. Within the working range, the flow through these passages is viscous and the
resistance of the element is, therefore, directly proportional to the velocity. This fact
eliminates the root--mean--square error (Cussons, 1981).
Pressure taps are provided with felt pads to render the flow therein viscous, which
eliminates the "manometer connection" errors. Experiments have shown that in a meter
of this type, the manometer head is practically proportional to the flow velocity, and that
even a very irregular flow, as produced by a single cylinder engine, without any
smoothing does not cause significant error (Cussons, 1981).
These meters are not absolute standards and each flow element must be
experimentally calibrated. The meter is operated in series with an orifice box from which
air is being drawn through by a centrifugal blower. By this means, a calibration curve
relating volume flow to pressure drop across the meter is obtained.

2.8. Computation of Volume Flow Rate

The air flow rate is defined as the amount of fluid moving into the engine inlet per
second. This measurement is also required to calculate the volumetric efficiency
(Loesing, 1989).
With the parameters of the specific air flow meter element known, the air flow rate
can be converted to the instantaneous volume of flow. In practice, this calculation is
done from a table (or graph) typically drawn up as part of the calibration of the
airflow sensor element (Meriam, 2008), (Meriam, 2011).
It is necessary to know the density and the viscosity of the fluid at working
conditions. In the case of a compressible fluid, it is also necessary to know the
isentropic exponent of the fluid at working conditions.
In calculating the air mass flow from the air flow rate, the density of the gas must be
known (mass = volume x density). The density of the gas changes with

9
temperature, pressure and viscosity and therefore the conversion of volumetric flow
rate to mass flow rate require knowledge of these parameters also.
Measurements taken at any other conditions should be corrected for any possible
expansion or contraction of the primary device and the pipe due to the values of the
temperature and pressure of the fluid during the measurement.

2.9. Volumetric Efficiency

For internal combustion engine design, Volumetric Efficiency (η V) refers to the
efficiency with which the engine can move the air into and out of the cylinders.
Volumetric Efficiency (η V) is given as the amount of air actually drawn into the
cylinder, compared to the amount of air that the piston would draw into the engine
cylinder assuming that there is no restrictions in the inlet tract. This is the ratio of
how much mixture gets into the cylinders while the engine is running compared to
how much air gets into the engine under static conditions.
Volumetric efficiency is an important parameter in the Bio-fuels research
environment since it provides a comparative measure when engine torque is
evaluated at different engine speeds and where air flow volume should be used as
a normalization parameter.
In mathematical terms, the Volumetric Efficiency in pulsating or steady flow streams
is calculated as the volume flow rate of air into the intake system divided by the rate
at which volume is displaced by the piston (Kastner, 1953):

η V = 2 qm / ρ Vd N (4)

where: η V = overall volumetric efficiency of engine;

qm = mass of air inducted into the cylinder per cycle;
ρ = inlet air density;
Vd = displacement volume of an individual cylinder;
N = number of cylinders.

The design of an inlet manifold can use pressure pulse integrations and resonances
in the manifolds to achieve volumetric efficiencies higher than 100% (Park, 1998).
Along with optimised valve timing, one can get the best possible configuration of
combustion products from the cylinder during and after the exhaust stroke.

2.10. ISO Standard for Laminar Flow Meters

ISO 5167 (ISO, 2003) is applicable to flow that remains subsonic throughout the
measuring section and where the fluid can be considered as single-phase. It is not
applicable to the measurement of pulsating flow (ISO 5167-2:2003, Measurement
of fluid flow by means of pressure differential devices inserted in circular cross-
section conduits running full).

10
ISO 5167 use definitions are used to describe flow characteristics (ISO, 2003):
Static pressure of fluid flowing through pipeline (p): pressure can be measured
by connecting a pressure-measuring device to a wall pressure tapping.
Differential pressure (∆P): difference between the (static) pressures measured at
the wall pressure taps (upstream side and downstream side).
Wall pressure tapping: slot or circular hole drilled in the wall of a conduit in such a
way that the edge of the hole is flush with the internal surface of the conduit.
pressure ratio ): ratio of the absolute (static) pressure at the downstream
pressure tapping to the absolute (static) pressure at the upstream pressure tap.
Diameter ratio (β): of a primary device used in a given pipe〉 ratio of the diameter
of the orifice or throat of the primary device tothe internal diameter of the measuring
pipe upstream of the primary device.
Flow rate, rate of flow (q): mass or volume of fluid passing through the orifice (or
throat) per unit time.
Massflow rate, rate of mass flow (qm): mass of fluid passing through the orifice
(or throat) per unit time (SI - kg/s).
Volumeflow rate, rate of volume flow (qV): volume of fluid passing through the
orifice (or throat) per unit time. In the case of volume flow rate, it is necessary to
state the pressure and temperature at which the volume isreferenced (SI - m3/s).
Reynolds number (Re): dimensionless parameter expressing the ratio between the
inertia and viscous forces.
Isentropic exponent (Қ): ratio of the relative variation in pressure to the
corresponding relative variation in density under elementaryreversible adiabatic
(isentropic) transformation conditions.
Temperature (T): absolute (thermodynamic) temperature of the fluid. The
temperature of the fluid shall preferably be measured downstream of the primary
device and the thermometer well or pocket shall take up as little space.
Pulsating flow conditions: Flow is considered as being pulsating when the root
mean square value of the fluctuating component of the differential pressure is larger
than 10% of the time-mean value of the differential pressure.

2.11. Summary
This chapter described the literature study as well as the categories of flow meter
technology. The chapter discussed the design of the class of laminar flow meters
and introduced the Ricardo Alcock air flow meter as well as the flow meter’s operating
principle through the Poiseuille law. The ISO standards for inlet air flow meters were
also introduced with the definitions and guidelines to the design and testing of inlet
air flow meters.
The discussion is the next chapter will introduce the design of a new laminar flow
element using the ceramic substrate of an exhaust catalyst as laminar flow element
to cause a pressure drop in the airflow stream.

11
3. FLOW METER DESIGN
3.1. Introduction
The previous chapters discussed the existing technology as well as potential design
concepts and features that may be incorporated into the proposed inlet air flow
meter design.
This chapter will discuss the design of a new laminar flow element using the
ceramic substrate of an exhaust catalyst as laminar flow element to cause a
pressure differential in the airflow stream. This pressure difference will be used to
determine the volumetric flow rate through calibration measures, from which the
mass air flow rate and volumetric efficiency will be computed.
Detailed design drawings, schematic diagrams and well as photographs of the
assembly of the different components of the designed inlet air flow meter will be
discussed and shown in Appendix B to F.

3.2. Concept Design Requirements

The technical requirements for the Inlet Airflow meter as well as the data transfer
requirements will be chosen and compiled. A list of evaluation criteria will also be
used to compare the different airflow strategies and concepts used in the
automotive and dynamometer industries.
Table 1 below lists the features and requirements envisaged to be achieved
through the preferred concept. The priorities in the Table will be considered and
verified during the design phase while the cost factor will be evaluated in terms of
High, Medium and Low implementation cost (Loesing, 1989).

Table 1: List of concept design features and requirements

Priority Feature Cost Factor
A Laminar airflow element (laminar flow High
measurement)
A Pulsating flow damping (long ceramic element) High
A Not interfering with air flow stream High
A Wide volume flow range, (swop shields) High
A Measure volume flow rates between 0 to High
0.2m3/s (TDIclub, 2011)
A Sensors remote user IO (20m) Low
A Dyno robustness Milspec connectors High
A Digitalcommunications (noise RF, heat, losses) Medium
A LCD menu IO select interface Low
B Large user display, visibility Medium
B Display variety units of standards Low
A Data logging to PC on USB Port Low
C Sensor connect verification continuous Low

12
 C Performs battery check, screen dim Low
A Atmospheric barometric temp compensation High
C Continuous sensor connect checking Low
C Flow element thick PVC, temperature neutral Low
A Filter for air and inlet dust filtering Medium
B Moisture condensation absorbing ceramic Low
C Instrumentation in carry case Medium
B Flow element foot piece& mounting bracket Medium
C Flow element, no chemical reaction, gasses Low

The above shortlist of the features have been compiled and these features have
driven the decision to design and develop a laminar flow measurement system
using a unique honeycomb structure to create a pressure drop in a laminar based
flow measurement strategy. The next section will describe the preferred concept
selection as well as the associated electronics and processing platforms which will
be selected to implement the proposed inlet air flow meter.

3.3. Preferred Concept Selection

The findings of the preceding activities were discussed in order to obtain input and
approval for the preferred concept and to be able to select a concept based on the
design requirements and features listed in Table 1.
The preferred concept and mechanical design will be based on the Ricardo Alcock
Laminar Flow Element (Dearborn, 1961) but incorporating into this design feature of
the Meriam laminar flow element and meter (Meriam, 2008) with some innovative
electronic and software features. This design and features will be discussed in the
rest of this Chapter.
Figure 9 represents the general structural elements of a Meriam laminar flow
element and flow meter (Dearborn, 1961).

Figure 9: General construction of LFE and housing (Dearborn, 1961)

This laminar inlet air flow meter will be designed around the specification
parameters. The calibration and test procedures will also be defined as part of this
activity. Calibration parameters will be given in the next chapter.

13
The Meriam laminar flow element consists of a rigid material housing with inlet and
outlet connections, pressure taps and a metering section of matrix material as
shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10: Construction of LFE honeycomb structure (Dearborn, 1961)

Upstream and downstream are flow straighteners made of the same matrix material
as the metering section. The flow straighteners are shorter to straighten the flow
and not to cause secondary pressure drops. The flow straighteners also act as
pressure pulse dampeners in applications where pulsation may cause volume flow
measurement errors (Dearborn, 1961).
In order to further reduce pulsation errors, the laminar flow element may be
connected to the engine manifold/carburettor though a short piece of resilient hose.
In severe pulsation, it may be necessary to incorporate a volume chamber between
the flow element and manifold or carburettor (Dearborn, 1961).
The fluid passing through the metering system creates a pressure differential, which
is measured on a differential pressure sensing instrument. The differential pressure
is recorded and the calibration chart provided. The chart plots volume flow versus
differential pressure.
For precision work, the differential pressure reading should be multiplied by a
temperature correction factor (ISO, 2003). Temperature correction factor
tables/charts may be compiled in calibration tests.

3.4. Air flow meter system components

This section will now describe each of the air flow meter system components in
more detail whilst a preferred concept will be discussed.
In order to assist with the discussion, the functions of each of the inlet air flow meter
components are given and detailed in Table 2 below.The design and assembly for
each of the components of the inlet air flow meter in Table 2 will be described in the
next section using engineering drawings, schematics, as well as photographs and
illustrations of assembly (with reference to the designs in Appendix B to F):

Table 2: Inlet air flow meter system components and functions

Component System Component’s Function
Laminar flow 1. To reduce turbulence and enforces laminar flow,
element Metering 2. Ensure laminar flow action & ensuring differential

14
 Matrix pressure
3. To limit return airflow and reduce air flow pulsation
4. Introduce a pressure differential which can be used
to compute the volumetric flow rate
Laminar element 1. The function of the body is to accept air at the air
body inlet end, which may be connected to an air filter, and
provides an outlet connection, connected to the
intake manifold or carburettor systems of a
combustion engine
2. Connecting ends and housing laminar flow elements
3. Tap points Interfaces for sensor connectors
4. Act as pulsation dampener, reducing air flow
pulsations and reverse flow
5. Connecting air filter to intake
Signal transducer 1. Differential pressure sensors measure absolute
or electronic pressure at tap points Measure differences and
sensors absolute pressure
2. Temperature sensor to measure the medium flow
temperature
3. Convert these pressure and temperature reading
signals into high accuracy digital signals to be
transmitted to the processing unit
Digital data 1. Functions keys or keyboard type user interface to
processing unit program setup data and menu option selection
and computer 2. Reading the differential pressure
interface 3. Calculate mass airflow & volumetric efficiency
4. Display results on small screen
5. Logging data in a file (or providing data on a
computer readable port)
6. Computer interface for (downloading data file to
computer or reading data from computer)

3.4.1. Laminar Flow Element Metering Matrix

The results from the literature study will be used to select the most suitable airflow
measurement concept(s) and which would be flexible enough to accommodate the
airflow parameters in the client specification.
Figure 11 shows the typical honeycomb structure of an automotive catalytic
convertor structure, which structure reminds of the laminar flow section of the
Ricardo Alcock laminar flow element shown earlier in Figures 10 & 11.

15
 Catalystic converter

Exhaust to tailpipe
Catalyst substrate

Figure 11: Construction of Exhaust Catalyst as potential LFE (Reference)

One solution is to employ the substrate flow technology used in exhaust (platinum)
catalysts as a Laminar Metering Matrix. The dimensions of the laminar tubes in the
ceramic and metal substrates meet the requirements of the Poiseuille given in
Equation 2 and might therefore prove to be an innovative and cost effective
laminar metering matrix solution.Figure 12 shows samples of exhaust catalyst
substrates, metal substrate on the left and ceramic substrate on the right
(Persoons, 2006).

Figure 12: Catalyst Substrates: (left) Metal and (right) Ceramic

The firm NGK Ceramics in Cape Town were contacted for ceramic substrates of the
required dimensions. This firm provided Ceramic Substrates for truck exhausts
shown in Figure 13 for this project.

Figure 13: Ceramic Catalyst Substrate as potential LFE Matrix

Reynolds Number calculations for the dimensions of these units also indicated that
promising laminar flow could be achieved over a wide range of flow rates (given in

16
Table 1) and these ceramic units have been selected as flow element metering
matrix and airflow straighteners for the air flow meter prototype design.
The firm Emitec in Germany, which produces metallic substrates, was also
contacted and firm indicated that it was able to supply low Reynolds metallic
substrate elements. However, Emitec was out of stock on elements with the correct
dimensions required to achieve flow rates closer to 0.2m3/s (as per Table 1).

3.4.2. Reynolds Calculations for LFE matrix

Using the dimensions of the exhaust catalyst substrate as a basis for Reynolds
Number calculations (given in Equation 1) has proven that metallic or ceramic
exhaust substrate structures will provide acceptable Reynolds flow numbers to
ensure laminar flow over a large spectrum of air and volumetric flow rates. These
calculations are shown below.
For the Golf TDI Turbo Diesel Engine the flow rate is given to be in the regionof
around 0.1369 at 4700rpm (TDIclub, 2011). This flow rate will be used as a
guideline to calculate the Reynolds number for the ceramic substrate shown in
Figure 13. The parameters used in the calculation of the Reynolds Number for the
Goff TDI engine running at 4700 rpm (through Equation 1) are listed in Table 3.

Table 3: Reynolds for Ceramic Substrate on VW Golf TDI 1.9l parameters

VW Golf TDI Parameters
Parameter Value Description
qV (max) 0.1369 m3/s Maximum flow rate that will be
achieved during operation at 4700rpm
µ 1.849x 10-5kg/m.s Viscosity of air at 25 degrees Celsius
3
ρ 1.184 kg/m Density of air at 25 degrees Celsius
Ceramic Substrate Matrix
Parameter Value Description
Ø-tube 2 mm Hydraulic diameter of small tubes in
ceramic laminar flow element
Ø_ceramic 190mm Outside diameter of ceramic laminar
flow element
L_ceramic 110mm Ceramic substrate tube length
A_ceramic 0.023m2 Area of the ceramic element in m2

Reynolds for Ceramic Substrate on VW Golf TDI 1.9l

v_ave qV (max) / A_ceramic Average air velocity through ceramic
= 4.828 m/s laminar flow element at max flow rate

Calculated Reynolds number at the

Re 618.374 maximum operating flow rate.

17
The parameters and calculation results in a Reynolds Number around Re = 618,
which indicates that the ceramic substrate supports laminar flow at the above flow
rates and temperature conditions rates and that an LFE design which incorporates
this measuring matrix will maintain laminar flow throughout the operating range at
measuring points. If the operating temperature should increase, then viscosity (μ)
will increase, resulting in a lower Reynolds number.
In the case where the operating temperature drops to 10 degrees Celsius, the
Reynolds number will remain below 700.
From these calculations it is clear that the air flow rate at the measuring points in
the flow meter will remain laminar for operating temperatures as low as 5 °C.
With the matrix metering element and flow straighteners secured for the project, the
next focus was on the development of a laminar flow body into which the ceramic
substrate matrix metering section could be fitted and secured.

3.4.3. Laminar flow element body

The function of the housing is to accept air from the inlet air filter and to provide an
outlet connection to the intake manifold or carburettor systems of a combustion
engine. The housing further serves to hold one or more sets of metering matrixes in
a stable configuration.
Figure 14 shows the CAD drawings for the LFE housing designed according to the
specifications of the ceramic matrix metering section obtained from NGK.

Figure 14: CAD design drawing for the proposed LFE housing

Included in Appendix E is a full set of CAD drawings for the LFE design, couplings
and ceramic measuring matrix and matrix housing sleeve.

18
In these design drawings, the laminar flow element matrix is housed inside a
conduit or cylindrically shaped body, consisting of one or more cylindrical sections
joined together with sealing flanges. In the axial direction, the two ends of the
housing body are tapered to extend into connecting ends of smaller radius. The
tapering is to reduce the retarding influence of air flow shear stressed along the
side walls towards the ends of the housing.
The designed body includes a sleeve section into which one or more laminar flow
element is embedded for protection and air leaks.The housing and sleeves should
be fabricated from rigid material, e.g. stainless steel, aluminum or high-impact PVC.
Figure 14 shows a cutaway of the designed LFE assebly, to show the location of
matrix metering section, the flow straighteners as well as the pressure taps installed
on the LFE housing.

Figure 15: Cutaway of the designed LFE metering matrix assembly

In order to save costs, commercially available PVC pipe couplings typically used in
water riticulation systems, was seen as a solution for the LFE body. The wall
thickness of the PVC couplings is roughly around 5mm, while standard sized PVC
piping is available to fit into the PVC couplings and which can be used as a sleeve
to secure the ceramic matrix metering section.
In Figure 16, there is shown theassembled implementation of the laminar flow
element housing design of Figures 14 & 15, inside spray painted PVC housing.
The geometric integrity of the housing in Figure 16 is important as it provides
permanent calibrations where there are no moving parts. Calibration shifts should
only be caused by deposition of particles inside the laminar flow sections or
physical damage to the laminar matrix.

19
 Figure 16: Construction of the designed LFE assembly
The PVC couplings and piping is ideal for an LFE body and is sufficiently rigid to be
used as housing for the LFE laminar matrix metering and flow straightener sections.
The ceramic substrate honeycomb forms the laminar flow section or laminar flow
element which is housed inside the protective sleeve shown in the centre of the
element in Figure 14 & 15. Across the laminar flow section, one or more pressure
taps are installed as points to measure the pressure drop across the laminar flow
element as illustrated in the cutaway drawing in Figure 15.
A sensor passageway configured to tap a portion of the gas flow from the main
conduit at a first location and at a second location. These differential pressure taps,
marked Red (high pressure port) and Blue (low pressure port) on the LFE in
Figures15 & 16, is mechanically connected to the differential pressure transducer
high pressure and low pressure ports.

3.4.4. Laminar Flow Element Filter

Meriam recommends (Dearborn, 1961) using a carbon trap or filter between the
flow element and manifold/carburettor when a laminar flow element is used in
applications/tests where backfiring is expected (Dearborn, 1961). This is
recommended as carbon deposits inside the matrix material will influence the flow
meter calibration and the carbon will cause permanent damage to the element.
Since the construction of laminar flow elements is of delicate nature, any particles
entering the flow meter may damage or clog the pressure matrix flow. For this
reason, the LFE is fitted with an intake filter which can be seen right in Figure 17.
The technical specification for the LFE inlet filter is given in Appendix F.

Figure 17: Air filer fitted to laminar flow element inlet

During the present development (with ceramic substrates), some concerns have
been expressed about the brittle nature of the ceramic catalyst substrate on the

20
inlet side of an internal combustion engine and the potential damage that this may
cause of such particles ends up in the engine cylinder.
For this reason a second airfilter was originally fitted inside the laminar flow element
on the downstream side as shown in Figure 18. This was to filter our any ceramic
particles and to prevent such from causing engine cylinder damage.

Figure 18: Filter to prevent ceramic particles/dust entering engine

However, practical tests with the ceramic particle dust filter proved that this filter
caused substantial changes in the volume flow rate as a result of the choking
interference caused by this filter. This filter element was subsequently removed and
the LFE used without this filter. It is therefore recommended that the laminar flow
element be connected to the engine through the engine intake air filter.

3.4.5. Laminar flow element installation considerations

Care should also be taken when the air flow element is used in applications which
include flow measurements of fluids other than air, as the fluid/gas (N, O, H, etc)
may chemically react with the laminar matrix or housing material.
One of the unique features of Laminar Mass Flow Meter is that the relationship
between pressure drop and air flow rate is linear and unique for each individual LFE
device or unit. The deviation between the real and the linear relationship is known
as the Calibration Flow Curve or Calibration Characteristics. Once determined, the
Calibration Characteristics are programmed into the microprocessor software to
accurately calibrate/adjust the readings to increase the accuracy of the instrument
over a wide airflow rate spectrum.
In practice, hose couplers fitted to the housing inlet and outlet play an important role
is anti-pulsation strategies and the hose could absorb air pulses through its flexing
capabilities. They also provide process and differential pressure connections
(Cussons, 1981).
The proposed inlet air flow meter design now includes a uniquely constructed
Laminar Flow Element (LFE) section secured inside a gradual PVC housing
enclosure. The LFE restriction is designedto force the intake airstream to move in
parallel paths along the entire length of the measuring passage, establishing
laminar airflow along the entire range of operation of the measuring device over
which a pressure drop can be measured to calculate the air flow rate.

21
3.4.6. Pressure transducer and sensors
The inlet flow meter further includes an electronic sensor apparatus or digital
pressure transducer for measuring the pressure drop through sensor
passagewaysas well as the absolute pressure and temperature in the LFE housing.
The AMS5812 digital pressure and temperature series was chosen for the
electronic design of the digital pressure transducer. The circuit schematic of the
pressure transducer design for the air flow meter is given in Figure 19.

Micro-controller

Figure 19: Schematic diagram of pressure transducer design (AMSYS, 2009)

The AMS5812 digital pressure sensor was selected for the inlet air flow meter
design as it is one of the few pressure sensors with better than 12 bit accuracy
(AMS range 14 to 24 bit accuracy). The chosen differential and absolute pressure
sensors have an accuracy of 16 bits (with provision for burst pressures the
accuracy reduces to 15 bit digital).
The AMS sensors have a ceramic base with metal pressure ports and a digital
interface for microcontroller applications. This digital pressure sensor is very
sensitive (39 mPa) and has a very sensitive (0.009 °C) digital temperature sensor
onboard, which measures temperature of a flow medium over time (AMSYS, 2009).
The pressure sensors uses I2C output signal protocols, making it necessary to
connect the I2C Signals (pins 4 & 5), the (+5V) supply voltage (pin 7), and supply
ground (pin 2) to the Processing Unit as indicated in Figure 20 (AMSYS, 2009).

Figure 20: Pressure Transducer Ports & Connections (AMSYS, 2009)

22
AMS 5812 pressure sensors have a digital output (I2C-interface). The current
corrected digital pressure and temperature values can be read from the output
register of the AMS 5812 via the I2C-interface when connected to a bidirectional
I2C-bus. I2C communication on the I2C bus adheres to a standard I2C
communication interface protocol given in the datasheet (AMSYS, 2009).
The principle circuitry of the AMS 5812 sensor is given in the sensor datasheet
(AMSYS, 2009). The sensors are connected up electrically by mounting them on a
PCB in accordance with the Schematic Diagram given in Figure 20 and the full
Schematic Diagram detailed in Appendix B.
On the Schematic in Figure 19, each I2C-bus communication line has to be
connected up to the positive supply voltage VCC (+5V) using two pull-up resistors
(4.7 kΩ is recommended by the supplier). The additional serial resistors on the data
bus are optional (330 Ω is recommended by supplier). The two 4.7 kΩ series
resistors is connected on the microcontroller end of the data bus.
The 330 Ω serial resisters have not been included in the present design as
maximum distance with the least resistance between the pressure transducers and
the Digital Data Processing Unit wants to be ensured.
Mechanically, the pressure transducer must be connected to the pressure taps of
the laminar flow element through ports 1 & 2 of the pressure sensor as indicated in
Figure 20. In this figure, Port 1 on the sensor is connected to the high pressure port
on the LFE (upstream port) while Port 2 on the sensor is connected to the low
pressure port on the LFE (downstream port), see Red and Blue pressure taps on
the LFE in Figures 15 & 16).

3.4.7. Pressure transducer housing and cabling

The AMS 5812 pressure and temperature sensors with I2C bus interface was
custom fitted into suitable aluminum housing assembly (which can be fitted on the
LFE) as shown in the photograph of the assembly with cable in Figures 21 & 22.

Figure 21: Pressure Figure 22: Pressure transducer

transducerhousing and assembly cable assembly with connectors

In Figure 21, the mechanical air connection ports can also be seen (bottom left).

23
The port marked with Red represents the high-pressure port (upstream port) while
the port market with Blue represents the low-pressure port (downstream port).
This pressure transducer assembly shown in Figure 21 includes the AMS 5812
pressure and temperature sensors with I2C bus interface, which provides pressure
and temperature sensor readings with 15 bit accuracy (16 bit accuracy including
provision for over pressure). The adapter cable assembly shown in Figure 22 was
made up to connect the pressure transducer to the Digital Data Processing Unit in
accordance with the bus configurations given in Figure 19.
This customized pressure transducer is fitted to the Digital Data Processing Unit
using properly RF screened cables with MILspec connections (fitted to the right
hand side of the transducer on Figure 21). The adapter cablewhich is shown in
Figure 22 also includes a USB connector for fitting the processing unit to a PC.
The pressure transducer provides for pressure accuracy levels of 39 milli Pascal
(25 counts per Pascal) and temperature sensitivity of 0.009 °C (110 counts per°C).
The full specification of the pressure and temperature sensors and transducer is
given in Appendix F.

3.4.8. Digital Processing Unit & Computer interface

The inlet flow meter includes an electronic sensor apparatus for measuring the rate
of flow of gas through the LFE. The transducers connected to the mass flow rate
Digital Data Processing Unit. This microcontroller unit is programmed with the
volume calibration parameters, which the computer uses to computethe actual flow
rate related to the pressure differential received from the digital pressure
transducer. The inlet air flow meter Digital Data Processing Unit was implemented
on an Atmega 328 microcontroller, for which the electronic design and circuit
diagram is given in the Schematic Diagram of Figure 23.

Figure 23: Schematic diagram for microcontrollerto transducer bus

This microcontroller processor includes a 6 channel analog to digital convertor
(ADC) plus an I2C bus for interfacing with the pressure transducer (Atmel, 2011).

24
The user input functions keys (F0 to F4) are connected to the ADC analog as
shown in Figure 24. The switches (s1to s5) on the wiring diagram represent the
function keys (F0 to F4).

Figure 24: Schematic diagram for microcontroller functions key bus

The Digital Data Processing Unit on the Atmega 328 microcontroller is connected to
an LCD (20 char x 4 lines) user interface as illustrated in Figure 25. The LCD was
chosen to meet factory requirements and includes a 4 lines x 20 char display.

Figure 25: Schematic diagram for microcontroller LCD bus

The software for the inlet air flow meter Digital Data Processing Unit was custom
developed as part of this project. The microcontroller code was written in C++ and
the software listing for the source code is detailed in Appendix D.
The prototype processing unit was installed inside a1.5 mm stainless steel housing,
as illustrated in Figure 26, with MIL spec connectors for interfacing and connecting
the unit to the pressure transducers and computer USB cable (see diagrams in
Figures 21 & 22).The Functions Keys (F0 to F4) can be seen below.
The Transducer in Figure 21, through cable shown in Figure 22, should be
connected to the Processing Unit displayed in Figure 26 (bottom-right).

25
 Figure 26: Flow meter processing unit & electronics in stainless enclosure

Figure 26 also shows the user interface electronics on the inside the digital air flow
meter data processing unit. This PCB is mounted to the back of the faceplate of the
instrument device and is also protected by the Perspex place on the inside of the
cover onto which the functions keys (red tactile buttons) are mounted.
This data processing unit software source code reads the signal transducer digital
data and translates the differential pressure and temperature readings into
volumetric flow rate and mass flow rate from calibration tables. This data is
displayed on the LCD user interface, depending on the menu selections chosen by
the user through the Function keys. The flowchart and compensation calculations
will be detailed in the next chapter.

3.5. Summary
This chapter provided details of the laminar flow element design and inlet air flow meter
mechanical and electronic components. The CAD design drawings have been shown to
illustrate the various components of the LFE. The Digital Data Processing Unit and
schematics diagrams have also been discussed and shown with the software flow
diagram.
Some aspects around calculations in the source code were introduced and details will be
discussed in the next chapter. The next chapter will also detail the test results and
calibration curve data for the designed air flow meter. The inlet air flow meter will then be
evaluated in field tests an run on a real-time in data logging mode.

26
4. DIGITAL METER DESIGN OVERVIEW
4.1. Introduction
The previous chapter provided details of the laminar flow element design and inlet air
flow meter mechanical and electronic components. The Digital Data Processing Unit and
schematics diagrams have also been discussed and shown with the software flow
diagram.This chapter provides an overview of the design and shows some of the
features available on the inlet air flow meter system.

4.2. Laminar Inlet air Flow Meter System

The LFE for the designed inlet air flow meter was shown in Figures14 to 17, the
pressure transducer system was shown in Figures 19 to 22, while the inlet air flow
meter processing unit was shown in Figures 23 to 26. These assembled units
jointly form the Flow Measurement System or Instrument. For commercial purposes
the system was branded with the name: ”AFLO mass flow meter”.
This Flow Measurement System describes the volume flow rate of flow differential
unit operating on capillary flow principles. The unit is ideally suited to many flow
measurement and calibration applications in a variety of applications where
accurate flow measurement is required.
Figure 27 shows some LCD screenshots of the inlet flow meter while in operation.
This illustrates some of the functionality of the flowmeter, such as the calibration
date, menu options, volumetric and mass flow data as well as large digit display for
clearer visibility in factory environments.

Figure 27: LCD screenshots of the air flow meter processing unit
An industrial specification LCD (4lines x 20characters) has been selected in the
design to accommodate large digit number display on a factory friendly green
background (Sitronix, 2006). As can be observed in Figure 31, the LCD user
display was installed behind 2.5 mm see-through Perspex in order to prevent
damage to the LCD screen.
Some typical applications of the air flow meter would include: combustion airflow to
internal combustion engines, fan and blower calibration, leak testing, and testing of

27
automobile components. LFE’s are used to calibrate other flow metering devices
such as variable area meter, thermal anemometers, orifices, nozzles, etc.
The proposed laminar flow element and associated data processing electronics and
computer interface will be innovative and novel in that it uses components of an
exhaust catalytic convertor to model the laminar and capillary flow sections of air
flow meter.
Among other features and benefits, a mass flow rate sensor should accurately
measures any type of gas but only requires calibration in one reference gas, such
that a characterization of a bypass ratio is not required for each type of gas being
measured, being substantially independent of gas properties.

4.3. Processing Unit Function Keys

The inlet air flow meter provides a multitude of useful flow data through arange of
simple menu selection modes.
Figure 28 shows the menu options and functions keys (F0-F4) of the inlet air flow
meter. These functions keys allow the user to select particular configurations and
display the air flow and pressure data in a variety of SI standards (m3/s, li/s, Pascal,
psi, CFM, etc.).

On/ F0
Off

F4 F1

F3 F2

Figure 28: Key Functions Keys for the Air Flow Measurement System
The air flow meter processing unit has several screen “modes” depending on how
the device functions keys are selected. The unit has a default Main Mode, Select
Menu Mode, Parameter Display Mode, Data logging Mode and Sweep Scope
Mode.

28
Table 4 shows the full range of SI standard display features available on the flow
meter, selectable through the F1 and F2 function keys. This is to allow for the meter
to be used in different countries where different standards are used.
Table 4: List of flow units displayed through F1 and F2 keys
Menu Flow Variable LCD Units Conversion
position Display Displayed
0 Volume Flow rate Vol dm3/s m3/s x 10-3
0 Mass Airflow rate MAF gram/s kg/s x 10-3
0 LFE Diff Pressure dPres Pa Pa
0 Fluid Flow Temp Temp °C °C
1 Volume Flow rate Vol dm3/s m3/s x 10-3
2 Actual Vol Flow rate Vol dm3/s m3/s x 10-3
3 Std Volume Flow Vol litres/s m3/s x 1
4 Mass Airflow rate MAF gram/s kg/s x 10-3
5 Volume Flow rate Vol dm3/s m3/s x 10-3
6 Volume Flow rate Vol m3/min m3/s x 30
7 Volume Flow rate Vol litres/s m3/s x 1
8 Volume Flow rate Vol litres/min m3/s x 30
9 Volume Flow rate Vol CFM m3/s x 2.119
10 Volume Flow rate Vol SCFM m3/s x 2.119
11 LFE Diff Pressure dPres Pa Pa
12 LFE Diff Pressure dPres kpsi Pa x 0.0098692
13 AbsFlow Pressure MAP kPa Pa/1000
14 Abs Flow Pressure MAP psi Pa x 0.0098692
15 Medium Flow Temp Temp degree C Temp
16 Atmpheric Pressure atmPres kPa Pa/1000
17 Reynolds Reynolds units units
18 Ave Diff Pressure dPres ! Pa Pa
3
19 Ave Std Vol Flow Vol ! dm /s dm3/s

Using Table 4, the user can obtain a range of readings related to the differential
pressure, the volumetric flow rate; the temperature compensated volumetric flow
rate (actual flow rate), the temperature of the flow medium and the Reynolds
number from the LCD screen.
These data samples can also be logged onto a PC through the USB Cable and will
assist when data needs to be plotted or printed in a report. In the Sweep

29
scopemode, the flow meter will also give a graphical display of the volumetric flow
rate, the average flow rate as well as the standard deviation.

4.4. Processing Unit Software Flowchart

Apart from handling the user interface and function keys, the Digital Data
Processing Unit also needs to perform a number of calculations to convert the
values received from the digital pressure transducer to SI units. Following this,
atmospheric and temperature compensation calculations must also be performed.
These computations will be discussed in the next section.
The flow diagram for the software program loaded into the Atmega microcontroller
is given in Appendix C. The software calculations and compensation calculations
in accordance with this flowchart steps will be described in the rest of this chapter.

4.5. Calculating Pressure from Digital Transducer

In the software Flowchart (Appendix C), each pressure and temperature value is
transmitted by the pressure transducer on an I2C bus as a 16-bit word where the
digital data processing unit does the pressure and temperature calculations.
The digital pressure and temperature values are digital words (counts) which have
to be converted in order to get the desired information on pressure and temperature
in physical SI units such as Pascal and °C(AMSYS, 2009).
The digital pressure value received from the sensor must be converted to the SI
current pressure or differential pressure in Pascal (Pa). The current differential
pressure in Pascal is calculated from Equation 5 as follows (AMSYS, 2009):

∆P =pmin + (DigOutp(p) - DigOutpmin) / Sensitivity_P (5)

Where:∆P = current differential pressure (in Pascal) ;

Pmin = specified minimum pressure of sensor (in Pascal);
Digout(P) = current digital pressure value (in counts) ;
DigoutPmin = specified minimum pressure of sensor (in counts);
Sensitivity_P = specified pressure sensor sensitivity (counts/Pa).
Sensitivity_P is the specified pressure sensor sensitivity (counts/Pa) of the digital
pressure sensor and can also be calculated using Equation 6 as per the AMS 5812
pressure sensor datasheet (AMSYS, 2009):

Sensitivity_P= (DigOutPmax- DigOutPmin) / (Pmax - Pmin) (6)

Where:Pmin = specified minimum pressure (in Pascal);

Pmax =specified maximum pressure (in Pascal);
Digoutpmax = specified maximum pressure of sensor (in counts).

30
The current temperature read from the digital temperature sensor (in °C) is
computed from the digital temperature value analogous to the aboveequations for
pressure calculations.
The digital temperature value received from the temperature sensor must be
converted to the current flow temperature in degrees Celcius (°C) and is calculated
from Equation 7 as follows (AMSYS, 2009):

Tflow =Tmin + (DigOut(T) - DigOutTmin) / Sensitivity_ T (7)

Where:Tflow = current flow temperature (in °C);

Tmin = specified minimum sensor temperature (in °C);
Digout(T) = current digital temperature value (in counts);
DigoutTmin = specified minimum sensor temperature (in counts);
Sensitivity_T = temperature sensor sensitivity (counts/°C).

Sensitivity_T is the specified temperature sensor sensitivity (counts/°C) of the digital

temperature sensor and can also be calculated using Equation 8 as per the AMS
5812 temperature sensor datasheet (AMSYS, 2009):

Sensitivity_T= (DigOutTmax- DigOutTmin) / (Tmax - Tmin) (8)

Where:Tmin = specified minimum temperature (in °C);

Tmax = specified maximum temperature (in °C);
DigoutTmax = specified maximum sensor temperature (in counts).

Examples of using Equations 5 to 8 in calculating the differential pressure (∆P in

Pascal) and Temperature (°C) from the digital word received from the digital
pressure sensors over the I2C bus are given in the datasheets for the AMS digital
pressure and temperature sensors (AMSYS, 2009).

4.6. Temperature and Atmospheric Compensation

The usual temperature and pressure corrections are used as with the nozzle results.
The laminar meter reads volume independent of pressure, but needs a temperature
correction to allow for change in air viscosity (Cussons, 1981). The designed inlet air
flow meter includes temperature and pressure compensation.
The absolute pressure sensor provides instantaneous manifold pressure inside the
laminar flow element housing. This sensor data can also be used to measure the
difference between the absolute pressures of the intake manifold and atmosphere.
The engine fundamentally responds to air mass and absolute pressure is necessary
to calculate air mass.
The absolute pressure and temperature parameters are required for normalising the
data with respect to changing airflow pressure, temperature and environmental
conditions (ISO, 2003).

31
Volumetric Flow Calibration Lookup
The Calibration Table and computations for the Atmospheric and Temperature
compensations was strictly done according to the procedures prescribed by Meriam
for laminar flow meters and elements (Dearborn, 1961) (Meriam, 2008), which is
described below.
Calibration of inlet air flow meter using a master flowmeter was conducted and the
results are detailed in Chapter 5. The calibration data was standardized to agas
flow rate at 22.0°C and 101.3 kPa absolute and was done with 24 samples of data
over the full spectrum range of the air blower (see Chapter 5 for details).
This calibration table was stored in the source code of the Digital Data Processing
Unit of the Inlet Air Flow Meter (see Appendix D). The calibration table is compiled
from the calibration curve determined for the designed LFE, the calibration curve is
given in Appendix G.
From this calibration, it is possible to determine the actual or standard volumetric
flow rate at your flowing conditions. The standard curve/table is for air flow rate in
units of cubic meters per second (m3/s) versus the differential pressure (ΔP)
produced by the LFE (see Section 2.6).

Computing Actual Volumetric Flow Rate

The inlet air flow meter needs to determine the actual volumetric flow rate
compensated with respect to temperature variations.
To obtain the actual volumetric flow rate, the differential pressure across the LFE
and the inlet temperature to the LFE is measured. Using the calibration curve/table
associated with the particular LFE, a flow rate value is obtained by reading the
value from the curve/table.
Since the atmospheric conditions may be different from the atmospheric conditions
at which the LFE was calibrated (standardized to a gas flow rate at 22.0°C and
101.3 kPa absolute), a compensation factor for viscosity changes of the fluid
medium needs to be brought into consideration.
Meriam (Meriam, 2008) provides a formula for compensating the calibration table
value with the flow temperature. This formula is given in Equation 9 below:

qV_a = Calibration qV_c x (Tstd / Tflow) (9)

Where:qV_a = Actual volumetric flow rate;

qV_c = volumetric flow rate from the calibration table/curve;
Tstd = calibration temperature (22.0°C);
Tflow = absolute temperature of the flow medium (air)
(measured by AMS5812 sensor in real time).

32
The Actual Volumetric Flow rate is thus a temperature compensated Volumetric
Flow rate measure which may also be further transformed into the Standard
Volumetric Flow Rate, as discussed in the next paragraph.

Standard Volumetric Flow Rate

The word "standard" when associated with flow rate, means the flow rate has been
normalized to an assigned standard pressure and temperature. This normalization
factor is required to determine the mass flow rate very accurately (Meriam, 2008).
If standard volumetric flow rate is desired, the actual volumetric flow rate is
multiplied by the ratiosfor standard flowing temperature (Tstd / Pflow) and flowing
standard temperature (Tflow / Pstd) (Meriam, 2008).
The result will be the standard volumetric flow rate at the given standard conditions,
given in Equation 10 below:

qV_s = qV_a x (Tstd / Tflow) x (Pflow / Pstd) (10)

Where: qV_s = Standard volumetric flow rate;

qV_a = Actual volumetric flow rate (Equation 9);
Tstd = calibration temperature (22.0°C);
Tflow = temperature of the flow medium (air)
Pstd = atmospheric pressure at calibration (101.3 kPa absolute);
Pflow = Pressure of the flow medium in the LFE chamber
(measured by AMS5812 sensor at high pressure port).

Equation 10 above relates to Table 5, giving an indication of the Volumetric Flow

Rate Temperature Compensation factor at various ∆T intervals (Meriam, 2011).

Table 5: Volumetric Flow Rate Temperature Compensation (Meriam, 2011)

33
Instead of using the table as lookup, the above Equations 9 & 10 had been
programmed into the software source code (Appendix E) of the digital data
processing unit of the inlet air flow meter. The air flow measurement correction
calculation s also related to the Breitenbach figures used by Cussons to compensate for
temperature differences between the calibrated (Cussons, 1981).
The Flow Chart in Appendix C shows where this temperature and pressure
compensation calculations are performed, immediately after reading the differential
pressure and temperature samples from the pressure transducer.

Mass Flow Rate

The Mass Flow Rate can now be calculated from the Standards Volumetric Flow
Rate and gives the total mass of air moving through the LFE at a given time.
The Mass Flow Rate (qm) can be obtained by multiplying the standard volumetric
flow rate by the density of the flowing gas at standard conditions to obtain the mass
flow rate of that gas as given in Equation 11.

qm = qV_a x ρ (11)

Where: qV_a = Standard volumetric flow rate (Equation 10);

ρ = density of air @ calibration conditions.
The calculation in Equation 11 is used by the air flow meter processing unit to
calculate the mass flow rate, which is essentially the mass of air passing through
the LFE per unit of time. The unit is mass divided by time, giving kilogram
per second in SI units.

4.7. LFE Reynolds Number

One important consideration in air flow tests is to know the degree to which the flow
rates falls within the required Reynolds band as discussed in Section 2.5.
The designeddigital inlet air flow meter incorporatesa feature where the Reynolds
Number is computed as part of every flow sample. A screenshot of the LCD display
giving the flow sample updated computed Reynolds Number as in Figure 29 below.

Figure 29: LCD Screenshot showing Reynolds Number of LFE

This feature allows for the user to keep an eye on the Reynolds Number and to
observe to which extent the flow measurements are within the laminar flow range.

34
The Reynolds Number in the screen above was computed for the LFE designed in
this project and gives an indication that the LFE operates well within the guidelines
provided by Reynolds (McGill, 2011).

4.8. Pulsation Warning Indicator Feature

ISO 5167 (all parts) does not provide for the measurement of flow rates in a
pulsating flow medium (ISO, 2003). Therefore the designed inlet air flow meter also
incorporate a pulsation warning indicator feature computed in accordance with the
regulations stipulated in the ISO 5167 Standard (ISO, 2003).
Since the designed inlet air flow meter is fully digital, it allows for the Pulsation Warning
Indicator to alert the user should violently pulsating air streams be detected.
In terms of ISO 5167,the flow is considered as not pulsatingwhen (ISO, 2003):

ΔP ’rms / ΔPave ≤ 0.10 (12)

Where: ΔPave = the time-mean value of the differential pressure;

ΔP ′ = the fluctuating component of the differential pressure;
ΔP ′rms = the root mean square value of ΔP ′.

In terms of Equation 12, the flow is considered as being pulsating when the root
mean square value of the fluctuating component of the differential pressure is larger
than 10% of the time-mean value of the differential pressure over time.
Figure 30 shows the Pulsation Warning Indicator on the designed digital inlet air
flow meter which is programmed to alarm if the ISO non-pulsating conditions given
in the above Equation 12 is not adhered to (pulsating flow is detected).

Figure 30: Screenshot of Flow Measurement System

When the air flow meter operates in Sweepscope mode, the flow meter monitors
pulsation flow conditions and will sound an alarm and light the Pulsation Warning
Indicator LED if pulsating flows are detected.
The pressure drop for a given volume flow is independent of the air pressure, but varies
with the air temperature (about 1 per cent increase per 4°C rise in temperature).With
violently pulsating flows, as for example the intake to a single-cylinder engine, the
maximum flow may be four/five times the mean (Cussons, 1981).

35
4.9. Data Logging to Computer
The processing unit software of the inlet air flow meter was written to capture the
data to the script file and capturing the output to a separate file for analysis. The
unit communicates in real time with any personal computer using an USB cable.
The baud rate of the communication protocol is set to19200 baud.
Figure 31 shows the complete inlet air flow meter system and connecting cables
with provision for an USB interface to a PC. The USB PC interface can be used for
loggings volumetric and mass flow values in real time, each sample associated with
a specific timestamp.

Figure 31: Processing unit and USB computer connection

It is sometimes desirable to capture data for an extended period of time. Standard
streaming mode information is useful for short term events, however, when
capturing data for an extended period of time, the amount of data and thus the file
size can become too large very quickly (see sample datalog in Appendix H).

Figure 32: Processing unit and USB computer connection

Finally, Figure 32 shows the complete Laminar Inlet Air Flow Measuring System
with the inlet air filter fitted, the pressure transducers and cabling connected on the
floor in the Mechanicals Engineering workshop, ready calibration and testing.

36
4.10. Summary of Flow Meter Features
The designed Laminar Flow Meter (LFM) includes the Laminar Flow Element and
the Flow Measurement Processing System. This meter and system incorporates
the following features:
Large Digit LCD Display: Large digit LCD display shows various flow parameters,
including the airstream Volumetric Flow Rate, the Mass Flow Rate, flow
Temperature, flow pressure, differential pressure and more.
Menu driven modes: Through Menu options selected through any of the five
function keys (F0, F1, F2, F3, F4). The various modes will be discussed in this
document.
SI Units of Standard: Through Menu options selected through any of the five
function keys (F1, F2) allows the user to display the flow parameters in a variety of
Units of Standard. These units are dynamically computed and continuously
adjusted based on a changing operating environment and atmospheric conditions.
Atmospheric compensation: The LFM includes a digital atmospheric temperature
and pressure sensors in the main LFE transducer element, ensuring adequate
compensation for changing atmospheric temperature and pressure conditions.
Datalogging to PC: The above data can be logged in real time to a personal
computer or database using the USB cable.
Sweepscope display: LFM includes a feature to display the differential pressure
and volumetric flow rate in a real time oscilloscope mode. This enables the user to
observe any variations in real time on the LCD screen.
Pulsating flow alarm: The flowrate should normally be constant or, in practice,
vary only slightly and slowly with time. The flow is considered as being pulsating
when the root mean square value of the fluctuating component of the differential
pressure is larger than 10% of the time-mean value of the differential pressure over
time. In the Sweepscope mode, the flow meter will monitor these flow conditions as
part of the oscilloscope type scope display and will sound an alarm if pulsating
flows are detected.
High accuracy Pressure Transducers: The meter uses low power 16bit digital
pressure and differential pressure transducers, which provides superior accuracy
over other pressure transmitter devices. The error rate of the digital pressure
transducers are less than 0.1% (specifications in this document in Appendix F).
Low power digital communication interface: The meter interfaces with the digital
differential pressure, absolute pressure and temperature transmitter fitted to the
LFE over an I2C digital communication interface. This ensures extremely low power
consumption levels over a 5.0V (20mA) remote link which can accommodate
distances of up to 20m between the user interface and the LFE.
Watertight MIL spec connectors: Interfacing with the meter takes place through
watertight MIL spec connectors ensuring reliable operation during both wet and dry
conditions.

37
Low Interference: The meter includes screened cables and employs digital
communications signal interfaces to limit interferences from heat, electromagnetic
or any other electronic noise sources.
Stainless Steel Instrument Enclosure: The user interface and measurement
electronics is housed in a 1.5 mm stainless steel enclosure for durability and
protection.
Battery Level Monitor: The software continually monitors the battery level to
ensure that power consumption levels remain low, while sounding an alarm if a low
battery condition is detected. Low battery conditions will however not influence the
digital readings of the pressure transducer in any way as the instrument will sound
an alarm if the battery levels drop below required standards.
USB power: The meter is able to operate without any batteries provided that the
USB cable is connected to the device. The electronics may be powered through
battery or USB interface connected to a computer or an ordinary USB charger.
Pressure Transducer presence monitor: The software continually monitors the
communication link and battery levels to ensure that power consumption levels
remain low, while sounding an alarm if errors are detected on the communication
link or if the cable connecting the pressure transducer is damaged or disconnected.
Laminar Flow Element Housing: The LFE is constructed from 5mm PVC housing,
which has a low coefficient of expansion while the mean deviation of the roughness
throughout the profile is constant and uniformly finished to display a low roughness
profile.
LFE Flow Conditioners: The LFE include flow strengtheners on the upstream and
downstream ends to ensure accurate laminar flow readings through the pressure
differential across the main flow element.
LFE Mounting: The LFE includes a mounting and foot piece for installations where
accurate measurements are required and vibration would cause problems.
Absorbing condensate: The flow element if made from ceramic substrate which
would naturally absorb fluid condensations inside the LFE (condensations caused
by pressure changes).
The specifications for the designed digital inlet air flow meter are detailed in terms of the
meter and capabilities in Appendix F.

4.11. ISO Definition of Uncertainty

Before the performance of the digital inlet air flow meter is evaluated in the next
chapter, the ISO definition which defines acceptable levels of accuracy or Definition
of Uncertainty.
Definition of uncertainty, in ISOterms refers, to the allowable error in the measured
volumetric flow rates acceptable in terms of international standards.
Calibration Accuracy: For the purposes of ISO 5167 (all parts) the uncertainty is
defined as an interval about the result of a measurement that may be expected to

38
encompass approximately 95 % of the distribution of values that could reasonably
be attributed to the measurement and the true values (ISO, 2003:27).
The uncertainty on the measurement of the flowrate shall be calculated and given
under these ISO terms whenever a measurement is claimed to be in conformity
with the applicable part of ISO 5167.

4.12. Summary
The objective of this project is to design, manufacture and test an inlet air flow
meterto measure the mass flow rate of atmospheric air into an engine during engine
dynamometer tests using Bio-fuel formulations.
This project describes the design, development and testing of a fully digital flow
measurement system, which incorporate features such as flow measurement in
different ISO units, atmospheric and temperature compensation, pulsation warning
indicator, Reynolds number updates, datalogging to computer, and a sweep
(oscilloscope) display of flow rate.
The inlet air flow meter needs to be developed to determine the air-fuel ratio and
volumetric efficiency of the engine. Real-time measurement of the mass flow rate of
the inlet air is required and during operation the meter must not influence the
volumetric efficiency and performance of the engine.
The meter will be designed to accommodate a wide range of mass flow rates
including pulsating flows typical of single-cylinder engines. The output of the meter
will be displayed on a visual display and will include a computer interface for
downloading the data on the Dynamometer computer system.
The inlet air flow meter will be calibrated and evaluated in the next chapter using
precision laboratory instruments. Experiments will also be conducted on the
performance evaluation of an engine configuration running on any fuel formula.

39
5. EXPERIMENTS &TEST RESULTS

5.1. Introduction
The previous chapter provided details of the laminar flow element design and inlet
air flow meter mechanical and electronic components. This chapter will detail the
test results and calibration curve data for the designed air flow meter.

5.2. Experimental Goals and Objectives

Following the assembly and implementation of the inlet air flow meter, experimental
tests need to be conducted to confirm calculations done during the design phase. It
is necessary to confirm that the pressure drop over the entire flow meter is in
accordance with industry standards (less than 2kPa) (ISO, 2003), (Meriam, 2011).
Secondly experiments were performed to determine if the flow meter was able to
measure flow rates in the region of 280 cubic feet per minute (0.1347m3/s), as per
the typical specification for the turbo charged VW Golf TDI engine, and that the
flow meters gives accurate results if used in pulsating flow systems (Losing, 1989).
Finally, it will be of great importance that the flow rate versus pressure drop of the
flow meter (in particular the ceramic matrix) would have a linear relationship to
increase accuracy during use. If the relationship is linear it would greatly decrease
the number of calibration points required (Dearborn, 1961) (Cussons, 1981).

5.3. Experiment 1: Linear ΔP/qv Relationship?

Goal:The goal of the first experiment is to determine the relationship between the
pressure drop over the laminar flow element and the volumetric flow rate of air
through the meter. This experiment was also done to confirm that the relationship
between the pressure difference (ΔP) and volume flow rate (qv) is linear for the
ceramic substrate matrix shown in Figure 13.
Equipment: To perform this experiment, the equipment in Table 6 is required.

Table 6: Equipment to determine Linear ΔP/qv Relationship

Equipment Function
Centrifugal fan To draw air through the flow meter at levels comparable to that
of an internal combustion engine (spec – Cussons 1981).
Variable speed To adjust the fan speed by changing the frequency of fan
drive operation to simulate air various flow rates
Differential To measure pressure drops in the elliptical nozzle and over the
pressure laminar flow elements. Highly accurate Endress and Hauser
transducer differential pressure transducers were used for test/calibration.

40
 Elliptical nozzle Used in conjunction with the differential pressure transducers
the elliptical nozzle is used to calculate volume flow rate
Barometer& To log the atmospheric pressure and temperature conditions
Thermometer during calibration and testing (see Equations 9 to 12)
Measuring Measuring control box custom made to fit the elliptical nozzle to
Control Box the designed inlet air flow meter.

Experimental Setup: Figure 33 shows a picture illustration of the experimental

steps followed to set up the equipment (with the assistance of Mr. Cobus Zietsman
from the Mechanical Workshop).
The section air fan with the variable speed drive is connected to the outlet port of
the flow element in order to draw air through the flow meter system. A control
volume is created around the air filter and is sealed airtight Measuring Control Box.
A single 44.95mm diameter opening is made into the control box in which an
elliptical nozzle is place. This setup forces all the air going through the flow meter to
first pass through the nozzle fitted onto the Measuring Control Box.

Endress& Hauser
differential pressure
transducer / datalogger

Control
volume

Direction of
air flow

Elliptical
P2 P1 nozzle

Figure 33: Experimental setup for calibration of air flow meter

The pressure difference between the elliptical nozzle and atmospheric air is used to
calculate the air velocity (v) through the nozzle (and flow element) very accurately.
This is done by using the Bernoulli equation as show in Equation 13below (Cengel,
2006):
Pn - Pa = 0.5 x ρ x v (13)

41
 Where: Pn = Elliptical nozzle and atmospheric pressure;
Pa = Atmospheric pressure;
ρ = density of air;
v = air velocity through the nozzle.

The pressure ports of the designed laminar flow element (P1 and P2) are connected
to the Endress and Hauser differential pressure transducer to measure the pressure
differential over the ceramic laminar flow element matrix.
The designed air flow meter outlet port (left on the picture in Figure 33) is then
connected to a centrifugal fan, allowing the airstream to flow through the laminar
flow elements as shown by the flow direction arrow in Figure 33.
Procedure: Using the variable speed drive to change the suction fan speed, the
velocity of the air flow stream is gradually increased to achieve 25 different flow
rates through the laminar flow element system. The data to be recorded in this
experiment is the pressure difference or drop between the P1 to P2 air ports (∆P),
and the pressure drop over the elliptical nozzle,in order to compare the volume flow
rate with the pressure drop over the laminar flow element metering matrix.
Results: The results from the experiment are shown in Figure 34 below. The
results from Experiment 1 prove that there is a linear relationship between volume
flow rate and pressure drop over the laminar flow element for this laminar flow
element design within the full flow range achieved with the suction fan (0-0.09m3/s).

Figure 34: Volume flow rate vs. pressure drop over the LFE (P1-P2)

This calibration curve was programmed into the inlet air flow meter data processing
unit source code as a lookup table. Thus, for every differential pressure reading, the
flow meter can determine the volumetric flow rate through the lookup table and
linear interpolation (see Appendix G).
The maximum flow rate achieved during Experiment 1 was around 0.09m3/s.

42
Conclusion: Figure 34 also confirms that it will be sufficient to calibrate the
laminar flow meter system on around 20 to 25 points of operation, while still
maintaining accuracy by applying simple interpolation calculations on the (20 to 25
point) calibration data set between the volume flow rates from 0.00 to 0.09 m3/s.
This means that it will not be possible to calibrate the flow meter at higher flow rates
than 0.09m3/s unless an elliptical nozzle with a larger diameter is used. This flow
rate would be sufficient for any engine with a maximum air intake rate of 190CFM.
However, since the relationship betweenpressure differential and volume flow rate
is linear, interpolation and extrapolation formulas was programmed into the source
code of the inlet air flow meter data processing unit, in order to interpolate or
extrapolate the capacity of the designed inlet air flow meter system beyond the
calibrated flow range shown in Figure 34, towards 300 CFMas will be required for
the field tests with the turbo charged VW Golf TDI 1.9l (TDIclub, 2011).

5.4. Experiment 2: System Pressure Drop

Goal: The goal of this experiment was to determine if the system had a total
pressure drop of less than 2kPa. This includes the total pressure drop over the
intake air filter, the ceramic metering matrix on the laminar flow element and other
minor losses such as friction and pipe losses.
Equipment:The equipment required to conduct this includes the centrifugal fan
and two accurate differential pressure transducers described in Table 5.
Experimental Setup: The experimental setup for this experiment is show in
Figure35 below. This setup is similar to the setup used in Experiment 1, with the
exception that the control volume and elliptical nozzle is not required. Air is once
again drawn through the laminar flow element system as in Experiment 1, with the
system causing a pressure difference or drop from P1 to P2.
Air
Air
Air
through
flow meter Air
into fan

Air

Pf
3 P2
2 P1 Air Filter Air

Figure 35: System pressure drop experiment setup

Pressure ports P1 and P2 are now connected to an additional differential pressure

transducer for the duration of this experiment while a third pressure port Pf (Pflow),

43
which is situated on a section of pipe that is not part of the flow meter, is temporarily
connected to a differential pressure transducer. The differential pressure transducer
connected to Pflow measures the difference between atmospheric air pressure and
the flow pressure Pflow. This is the pressure drop over the entire flow meter.
Procedure: Using the variable speed drive, the fan speed is now increased and
adjusted until the system pressure drop is measured to be 2kPa. This is the
maximum allowed pressure drop at which the flow meter can be used before it
starts to affect engine performance (ISO, 2003). The data recorded from this
experiment includes the pressure readings from both of the two differential pressure
transducers.
Results: It is desirable to know the volume flow rate at which the designed laminar
flow meter causes a system pressure drop of 2kPa as this volumetric flow rate is
the upper limit of the volumetric flow rate capacity of the meter.
The fan speed was increased until a 2kPa pressure drop was measured over the
entire flow meter system. At the point where the system pressure dropreached
2kPa the pressure drop over the laminar flow element metering matrix (P1- P2) was
measured to be is 320Pa.
Figure 36 shows the results from Experiment 1 (Figure 35) linearly extrapolated to
a differential pressure of 320Pa.

Calibration limit with

current nozzle

Figure 36: Volume flow rate vs. pressure drop over entire LFE

Conclusion:From the extrapolated linear curve shown in Figure 36 it is clear that

the volume flow rate for a system pressure drop of 2kPa results in a flow rate of
0.174m3/s. This shows that this design can be used on engines with maximum flow
rates of up to 0.174m3/s (or 350CFM) without the inlet air flow meter affecting the
engine performance significantly (ISO, 2003).

44
5.5. Experiment 3: Calibration and Repeatability
Goal: The goal of this experiment is to calibrate the air flow meter and the data
processing unit designed and developed during this project. This same setup is
used to test the repeatability of the flow measurements taken flow meter by
repeating the experiment under different conditions.
Experimental Setup: The calibration process setup in this experiment is the
same as shown in Figure 33 for Experiment 1, where an airtight control volume
was created around the air filter. The same control volume is once again created to
force all the air that will flow through the system to go through an elliptical nozzle so
that the volume flow rate can be calculated using Bernoulli equation mentioned in
Experiment 1. This time, the designed differential pressure transducer and data
processing unit is connected to pressure ports P1 and P2 to measure the pressure
drop over the laminar flow element and relates these readings to the actual
calculated volumetric flow rate measured through the elliptical nozzle.
Procedure:The speed of the centrifugal fan was adjusted using a variable speed
drive to achieve 25 different volume flow rates (flow samples) at which calibration
values for P1 - P2 was recorded. The volume flow rate through the flow meter was
determined by using the elliptical nozzle together with the highly accurate Endress
and Hauser differential pressure transducer to ensure that these values are very
accurate. For each of these 25 samples for volume flow rates the corresponding
pressure drop over the laminar flow elements were measured using the data
processing unit of the designed inlet air flow meter. These experiments will be
repeated at different time stages in order to evaluate the repeatability of the results
in accordance with international ISO standards (ISO 2003).

Figure 37: Volume flow rate vs. pressure drop (P1-P2), calibration data

Results: Accurate results for the relationship between ΔP and qv are shown in
Figure 37. The calculated samples and calibration curve is given in Appendix G.
This graph once again confirms the linear relationship between volume flow rate
and pressure drop. From the data it is clear that the flow meter has only been

45
calibrated to a volume flow rate of 0.089m3/s. This limitation is caused by the cross
sectional area of the elliptical nozzle used for calibration, which limits the amount of
air flow through the elliptical nozzle of the size available in the Mechanical
engineering workshop. Calibration for higher flow rates can be done by simply
making use of an elliptical nozzle with a larger cross sectional area.
In order to ensure that the inlet air flow system has good repeatability measurement
qualities, this experiment was repeated three more times, each on a different day at
different conditions. The results are shown inTable 7 below, where a specific
pressure drop was chosen for the repeatability test.

Table 7: Inlet air flow meter pressure differential specification

Testrun1 Testrun2 Testrun3 %deviate
Pressure drop over LFE(Pa) 183.56857 183.51213 183.53272 0.011%
3
Volume flow rate (m /s) 0.0909 0.0908 0.09083 0.0416%

At a pressure drop of around 183.5 Pa the volume flow rate was found to be in the
proximity of 0.0908 m3/s. The data shown in the table is focused and the
repeatability over the entire range is shown in Figure 38.

Figure 38: LFE Calibration &Repeatability graph

Conclusion: The designed inlet air flow meter was developed for the purposes of
running this instrument in field tests. For this reason, its needs to be accurately
calibrated and tested in order to determine if the design objectives have been
achieved. In terms of the ISO definition of uncertainty given in Section 4.11, the
measurement may be expected to encompass within 95 % of the distribution of
values that could reasonably be attributed to the measurement and the true values
(ISO, 2003:27). The designed inlet airflow meter is thus within the ISO specification.

46
5.6. Experiment 4: Pulsation andField Test
Goal: The air flow meter is now calibrated with the electronic data capturing and
processing equipment so that it can be used together to measure air flow rate.
Therefore the goal of this experiment was to field test the designed air flow meter
system on a VW Golf test setup1.9TDiin order to evaluate if the meter is able to
operate in pulsating flow conditions. The data from the experiment must then be
compared to the data acquired from the mass air flow (MAF) system that is already
part of the engine test setup. One would expect these values to be slightly different
since the MAF system does not fully compensate for pulsating flow conditions.
Equipment: Existing Mass Air Flow System of the Bio-fuels Research Group with
the designed inlet air flow meter.
Experimental Setup: The inlet air flow meter was connected to the air intake of
the engine as shown in Figure 39 below.

Pressure
transducer

Figure 39: LFE connected to VW Golf 1.9TDi engine test setup

All data acquisition equipment is located in the control room right next to the test
cell. The designed pressure sensor is connected to the flow meter and the data
capturing box in the control room via a six meter RF shielded cable. The
connectors used are military specification because of the harsh environment. Any
potential air leaks on the flow intake system were properly shielded to avoid faulty
errors. Avoid entering the test cell during engine testing to avoid possible injury.

Procedure: The designed inlet air flow meter is connected to the air intake system
of the engine the test cell was evacuated and viewed through safety glass from the
control room. The engine was started and allowed to idle at 2000 revolutions per
minute (rpm) until it reached a satisfactory operating temperature. Air flow

47
measurements were taken at 2000rpm and 3000rpm using both the designed inlet
air flow meter system and the current MAF system.

Results: The results comparing the data from the designed inlet air flow meter
system and the current MAF system was recorded and compared in Table 8. The
MAF system readings were not very steady and constantly jumping around,
probably because it is situated close to the intake manifold where flow is very
turbulent. Air flow into an engine is also not perfectly constant further contributing
to varying results. The designed flow meter system gave a more steady reading
and after comparing the results of the two systems it was observed that they varied
by approximately 1.13% at 2000rpm and 2% at 3000rpm.

Table 8: Inlet air flow meter system performance

Speed ΔPLFE Lab MAF (qV) Capacity1.9l AfLO (qV) Vol Eff (η V)

2000 rpm 34Pa 17,966.10-3 m3/s 31,666.10-3 m3/s 17,566.10-3 m3/s 55.5%

3000 rpm 65Pa 36,950.10-3 m3/s 47,500.10-3 m3/s 35,550.10-3 m3/s 74.7%

Section 4.7 describes the allowable degree of uncertainty in terms of ISO 5167
(ISO, 2003). In this respect, ISO 5167 (ISO, 2003:27) it starts that the uncertainty is
defined as an interval about the result of ameasurement that may be expected to
encompass approximately 95 % of the distribution of values that could reasonably
be attributed to the measurement.

Conclusion: The slight difference in results can be due to the fact that there are
minor air leakages at the engine air filter causing the currently installed mass air
flow calculation system of the engine to be slightly higher than that of the designed
inlet air flow meter. This assumption can be made because the mass flow rate of
air is lower for the designed meter at both 2000rpm and 3000rpm meaning that air
is perhaps leaking into the system after the flow meter and is subsequently only
seen by the current system which is situated at the intake manifold.

5.7. Summary
This chapter described the test procedures and evaluation of the flow meter design.
The next chapter will give the conclusions of this project as well as directions for
future work and commercialisation.The experiments indicate that this fully digital
laminar inlet air flow meters shows good repeatability capabilities, operates within
the Reynolds Number laminar flow region while the total pressure drop over the
LFE is well below the ISO specified 2kPa and thus do not interfere with the
volumetric efficiency or operation of the engine and associated test experiments.

48
6. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The objective of this project was to design, manufacture and test an inlet air flow
meterto measure the mass flow rate of atmospheric air into an engine during engine
dynamometer tests using Bio-fuel formulations.
The user specification required that the inlet air flow meter should accommodate a
wide range of volume and mass flow rates and should be accurate in during
measurements on pulsating flows, typical of single-cylinder engines. The output of
the meter was required to display volume and mass flow values on a visual display,
and should be able to interface with a computer interface for downloading the flow
data ontoany Dynamometer computer system.
This project report therefore describes the design, development and testing of a
fully digital flow measurement system. A suitable inlet air flow measurement
strategy was identified while thetechnical feasibility of producing a robust and
accurate airflow meter was evaluated. A prototype digital inlet air flow meter was
subsequently designed,implemented and tested as part of this project. This unique
and cost effective design included a ceramic substrate as laminar flow element
which was used to ensure laminar flow stream and a pressure differential in the
direction of flow.
A new pressure transducer was developed to convert the pressure differential and
flow temperature into very accurate 16-bit digital signals. These digital signals are
continuously transmitted to specially developed processing unit over an RF
screened digital communication bus using the I2Ccommunication protocol.
The inlet air flow meter digital data processing unit was based on an 8bit Atmega
microcontroller platform for which dedicated software have been developed in C++.
The function of this software is toreceive and calculate the differential pressure and
flow temperature received from the transducer in SI units. The differential pressure
and flow temperature are then used to calculate the volumetric air flow, mass air
flow and Reynolds number of the airflow stream through the flow element
continuously. The calculations include temperature and pressure compensation
according to ISO 5167 requirements.
In terms of functionality, the developed flow meter can display the flow parameters
in a variety of SI standards (e.g. m3/s, m3/s, li/s, kg/s, CFM, etc) on a factory
standard LCD. Other user friendly features include USB Data logging on a PC as
well as a Sweepscope (oscilloscope) graph type display.
One unique feature of the inlet air flow meter is the Pulsation Warning LED, which
feature visually warns the user if severe pulsating flows are detected in the airflow
stream in terms of ISO5167 standards. The Digital Data Processing Unit was
assembled and installed inside a 1.5 mm stainless steel housing while RF screened
cables with MILspec connectors have been incorporated into the design.
The results from theinvestigation were verified by tests on the laminar flow
measurement system and calibration equipment from the Mechanical Engineering

49
Laboratory. The International ISO standard for measurement of fluidflow by means
ofpressure differentialdevices inserted incircular cross-sectionconduits running full
(ISO 5167-1) was used to evaluate the calibration and evaluation parameters
through lab experiments.
Upon completion of the calibration process several other experiments were
conducted to verify that the system design specifications were met. These
experiments included verifying a pressure drop of less than 2 kPa and proving that
the design would have a linear relationship between volumetric flow rate and
pressure drop. Both of these experiments were carried out with great success
showing the desired linear relationship between pressure drop and volume flow rate
as well as a system pressure drop well below 2 kPa even at high flow rates.
Finally the designed inlet air flow meter system was tested on a 1.9TDi engine and
the results compared to the MAF system already installed. The system performed
well in the pulsating flow conditions and the data was similar to the MAF system
varying by as little as 2%. Thus analysis of the experimental data shows that the
designed inlet air flow meter and digital instruments achieved the design
specifications.
The following aspects of the designed inlet air flow meter arenew or unique:
1. The air flow meter system is fully digitaland performs high precision real-
time flow measurementsover a wide range of mass flow rates.
2. Includes a unique pulsation detection feature with LED and sound alert.
3. The air flow meter computes Reynolds number with each flow rate sample.
4. A unique Laminar Flow Element (LFE) design employs a ceramic substrate
technology commonly used in automotive exhaust catalyst convertors.
5. The design includes a high precision (16bit) digital pressure transducer
feeding into digital processor to perform flow rate calculations using high
precision calibration tables.
6. The air flow meter computations include compensation for flow pressure and
temperature variations.
The development took place over a period of nine months and the cost for the
development slightly exceeds R200 000, a less than 5% deviation from the
estimated development cost budget.The inlet air flow meter designed in this project
will be used in future to evaluate and compare the efficiency of new Bio-fuel
formulations and their performance in engines for the Bio-fuels Research Group.
The design configuration will provide adequate flexibility to accommodate future
experimentation, while allowing for the evaluation of production demandsand
marketing potential for the designed AFLO Digital Air Flow Meter (precision volume
and mass flow instrument) in the above and other applications.

50
7. REFERENCES

Atmel, 2011, Atmel Pico Power 8-bit AVR RISC Microcontroller , Available:
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/product_card.asp?part_id=4198 [Aug 12, 2011].

ASME, 1971, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME FED 01-Jan-1971,

Fluid Meters Their Theory and Application, Sixth Edition.

AMSYS, 2009, AMS 5812 Datasheet, Amplified pressure sensor with an analog
and I²C output, Datasheet revision 1.2. Available:
http://www.amsys.info/sheets/amsys.en.ams5812_e.pdf [Jul 9, 2011].

Benjamin, S, Roberts C, and Wollin J, 2001, A Study of Pulsating Flow in

Automotive Catalyst Systems, Experiments in Fluids, Volume 33, Nr. 5, 629-639.

CengelY, Cimbala, J.M, 2006, Fluid Mechanics Fundamentals and Applications,

McGraw-Hill, p48-69.

Cussons, 1981, Cussons Instruction Manual: Richard Alcock Viscous Flow Meter
p7020 –p7026, G Cussons Ltd, 102 Great Clowes Street Manchester, England.

Dearborn, U, 1961,Meriam Laminar Flow Element Instruction Manual: Technical

Notes, The Meriam Instrument Company, 1961.

Eisentraut, A,2011, Sustainable Production of Second -Generation Bio-fuels

Potential and Perspectives in Major Economies and Developing Countries,
International Energy Agency, February 2011. Available:
http://www.iea.org/papers/2010/second_generation_biofuels.pdf [Feb 12 2011].
Francis P. S, Lewis, S, Lim K.F, Carlsson K, Karlberg L, 2002, Flow Analysis Based
on a Pulsed Flow of Solution: Theory, Instrumentation and Applications, Elsevier
Science, June 2002.

Gordon, H, Millar, G.H, Gillig, E, Hejduk, A, 1961, Engine Air Flow Measurements
with Laminar Flow Elements, Technical Paper, Society for Automotive Engineers,
Paper Number: 610258, Meriam Company, 1961.

Harrison, M.F, Stanev, P.T, 2004, Measuring Wave Dynamics in Engine Entake
Systems, Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 269 (2004), p 389–408.

Hinze, J. O, 1959, Turbulence: An Introduction to its Mechanism and Theory,

McGraw-Hill, 1959.

ISO 5167, 2003, International Organization of Standards - ISO 5167-1:2003

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 5167-1:2003.

51
IQS, 2011, Air Flow Meters: Industry Information, Industrial Quick Search.
Available: http://www.iqsdirectory.com/flow-meters/air-flow-meters [May 11, 2011].

Kastner, M.A. Willaims, T.J, 1953, Pulsating Flow Measurement by Viscous Meters,
with Particular Reference to the Air Supply of Internal combustion Engines,
Department of Engineering, University of London, King’s College, 17 Dec 1953.

Loesing, K, Jordan, W, Gerards, H, Henning, M, 1989, Mass Air Flow Meter-Design

& Application, 1 February 1989. Available: http://papers.sae.org/890779.

Mcgill, 2011, Air Flow Principles. Available:

http://sprojects.mmi.mcgill.ca/resp/air_flow.htm [June 20, 2011].

Meriam, 2008, Laminar Flow Elements: Installation & Operation Instructions. 10920
Madison Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Merriam, 2011, Meriam Laminar Flow Elements, Available: www.meriam.com, [July

22, 2011].

Park, S.B, Kim, H.S, Cho, K.M, 1998, An Experimental and Computation Study of
Flow Characteristics in Manifold and Close Coupled Catalyst, SAE Paper, 980128,
1998.

Persoons, T, 2006, Experimental flow dynamics in automotive exhaust systems

with close-coupled catalyst, PhD Thesis, Catholic University Leuven.Available:
http://www.mech.kuleuven.be/en/tme/doct/Persoons2006 [June 16, 2011].

Reuter, W, Lösing K, Golden, J. E, 2001, An Improved Anti-Pulsation Mass Airflow

Sensor, SAE World Congress, Detroit, MI, USA, May 2001.

Sitronix, 2006, Sitronix ST7066U Dot Matrix LCD Controller Driver Datasheet, 11
May 2011, p8-13.

Thomas D, Culmer J, 2001, Laminar Flow Elements: How they Work, where they
Appropriate, and their Applications, Flow Control, March/April 2001.

TDIclub, 2011, Gold TDI 1.9l Turbo Compressor and Intercooler Calculations,
Available: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=15483 [July 29, 2011].

Upp, E.L, Paul J. La Nasa, P.J, 2002, Fluid Flow Measurement: A Practical Guide
to Accurate Flow Measurement (Second Edition), Elsevier Publishers, 2002.

52
APPENDIX A: PROJECT TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

53
 TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS FOR INLET AIR FLOW METER
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
G.J. Prinsloo

The techno-economic analysis entails the justification of the project cost with
respect to the project duration, technical impact of the project and the potential
for the commercialisation of the final product.
The aim at the start of the project was to develop a fully operation digital flow
meter that could accurately measure the mass air flow rate for pulsating flow in
internal combustion engines. Similar products available in industry, for example
the Meriam laminar flow meter element, are available for about R30 000. This
excludes the data processing unit, user interface and pressure transducer
required to actually measure the flow rate. The imported costs for these elements
are typically in the region of R15 000, R7000 and R10 000 respectively.
The development took place over a period of nine months and the cost for the
development slightly exceeded R209 000, a less than 5% deviation from the
estimated development cost budget (actual cost breakdown in Appendix J).The
project cost in terms of component and material cost amounted to about R4500.
The research and design phase of the project was delayed due to the availability
and rare nature of certain critical parts, such as the laminar flow elements and
high accuracy differential pressure sensors, required for a successful design (see
Gantt Chart in Appendix I). The additional time spent on acquiring these was as
a result of the time it took to import these components.
Some critical parts were eventually sponsored by companies, such as the
ceramic substrate, stainless steel enclosure and air filter. It should be mentioned
that the ceramic substrate for the laminar flow elements was sponsored by the
firm NGK Ceramics for the development of at least two more flow meters.

The AFLO digital air flow meter developed in this project has great potential for
commercialisation due to the high accuracy and valuable nature of the data
acquired by the flow meter in engine testing applications. The components and
materials used for the development of the digital air flow meter are readily
available. There seem to be a high demand in industry for flow meters and
mechanical and electronic flow meter components as well as for accurate flow
meter calibration and certification services.

54
APPENDIX B: CIRCUIT SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM
OFDIGITAL DATA PROCESSING UNIT OF MASS AIR FLOW METER

55
 TITEL: Inlet Air Flow Meter Schematic

Figure 40: Schematic diagram for the Inlet Air Flow Meter

56
APPENDIX C: SOFTWARE FLOWCHART
OFMASS AIR FLOW METER PROCESSING UNIT

57
 Display
error N

Read Diff Lookup Compute Update Datalog Log Temp

Start & Sensors Y and Abs Actual & LCD Y diffPress
Volumetric mode
Initialise connected? Pressure Flow from Standard screen enabled ? Massflow
Sensors Calibration Vol Flow display & Volume
flow,
N dPress,
Temp
Temperat
ure

Update Enable/ Set Unit Set Unit Display

Sweepscope disable Flow Flow Main
Display Datalog Display Display Menu
Screen Mode Mode Mode ↓ Mode ↑ Functions

(F4_cnt++) (F3_cnt++) (F1cnt - -) (F1_cnt++) (F0_cnt++)

mod 3 mod 2 mod 19 mod 19 mod 3

Y Y Y Y Y

N Function N Function N Function N Function N Function

key F4 key F3 key F2 key F1 key F0
pressed? pressed? pressed? pressed? pressed?

Figure 41: Flow Chart for the inlet air flow meter processing unit software

58
APPENDIX D: FLOW METER SOFTWARE SOURCE CODE

59
//*******************************************************************************
// AFLO AIR MASSFLOWMETER SOFTWARE V1.3
//*******************************************************************************
//* Code by GerroPrinsloo (email: 15021556@sun.ac.za )
//* ______________________________________________________
// | { ------------------ LCD ---------------------- } |
// | { ------------------ LCD ---------------------- } |
// | [Switch] [F0] |
// | On/Off Menu |
// | [F4] [F1] |
// | Sweepscope MAF/Vol> |
// | [F3] [F2] |
// | Datalogging MAF/Vol< |
// |______________________________________________________|
//
//*******************************************************************************
// External Component Libs
// Included files

#include <Wire.h>
//#include <SD.h>
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

charconfigName_S[12] = "config.lfe"; // Laminar Flow Element calibration input filename on SD card

charconfigName_M[12] = "configM.lfe"; // Laminar Flow Element calibration input filename on SD card
String calibrate = "CalbDate = 14/10/2011"; // last FlowMeter Element calibration date
charlogFileName[13] = "datalog.lfe"; // Laminar Flow Element datalogging output filename on SD card
File logFileSD; // SD card on whichdatalogcanplace (memory hardware requirement)

THIS PROJECT SOURCE CODE LISTING IS TOO LONG FOR THIS PROJECT DOCUMENT
THE COMPLETE SOFTWARE PRINTOUT IS LISTED IN THE INLET AIR FLOW METER “PROJECT FILE”.

60
APPENDIX E: LFE DESIGN CAD DRAWINGS
OFLAMINAR FLOW ELEMENT FOR AIR FLOW METER

61
Figure 42: CAD Drawing of Laminar Flow Element (3D Composite body)

62
Figure 43: CAD Drawing of Laminar Flow Element (3D Exploded view)

63
Figure 44: CAD Drawing of Laminar Flow Element (Inlet element)

64
Figure 45: CAD Drawing of Laminar Flow Element (flow element sleeve)

65
 Cutaway of LFE assembly

Figure 46: CAD Cutaway of Laminar Flow Element Assembly

66
APPENDIX F: FLOW METER TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

67
 Table 9: Digital Inlet Air Flow Meter: Technical Specifications

AFLOMASSFLOWMETER
Technical Specifications
Dimensions

1.6 mm Stainless Steel.

Processor & Housing l-w-h approx. 160 x 115 x 55 mm
weight approx. 3.7 Kg

3 mm Stainless Steel.
Transducer & Housing l-w-h approx. 110 x 80 x 28 mm
weight approx. 440 gram

5 mm PVC
Flow Element (LFE) l-w-h approx. 1460 x 210 x 210 mm (Ø=210mm)
weight approx. 7.2 Kg

Paper Element
Filter Element l-w-h approx. 460 x 265 x 265 mm (Ø=265mm)
weight approx. 0.7 Kg

Batteries 9V - 1100 mAh - Nickel Cadmium or Alkaline

Operating Time 16 - 20 Hrs

User Display Panel LCD (Green) 20char x 4 lines

User Display
2.5 mm Perspex
Protection
Connector Watertight (MIL spec)

Sealant Silicone sealing on request (Non-Acidic)

Transducer Interface 2-wire I2C

Computer Interface RS232 on USB

Measurements

Volumetric Range 0.0 to 0.174 m3/s

Volumetric Accuracy ± 1.4% (average)

68
Calibration Resolution Floating Point 0.1

Temperature Range -25°C to +85°C

Temperature Accuracy ± 0.2°C

Real Time 24Hrs System

Time Resolution 10 milli Seconds

Recording Interval 300 milli Seconds

Data Logging Memory 5 Hrs per Gigabyte on USB to PC

Laminar Flow Element

Matrix Section Ceramic substrate

Matrix Dimensions l-w-h approx. 110 x 190 x 190 mm (Ø=190mm)

Engine Inlet Coupling 200mm PVC

Pressure Ports Ø=2mm to 8mm gradual

Pressure Port color High pressure RED, Low pressure BLUE

Filter Element Ø=200mm CASE

Filter Paper thickness 0.70+/-0.02mm

Filter Max Pore Size 50 to 55 micron

Filter Burst Strength 0.600 kg/cm2

Pressure Sensor Probe

AMS 5812 0003 D

Sensors
AMS 5812 0300 A

0 - 1034 Pascal (Differential)

Pressure Range
0 – 206.8 kilo Pascal (Absolute)

Burst Pressure 3.263 kilo Pascal (Differential)

Resolution 15 bit digital (16 bit including overpressure)

Resolution Analog port 14 bit digital DAC

Digital Output min 3277 Counts

69
Digital Output max 29491 Counts

Resolution Time 1-2 milli seconds

Accuracy 0.1%

Temperature Range -25°C to +85°C

Bus Interface 2-wire I2C (Address 0 x78 Hex)

Clock Frequency 400 kHz

Supply Voltage +4.75V to +5.25V

Current Consumption 3milli Ampere

Construction 3.17 mm Ø Tube on Ceramic Substrate

Dimensions l-w approx. 15.24 x 14.73 mm

Weight approx. 3 grams

Temperature Sensor Probe

Sensor AMS 5812

Accuracy 0.1%

Construction 3.17 mm Ø Tube Fixed

Dimensions l-w approx. 15.24 x 14.73 mm

Weight approx. 3 grams

Power & Supply Specification

Type PM9 replacement

Computer Interface USB serial

Supply Voltage 7.2 – 9.5V DC

Recondition Time ± 2 Hours (rechargeable)

Weight 200gram

70
APPENDIX G: FLOW METER CALIBRATION CURVE

71
AFLOAIR FLOW METER: Calibration Curve (14/10/2011)

25 calibration
points

Figure 47: Inlet Air Flow Meter Calibration Curve (14 Oct 2011)

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Table 10: Inlet Air Flow Meter Calibration Table (14 Oct 2011)

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APPENDIX H: FLOW METER DATALOGGING SAMPLE

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Table 11: Inlet Air Flow Meter DataloggingExample

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APPENDIX I: GANTT CHART FOR DEVELOPMENT
OF AIR FLOW METER

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Table 12: Gantt Chart for Inlet Air Flow Meter Development

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APPENDIX J: COST BREAKDOWN FOR DEVELOPMENT
OF AIR FLOW METER

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 Table 13: Actual Cost Breakdown for Inlet Air Flow Meter Development

ACTUAL COST (ZAR) OF DEVELOPMENT PER ACTIVITY(AFLOMASS FLOW METER)

Activity Engineering Time Running Facility Capital Estimated Estimated TOTAL

(@R350/h) Costs (@R50/h/ Costs Labour (@R250/h) Material
R100k)
hr R R R R hr R R R
Literature study 30 10500 700 11200
Identify Compatible 25 8750 8750
Applications
Compile Design 20 7000 500 7500
Requirements
Investigate Concepts 85 29750 100 100 29950
for the Inlet Air Flow
Meter
Simulate the Most 50 17500 250 1200 18950
Promising Concepts
Preferred Concept 10 3500 3500
Selection
Prototype Model 100 35000 500 3500 10 2500 41500
Detailed Design
Design Review 20 7000 500 500 8000
Prototype Model 4500 4500
Hardware Components
Prototype Model 20 7000 2000 80 20000 10000 39000
Manufacturing
Prototype Model 60 8000 500 1000 5000 20 5000 19500
Testing & Calibration
Final Report 55 17500 100 17600
TOTAL 475 164500 5150 6300 5000 110 27500 10000 R 209 950.00

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