FLOW BY MUHAMMAD MANSOOR BILAL

Senior Officer
E&I
 Flow is defined as the volume of material
That passes
A specific place in a specified time interval.
 Laminar Flow :
Smooth Flow called Laminar. With Laminar Flow Fluid
particles move in parallel path

Turbulent Flow :
Flow is agitated and disturb. The fluid may have small
or high frequencies or eddies

 Flow Between Turbulent and

Laminar is called Transition Flow
• A Reynolds number is the ratio of a liquid’s (or gas’s) inertial
forces to its drag forces. It is calculated by multiplying the
velocity of the fluid by the diameter of the pipe and by the
density of the fluid, and then dividing that value by the
viscosity of the fluid. Reynolds numbers are low at low
velocities and high viscosities.

Reynolds Number = (Velocity x Diameter of pipe x Density) / Viscosity

• At a low Reynolds number (up to about 2000), the viscosity

and velocity of the fluid produce a smooth, laminar flow. Flow
changes between laminar and turbulent in the range of
Reynolds numbers between 2000 and 4000. At a Reynolds
number above 4000, flow is turbulent
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

 CLASSIFICATION
 INTRODUCTION
 WORKING PRINCIPLE
 COMMON SPECIFICATIONS
 ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
 LOOP TRACING
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

DIRECT MEASUREMENT INDIRECT MEASUREMENT

MASS INFRENTIAL
MEASUREMENT MEASUREMENT
VOLUME /VELOCITY
MEASUREMENT
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

 DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE
 MAGNETIC
 VORTEX
 CORIOLIS
 POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT
 VARIABLE AREA
• It states that as the fluid velocity increases,
the pressure on the walls decreases. This
inverse relationship between fluid velocity
and the pressure of containments is called
Bernoulli Effect.
It can be expressed as,
V= K√ (ΔP/D)
• The square root relationship between the
flow velocity and the pressure differential
causes a nonlinear output in many flow
meters.
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE

 Equation of CONTINUITY
 VOLUME FLOW RATE= AREA x VELOCITY

= A1 V1 = A2 V2 = A3 V3
 Bernoulli’s Theorem
 velocity is inversely proportional to
Pressure
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE

Δp = (Flow)²
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Working Principle
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

TYPES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
Orifice Plate
LOOP TRACING

DP Transmitter Control System

Orifice Plate Flow Transmitter
Flow Element

Control valve
Or
Final Control Element
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

• As the liquid or gas flows through the tube, its

velocity increases, causing a pressure differential
between the upstream and downstream flow.
• Fluid pressure is lowest at the point where the tube
is most restricted.
• Venturi tubes can be round, rectangular or irregular
in shape
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Venturi Tube
LOOP TRACING

Flow Transmitter

Control System

Venturi Tube

Control Valve
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Working Principle
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
Pitot Tube Control System
LOOP TRACING

Flow Transmitter

Pitot Tube

Control Valve
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
ANNUBAR Control System
LOOP TRACING

Flow Transmitter

ANNUBAR

Control Valve
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Working Principle
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON SPECIFICATIONS

ORIFICE

VENTURI

NOZZLE

PITOT

ELBOW
CLEAN ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
DIRTY ○ ○ ○ Ø ○
LIQUIDS
VISCOUS ○ ○ ○ ○ Ø
CORROSIVE Ø ○ ○ ○ ○
CLEAN ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
GAS
DIRTY ○ ○ ○ Ø ○
STEAM ☼ ○ ○ Ø Ø
SLURRIES Ø ○ ○ Ø ○
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Advantages:

 Low to medium initial set up cost

 Simple construction
 Can be used in wide ranges of fluid
 No moving parts
 Transmitting instruments are external
 Ease of instrument and range selection
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Disadvantages

 Flow rate is nonlinear function of

differential pressure
 Medium to high permanent pressure drop
 Low Flow rate range ability with normal
instrumentation
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Working Principle
 Measure the flow of conductive fluids only.
 Based on Faraday's law of electromagnetic
induction.
 E = Constant x B x L x v
B=the strength of the magnetic field (induction)
L=the length of the conductor (distance of
electrodes)
v=velocity of the conductor (average flow velocity)

 Signal is independent of Temperature, pressure,

density, viscosity.
 It can measure flow in both directions
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Advantages:
 Obstruction less design
 Low maintenance cost
 Linear output
 Can be used in hazardous environments or
measure corrosive or slurry fluid flow
 No wetted parts
 High Accuracy
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Disadvantages
 Only measure Conductive liquids
 Requires electrical conductivity of fluid
higher than 3 µS/cm in most cases
 High initial set up cost
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
Magnetic Flow Meter

MAGMETER
E- transmitter
Control System

Control VALVE
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Working Principle :
• Vortex shedding flow meters measure the frequency of
vortices shed from a blunt obstruction, called a “bluff body,”
placed in the pipe.
• As the flow divides to go around the bluff body, vortices are
created on each side of the divided stream.
• The rate of vortex creation is proportional to the stream
velocity.
• Since each vortex represents an area of low pressure, the
presence then-absence of low pressures is counted and the
count is proportional to the velocity.
• Vortex flow meters provide good measurement accuracy
with liquids, gases, or steam and are tolerant of fouling.
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

LOOP TRACING

Control System

Vortex Flow Transmitter

Control Valve
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

COMMON SPECIFICATIONS CLEAN ☼

DIRTY ☼
LIQUIDS
VISCOUS ☼
CORROSIVE ○
CLEAN ☼
GAS
DIRTY ○
STEAM ☼
SLURRIES
Ø
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Working Principle
 Coriolis principle or
Motion Mechanics
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Offers resistance to deceleration ,

Causing side to lead ahead

Fluid offers resistance ,

causing side of tube to lag

Mass Flow rate is proportional to TIME INTERVAL ΔT

COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

COMMON SPECIFICATIONS CLEAN ☼

DIRTY ☼
LIQUIDS
VISCOUS ☼
CORROSIVE ○
CLEAN ☼
GAS
DIRTY ○
STEAM Ø
SLURRIES
☼
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Advantages:
 Measures mass flow
 Unaffected by changes in pressure,
temperature, viscosity and density
 Higher accuracy
 wide range of liquid flow
 hot and cold fluid
 Low pressure drop
 Suitable for bi-directional flow
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Disadvantages

 High initial set up cost

 Clogging may occur and difficult to clean
 Larger in over all size compared to other
flow meters
 Limited line size availability
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Working Principle
 Takes fluid steam into BUCKETS and
empties those buckets back into flow.
 measure volumes by counting repeatedly
the filling & discharging of known fixed
volumes.
 The volume flow rate can be calculated
from the revolution rate of the mechanical
device.
 They are named after the mechanical device
inside the chamber
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

COMMON SPECIFICATIONS

CLEAN ☼
DIRTY Ø
LIQUIDS
VISCOUS ☼
CORROSIVE ○
CLEAN ☼
GAS
DIRTY Ø
STEAM Ø
SLURRIES
Ø
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Advantages:
 Low to medium initial set up cost

 Can be used in viscous liquid flow

 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Disadvantages
 Higher maintenance cost
 High pressure drop
 Not suitable for low flow rate
 Gas (bubbles) in liquid could significantly
decrease the accuracy
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Working Principle

 VOLUME FLOW RATE= AREA x VELOCITY

 Cross section area available to the flow,
varies with the flow rate.
 Under a (nearly) constant pressure drop, the
higher the volume flow rate, the higher the
flow path area
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

 Fluid moving through the

tube form bottom to top
causes a pressure drop
across the float, which
produces an upward force
that causes the float to move
u p t h e t u b e
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

COMMON SPECIFICATIONS

CLEAN ☼
DIRTY ○
LIQUIDS
VISCOUS ☼
CORROSIVE ○
CLEAN ☼
GAS
DIRTY ☼
STEAM ○
SLURRIES Ø
 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Advantages:
 Very low initial set up cost

 Simple, robust

 Low, nearly constant, pressure drop

 COMMON FLOW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Disadvantages
 Not suitable for low flow rate
 can not be used in non/low gravity
environments
 Rota meters must be mounted vertically
 Differenti PD Variable
Attribute al Magnetic Coriolis
Pressure Meters Area

Clean Liquids Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Clean Gases Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Viscous Liquids No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Corrosive Liquids No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Accuracy, ± (%) 2-3 0.5 0.05-0.15 0.1-0.5 2-4

Max working
100 ------- 900 & up 4000 & up 200 & up
Pressure (Psi)
Max working
122 Up to 356 250 & up 175 & up 250 & up
Temp (F)
Pressure Drop medium No low High medium
Non
Output linear linear linear linear
linear
Average Cost Low High High Medium Low
Q & A
Session