11 Flow Meter Types and Their Advantages ...
So far, there are as many as 60 Flow Meter Types available for industrial use. The reason why there are so many varieties is that so far we have not found a flow meter that is suitable for any fluid, any range, any flow state and any use conditions.
Each of these 60 kinds of flow meters has its specific applicability and limitations. According to the measurement principles, there are mechanical principles, thermal principles, acoustic principles, electrical principles, optical principles, atomic physics principles, etc. According to the most popular and extensive classification method at present, it is divided into: volumetric flowmeter, differential pressure flowmeter, float flowmeter, turbine flowmeter, electromagnetic flowmeter, vortex flowmeter, ultrasonic flowmeter, mass flowmeter wait.
Here we have selected the 11 most commonly used flow meters to introduce and analyze their advantages and disadvantages.
We have introduced the definition of flow measurement and flow meter in the blog “Flow Measurement 101“. If you are a newbie, you can refer to it.
Next, let’s take a look at 11 Flow Meter Types and Their Advantages and Disadvantages.
Electromagnetic Flowmeter
working principle
The electromagnetic flowmeter is an instrument for measuring conductive liquids based on Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction. Electromagnetic flowmeters have a series of excellent characteristics that can solve problems that are difficult to apply with other flowmeters, such as the measurement of dirty flows, mud, and corrosive flows.
advantages and disadvantages
Advantage:
- The measurement channel is a smooth straight tube and will not be blocked. Suitable for measuring liquid-solid two-phase fluids containing solid particles, such as pulp, mud, sewage, etc.;
- There is no pressure loss caused by flow detection, and the energy saving effect is good;
- The measured volumetric flow rate is virtually unaffected by changes in fluid density, viscosity, temperature, pressure and conductivity;
- Large flow range and wide caliber range;
- Corrosive fluids can be used.
Disadvantages:
- Liquids with very low conductivity, such as petroleum and oil products, cannot be measured;
- Cannot measure gas, steam and liquids containing large bubbles;
- Cannot be used at higher temperatures.
Applications
Electromagnetic flowmeters have a wide range of applications.
Large-diameter instruments are mostly used in water supply and drainage projects.
Small and medium diameters are often used in high-demand or difficult-to-measure situations, such as blast furnace tuyere cooling water control in the steel industry, measurement of pulp liquid and black liquor in the papermaking industry, strong corrosive liquids in the chemical industry, and slurry in the nonferrous metallurgical industry.
Small diameter and micro diameter are often used in the pharmaceutical industry, food industry, biochemistry and other places with hygienic requirements.
Electromagnetic flowmeter can also be used for Partially Filled Pipe flow measurement.
Learn more about Magnetic Flowmeter Technology and choose Magnetic Flow Meters for your applications.
Turbine flowmeter
working principle
Turbine flowmeter is the main type of velocity flowmeter. It uses a multi-blade rotor (turbine) to sense the average flow velocity of the fluid and derive the flow rate or total amount.
Generally, it consists of two parts: sensor and display, and can also be made into an integral type.
advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
- High precision, among all flow meters, it is the most accurate flow meter;
- Good repeatability;
- Zero point drift, good anti-interference ability;
- wide range;
- Compact structure.
Disadvantages:
- Unable to maintain calibration characteristics for a long time;
- Fluid physical properties have a great influence on flow characteristics.
Applications
Turbine flowmeters are widely used in the following measurement objects: petroleum, organic liquids, inorganic liquids, liquefied gases, natural gas and cryogenic fluids. In Europe and the United States, turbine flowmeters are second only to orifice flowmeters in terms of natural measurement meter.
Learn more about Turbine Flowmeter Technology and choose Turbine Flow Meters for your applications.
Vortex flowmeter
working principle
The vortex flowmeter is an instrument in which a non-streamlined vortex generator is placed in the fluid. The fluid alternately separates and releases two series of regularly staggered vortexes on both sides of the generator.
Vortex flowmeters can be divided according to frequency detection methods: stress type, strain type, capacitive type, thermal type, vibration type, photoelectric type and ultrasonic type, etc.
advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
- Simple and solid structure;
- Applicable to many types of fluids;
- Higher accuracy;
- Wide range;
- The pressure loss is small.
Disadvantages:
- Not suitable for low Reynolds number measurements;
- A longer straight pipe section is required;
- Lower instrument coefficient (compared to turbine flowmeter);
- The instrument still lacks application experience in pulsating flow and multi-phase flow.
applications
Vortex flowmeter is suitable for measuring various liquid media, such as water, petroleum, chemicals, solutions, etc.
At the same time, it is also suitable for measuring various gas media, such as air, natural gas, nitrogen, etc.
In addition, vortex flowmeters can also be used to measure steam flow.
Vortex flowmeters can measure over a wide temperature and pressure range. Generally, vortex flow meters can adapt to the temperature range from -200°C to +400°C and the pressure range from vacuum to high pressure.
Learn more about Vortex Flowmeter Technology and choose Vortex Flow Meters for your applications.
Ultrasonic flow meter
working principle
Ultrasonic flowmeter is an instrument that measures flow by detecting the effect of fluid flow on ultrasonic beams (or ultrasonic pulses). According to the principle of signal detection, ultrasonic flowmeters can be divided into propagation velocity difference methods (direct time difference method, time difference method, phase difference method and frequency difference method), beam offset method, Doppler method, cross-correlation method, and spatial filtering method. and noise method, etc.
Ultrasonic flowmeters are the same as electromagnetic flowmeters. Because there are no obstructions in the flow channel of the instrument, they are both unobstructed flowmeters. They are a type of flowmeter suitable for solving difficult problems of flow measurement, especially in large-diameter flow measurement. The advantages.
advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
- Non-contact measurement is possible;
- Measurement without flow obstruction and no pressure loss;
- It can measure non-conductive liquids and is a supplement to the electromagnetic flowmeter for non-obstruction measurement.
Disadvantages:
- The travel time method can only be used for clean liquids and gases; while the Doppler method can only be used to measure liquids containing a certain amount of suspended particles and bubbles;
- The measurement accuracy of Doppler method is not high.
Application
The transit time method is applied to clean, single-phase liquids and gases. Typical applications include tap water, diesel, etc.
In terms of gas applications, we have good experience in the field of high-pressure natural gas;
The Doppler method is suitable for two-phase fluids with a low heterogeneous content. For example: raw sewage, factory effluents, dirty process fluids; generally not suitable for very clean liquids.
Learn more about Ultrasonic Flow Meter Technology and choose Ultrasonic Flow Meters for your applications.
In addition to being used in flow measurement, ultrasonic technology has also been applied to liquid level measurement, providing an excellent liquid level measurement solution!
Coriolis mass flow meter
working principle
Coriolis mass flow meter This flow meter is a novel instrument that directly and precisely measures fluid mass flow. The main structure uses two side-by-side U-shaped tubes, and the bent parts of the two tubes vibrate slightly toward each other, and the straight tubes on both sides will vibrate accordingly. That is, they will move closer or open at the same time, that is, the vibrations of the two tubes are synchronous and symmetrical.
If the fluid is introduced into the tube and flows forward along the tube while the tube is vibrating synchronously, the tube will force the fluid to vibrate up and down with it.
advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
- Coriolis mass flow meters directly measure mass flow and have high measurement accuracy.
- A wide range of measurable fluids. Various liquids including high viscosity liquids, slurries containing solids, liquids containing trace amounts of gas, and medium and high pressure gases with sufficient density.
- The vibration amplitude of the measuring tube is small and can be regarded as an inactive part. There are no obstructions and movable parts in the measuring pipeline.
- It is not sensitive to the upstream flow velocity distribution, so there is no requirement for upstream and downstream straight pipe sections.
- The measured value is insensitive to fluid viscosity, and changes in fluid density have little impact on the measured value.
- Can perform multi-parameter measurements. Just like measuring density, temperature, and derived from this measure the concentration of solute contained in a solution.
Disadvantages
- The zero point of the Coriolis mass flowmeter is unstable and causes zero point drift, which affects the further improvement of its accuracy. As a result, many models of instruments have to divide the total error into two parts: basic error and zero-point instability measurement.
- Coriolis mass flow meters cannot be used to measure low-density media and low-pressure gases. The gas content in the liquid above a certain limit (varies by model) can significantly affect the measured values.
- Coriolis mass flow meters are sensitive to external vibration interference. In order to prevent the influence of pipeline vibration, most models of Coriolis mass flow meters have relatively high requirements for installation and fixation of flow sensors.
- It cannot be used for larger pipe diameters, currently limited to less than 200mm.
- Wear, corrosion or sedimentation of the inner wall of the measuring tube will affect the measurement accuracy. This is especially true for Coriolis mass flow meters with thin-walled tube measuring tubes.
- Most models of Coriolis mass flow meters are heavy and bulky.
- expensive. The ordinary price is 5,000 to 10,000 US dollars for a set, which is about 2 to 8 times that of electromagnetic flowmeters of the same caliber.
Applications
Coriolis mass flow meters are the best choice for applications like:
- Food & Beverage
- Pulp and paper
- Petrochemical
- Oil & Gas
- Power
- High Viscosity
- Paint
- Mining
- Process Control
- Water and wastewater
- And numerous other industries
Learn more about Coriolis Mass Flow Meter Technology and choose Mass Flow Meters for your applications.
Thermal mass flow meter
working principle
Thermal flow meter sensors contain two sensing elements, a speed sensor and a temperature sensor. They automatically compensate and correct for gas temperature changes.
The electric heating part of the instrument heats the speed sensor to a certain value higher than the working temperature, so that a constant temperature difference is formed between the speed sensor and the sensor that measures the working temperature. When the temperature difference is kept constant, the energy consumed by electric heating, which can also be said to be the heat dissipation value, is proportional to the mass flow rate of the gas flowing through it.
advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
You will get efficient and thoughtful service from tnma
- High reliability
- Good repeatability
- High measurement accuracy
- Small pressure loss
- No moving parts
- Range ratio wide
- quick response
- No temperature and pressure compensation required
Disadvantages
- Due to changes in cp value and thermal conductivity, the measured value will change greatly and cause errors;
- If the gas being measured is scaled on the tube wall, it will affect the measured value, and it has the disadvantage of being easily blocked;
- Thermal mass flow meters for pulsating flows and liquids will be limited in their use for viscous liquids.
- The gas is required to be dry and pollution-free: Gas with high humidity affects the heat exchange on the sensor surface, which in turn affects the output results. Particulate matter also has an impact on sensor output.
- Not suitable for high viscosity gases: For high viscosity gases, the performance of the thermal gas mass flow meter may be affected. Because the heat transfer characteristics of the gas will change.
Applications
Thermal gas mass flow meter is a new instrument used to measure and control gas mass flow.
- Gas mass flow measurement in industrial pipelines
- Measurement of flue gas flow rate from chimney
- Calciner flue gas flow measurement
- Air flow measurement in gas process
- Compressed air flow measurement
- Gas flow measurement during half-channel body chip manufacturing process
- Gas flow measurement in sewage treatment
- Gas flow measurement in heating ventilation and air conditioning systems
- Flux recovery system gas flow measurement