CCB 3072

PROCESS INSTRUMENTATION & CONTROL LAB

EXPERIMENT 9: FLOW METER MEASUREMENT
GROUP 6
GROUP MEMBERS:
LIM YA CHING
RATANASHANGKARI A/P
CHANDRAN
MUHAMMAD ADAM AKMAL
BIN RAMON ZAHEDIN
KUEK YEE RUI
LAB INSTRUCTOR
DATE

20278
18123
18344
18053

OF EXPERIMENT

: 22nd October 2015

Results
Orifice flowmeter vs. Calibration tank
Regulated flow
rate (L/min)
10
15
20

F1503
(L/min)
9.6
15.3
21

Time, T
F1503 X T =V1
Volume V2 in T(min)
(L)
505 (L)
5.55
53.28
75.0
3.45
52.79
75.0
2.46
51.66
75.0
Table 1: Table of Orifice flowmeter vs. Calibration tank

Accuracy
V1/V2 X 100%
71.040
70.380
68.880

Magnetic flowmeter vs. Calibration tank

Regulated flow
rate (L/min)
10
15
20

F1502
(L/min)
9.7
14.9
19.8

Time, T
F1502 X T =V1
Volume V2 in T(min)
(L)
505 (L)
5.28
51.22
75.0
3.44
51.26
75.0
2.58
51.08
75.0
Table 2: Table of Magnetic flowmeter vs. Calibration tank

Accuracy
V1/V2 X 100%
68.288
68.341
68.112

Coriolis flowmeter vs. Calibration tank

Regulated flow
rate (L/min)
10
15
20

F1501
(L/min)
9.685
14.966
20.558

Time, T
F1501 X T =V1
Volume V2 in T(min)
(L)
505 (L)
5.42
52.49
75.0
3.45
51.63
75.0
2.49
51.19
75.0
Table 3: Table of Coriolis flowmeter vs. Calibration tank

Accuracy
V1/V2 X 100%
69.990
68.844
68.253

Accuracy against regulated flow rate

71.5
71.0
Orifice flowmeter
70.5
70.0
69.5
Accuracy (%) 69.0
68.5
68.0
Linear (Magnetic
flowmeter)
67.5
67.0
66.5
5

f(x) = - 0.22x + 73.34

Linear
R (Orifice
= 0.95 flowmeter)

Magnetic flowmeter

f(x) = - 0.17x + 71.64

R = 0.97
f(x) = - 0.02x + 68.51
R =flowmeter
0.54
Coriolis

11

13

15

17

Linear (Coriolis flowmeter)

19

21

23

25

Regulated flow rate (L/min)

Graph 1: Graph of Flow rate vs. Accuracy for three types of flowmeter vs. calibration tank.

Sample Calculation

Calculation for V1 (L):

Taking sample value from table,
Flow rate, F1503 = 9.6L/min
Time, T = 5.55 min
Volume , V 1=Flow rate

Volume , V 1=9.6

( minL ) time (min)

( minL ) 5.55 ( min )

Volume , V 1=53.28 L

Accuracy in percentage (%):

Taking sample values from table,
Volume, V1 (L) = 53.28 L
Volume, V2 (L) = 75.00 L
V1
53.28
Accuracy ( )=
100
Accuracy ( )=
100
V2
75.000

Accuracy ( )=71.04

Discussion
There were three different types of flow meters used in this experiment. The mentioned
flow meters are Orifice Flow Meter, Magnetic Flow Meter and Coriolis Flow Meter. These flow
meters were used with the intention to determine the flow rate of water pumped from the sump
tank into the calibration tank at 10, 15 and 20 L/min. The accuracies of the flow meters are
calculated based on the time needed to fill up the calibration tank up to 75 L of water and the
flow rate were measured by the aforementioned flow meters that were then compared with a
standard.
Therefore, in this experiment, studies on each independent flow meter were carried out as
well as their respective accuracies. The findings mentioned are;
Experiment 1: Orifice Flow Meter (FT-503)
The first flow meter used in this experiment goes by the name of the Orifice Flow Meter.
Orifice Flow meter is a device used for measuring volumetric flow rate of fluid using pressure
differential when a fluid passes through an opening known as an orifice.
The results of the experiments show that for standard flow rate of 10, 15 and 20 L/min,
the accuracies of Orifice Flow Meter are 71.04%, 70.38% and 68.88% respectively. The results
show that Orifice Flow Meter has a relative higher than average accuracy

Experiment 2: Magnetic Flow Meter (FT-502)

The second experiment conducted using Magnetic Flow Meter. A Magnetic Flow Meter
is another volumetric flow meter which does not have any moving parts that uses external
electrodes and magnets to determine the flow of fluid across a effected region dubbed the
magnetic zone. Magnetic Flow Meter can also track forward and reverse flow and are less
affected by flow disturbances such as density or viscosity of the fluids, making it ideal for waste
water applications.
The results of the experiments show that for standard flow rate of 10, 15 and 20 L/min,
the accuracies of the Magnetic Flow Meter are 68.29%, 68.34% and 68.11% respectively. These

results show that Magnetic Flow Meter is not as accurate as when compared to the Orifice Flow
Meter.

Experiment 3: Coriolis Flow Meter (FT-501)

The last flow meter used in this experiment utilizes the Coriolis Flow Meter. Coriolis
Flow Meter is a multifunctional flow meter and is also know by the alias inertial flow meter and
is used to measure mass flow rate. After measuring the mass flow rate of the liquid, the Coriolis
Flow Meter will then convert the mass flow rate to volumetric flow rate.
The results of the experiments show that for standard flow rate of 10, 15 and 20 L/min,
the accuracies of the Coriolis Flow Meter are 70.0%, 68.84% and 68.25% respectively. These
results show that the Coriolis Flow Meter is more accurate than the Magnetic Flow Meter but is
not as accurate as the orifice Flow Meter.
From all the results obtained in this experiment, it can be observed that all the flow
meters had an accuracy range from about 68.12% to 71.04%. The accuracies of the flow meter
can be said to be average. This may be due a variety of errors as the valued obtained from the
meters showed fluctuation throughout the experiment.

Errors and Recommendations

This experiment has many errors that can affect the accuracy of the results obtained. The errors
mentioned are:

Human error : This error can occur as there might be a delay between the time taken to
reach 75L and the stopping of the stop watch.

Parallax error : This error could have occurred during the reading of the indicator of the
water to the 75L mark.

Fluctuation error

: This occurs as the flow meters displayed a value that changes

every few moments

Some of the modifications that could be possibly taken to overcome these errors are
recommended below:

Computerised indicators which get their information directly from the source which
eliminated the human element of having to see if the water reaches the level indicated as
well as overcomes parallax error.

Taking a set of the fluctuating flow meter reading and obtaining an average value to
reduce the chances of error.

Conclusion
From this experiment, we were able to study all three different types of flow meter. The
three types of flow meter are orifice flow meter, magnetic flow meter, and also coriolis flow
meter. For orifice flow meter, it has an orifice plate that generates pressure according to the flow
velocity. For magnetic flow meter, it uses Faradays Law of Electromagnetic Induction to
determine the flow of liquid in a pipe. In a magnetic flow meter, a magnetic field is generated
and channeled to the liquid through the pipe. Coriolis flow meter measure the force resulting
from the accelerating caused by mass moving toward or away from a center of rotation.
We also investigate the most important factor of a flow transmitter, its accuracy. Accuracy
of flow meter is very crucial for safety purpose and to ensure we get the desired product. For the
results obtained, we can observe that orifice flow meter is the most accurate followed by Coriolis
flow meter and the least accurate magnetic flow meter. In industry, selection of flow meter can
be made based on accuracy and the aim of our process itself. It is important so that we can
generate profit as much as possible.

References
Corolias

Mass

Technology.

Retrieve

October

4,

2014,

from

http://www.flowmeters.com/coriolis-mass-technology
Seborg D.E., T.F. Edgar and D.A. Melliechamp, Process Dynamics and Control, John Wiley and
Sons, New York, 1989, pp 116-118.