CPAFlowConditionersforLiquidApplications

TheCPA50Eand65Eflowconditionerareextremelyeffectivesolutionsforliquidmeasurementapplications.Thisappliesto
allvolumetricflowmeterscenarios;ultrasonic,turbine,orificeorventuri.

CPA50E/65EvsAGA319TubeBundles

Inliquidapplications,theCPA50Eand65Ecanactuallyhavealowerpressuredropthantypicaltubebundlesorstraightening
vanes.Thedesignoftubebundleisdetrimentalinapplicationswithhighviscosityfluidsduetothesignificantincreaseinpipe
wallfrictionintheflowconditionerpassages.

CPA 50E AGA 3 19Tube Bundle

20.000

18.000
Pressure Loss Coefficient / K Factor

16.000

14.000

12.000

10.000

8.000

6.000

4.000

2.000

0.000
1 10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 100,000,000
Reynolds Number

PressurelosscoefficientofCPA50EvsAGA319TubeBundleacrossarangeoffluidmeasurementscenarios.

Perforated plate flow conditioners such as the CPA 50E & 65E will outperform typical straightening vanes and AGA 3 tube
bundlesincertainliquidmeasurementapplications.TheCPA50Eand65Ecanrestorefullydeveloped,swirlfreeflowinfluids
withReynoldsnumbersrangingfrom300to30000000.

30000000 3000000 300000 30000 15000 10000 6000 1000 300
1.6

1.4
Normalized Flow Velocity (V/Vavg)

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Distance Across Pipe (m)

FlowprofilesgeneratedbytheCPA50EacrossaReynoldsnumberrangeof30030000000.

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LiquidsvsGas

Intheengineeringworld,thermodynamicshastrainedustobesensitiveoffluidphase;liquidsandgasesbehavedifferently
andmustbetreateddifferentasaresult.Thisiscriticalinthermodynamicsasfluidphasecanhaveasignificanteffectonthe
thermodynamicbehaviorandresultantcalculations.

Flow measurement is concerned with fluid dynamics, not thermodynamics. Fluid dynamics simply deals with how a fluid
behaves as it is flowing in a controlled volume such as a pipe. Fluid dynamics does not care about fluid phase; gases and
liquidsbehaveverymuchthesame.Fluiddynamicsisprimarilyconcernedwithfluidviscosity.

ReynoldsNumber

Reynolds number (Re) is a nondimensional term that is used to compare one fluidapplication toanother. It allows us to
instantly compare the behavior of any gas or liquid. Natural gas, air, water, fuel oil, LNG, crude oil, etc can instantly be
benchmarkedagainsteachothertodescribehowthefluidisactinginanyflowingscenario.

VL
Re

=Bulkfluiddensity,kg/m3.
V=Bulkfluidvelocity,m/s.
L=Crosssectionaldiameteroffluidflow,m.
=Bulkfluiddynamicviscosity,Pa*s.

LaminarvsTurbulentFlow

Reynoldsnumberhelpsusdistinguishbetweenlaminarandturbulentfluids.Laminarflowsareapplicationswheretheflow
viscosityandpipewallfrictionoverwhelmsotherflowbehaviors.Itistypicallyfoundinveryslow,thickfluidssuchascrude
oil applications. Turbulent flow is when the random turbulent movement of the flow overwhelms the viscosity and wall
friction.Itisfoundinfastflowingsituationswithfluidssuchaswater,lightpetroleumliquids,airornaturalgas.Laminarflow
istypicallyforaReynoldsnumberrangeof1002500whileturbulentfluidshaveReynoldsnumbersabove5000.

From a flow measurement standpoint, Reynolds number changes the shape of the velocity flow profile that is being
measured.Turbulentflowshaveaflatflowprofileduetohigherinertialmixingforcesandlowerwallfrictionwhilelaminar
flowshavemorepeakyflowprofilesduetoalackofinertialmixingandhighwallfriction.TheCPA50Eisabletorestoreflow
profilesineitherscenario.

Showingthedevelopmentofavelocityflowprofileduetolaminarandturbulencefluidforces.

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