Training

Flow Measurement Fundamentals

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A company of the BRUGG Group

Schulung RISONIC 2000

Training RISONIC 2000

Content

Flow measurement methods

Transit time versus Doppler
Cost Comparison
Basics of ultrasonic transit time
measurement method
Achievable accuracy with the RISONIC 2000
unit

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Flow Measurement Methods

Level
Measurement

Pressure
Difference

Electromagnetic Field

Ultrasonic
Transit Time

RIPRESS
pressure / level

MPICUFx
WRD.1

MagMaster

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RISONIC 2000

Schulung

Flow Measurement Methods

Flow Measurement by Differential Pressure

Advantages
p

Principle:
Constricting the pipe
diameter increases the
velocity and thus
forces a reduction in
pressure.
Calculating the flow
rate from the
differential pressure by
a function or look-up
table.

Suitable for most gases and fluids

Very common
Costs independent of pipe diameter

Disadvantages

Pressure loss
Sensitive to density and pressure fluctuations
Reduced measuring range (critical lower limit)
Expensive maintenance

Applicable for
Q-measurement insensitive to pressure losses
Turbine flow (Winter-Kennedy method)

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Flow Measurement Methods

Electro-magnetic Flow Measurement

Principle:
Measuring the induced
voltage created by
moving the medium
through a magnetic
field.
I

v is the mean velocity over the

entire cross-section

Electro-magnetic induction B is
produced by an alternating or
pulsing current I
The inner wall of the crosssection is electrically isolated from
the pipe wall. Only the electrodes
are in contact with the medium.

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Flow Measurement Methods

Electro-magnetic Flow Measurement (2)

Advantages
Accuracy: Better than 0.5% of measured value
Measuring the velocity over the entire cross-section
Insensitive to suspended solids

Disadvantages
Re-calibration necessary (every year!!)
The pipe has to be cut open for assembly
Measured value depends on the permeability &
conductivity of the medium
Investment costs increase exponentially to pipe
diameter

Applicable for
Closed conduits ONLY
Gases and liquids with constant conductivity
Pipe diameters up to 600mm (24)

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Flow Measurement Methods

Ultrasonic Flow Measurement (transit time)

Advantages

Principle:
Measurement of
transit time
difference between
two ultrasonic
signals sent with
and against the
flow.
t is proportional
to the mean velocity

Accuracy up to 0.5% of measured value

Medium independent
No Re-calibration necessary
Suitable for all types of aquifer system
Measurement of mean velocity along the
sonic path
Costs virtually independent of pipe or channel
diameter

Disadvantages
Accurate installation required
Sensitive to suspended solids and air bubbles
Higher costs for difficult hydraulic conditions,
e.g. turbulence

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Flow Measurement Methods

Ultrasonic Flow Measurement (Doppler)

Advantages
Suitable for all types of aquifer
system

Disadvantages

Principle:

Low accuracy (3%)

Flow depends of the medium
Not qualified for clear water

Measurement of frequency
difference between send and
receive ultrasonic signals.

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Transit time versus Doppler (1)

Transit time

Doppler

time shift of signal

frequency shift of signal

fails if particles are present

needs particles bigger than

certain size (>l/4) [>0.04mm for
water and 1MHz transmitting frequency]

fails if air bubbles are present

can still work if air bubbles are

present

independent of sound velocity

dependent of sound velocity

independent of medium temperature

dependent on medium temperature

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10

Transit time versus Doppler (2)

Transit time

Doppler

mean velocity along the path

works mainly near the boundaries

weakly dependent on velocity profile

dependent on velocity profile

installation distance for proper

flow conditions: >10D
[D: diameter of pipe]

installation distance for proper

flow conditions: >20D
[D: diameter of pipe]

high accuracy possible

high accuracy hardly obtainable

signal detection manageable

if conditions are not optimal

signal detection difficult

if conditions are not optimal

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11

Investment Costs

Cost Comparison

Electro-magnetic
Flow Measurement
Ultrasonic
Flow Measurement

Diameter [mm]
0

200

400

600

800

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1000

1200

Schulung

1400

12

Basics of ultrasonic transit time method (1)

L
t12
c va cos( )
L
t 21
c va cos( )
1 1
L
va


2 cos( ) t 21 t12

crucial for a precise v is a precise

determination of t (differential transit
time)

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13

Basics of ultrasonic transit time method (2)

c=f(temperature, pressure, salinity)

dependency of c for 0 bar and salinity zero

c[m/s]

1560
1540
1520
1500
1480
1460
1440
1420
1400

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

T[C]

T[C]= inverse of above function in the range of 0 up to 70

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14

Basics of ultrasonic transit time method (3)

L
tf
c
Pathlenght

Transit time

[m]
0.5
1
2
5
10
20
50

[ms]
0.345
0.690
1.38
3.45
6.90
13.8
34.5

Differential time Differential time

v = 0.2 m/s
v = 5 m/s
[us]
[us]
0.07
1.75
0.14
3.50
0.28
7.00
0.70
17.5
1.40
35.0
2.80
70.0
7.00
175

Water Temp. 20C c1450m/s

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Achievable Accuracy transit time measurement

Determination of path velocity from transit time measurements

L tr t f
v
2 cos t r t f

relative error = v/v is dependent on

L, , tf, tr and v
the larger v, the smaller
the larger L, the smaller
errors in L, and t affect more or less linearly
errors in tf and tr have little effect on for reasonable large tf and tr

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16