Importance of Liquid Flow Meter Calibration

Calibration is the comparative study made between the readings of a device and a corresponding standard under consideration. Liquid flow meters are devices that have a wide application in the industrial world. Hence, it is important to calibrate such devices so that an accurate and a precise reading are eventually obtained. Thus, this article will tell you that the importance of liquid flow meter calibration.

• Fluid Properties: The flow meters are interactive in nature. This means that the flow meter would interact with the liquid under consideration to establish a valid reading. Now, it is to be noted that the compatibility of the flow meter and the pipeline plays an essential role that gets reflected during calibration. No matter how scientific the method is, the system and the pipeline have to undergo certain changes during the installation process. This leads to the requirement of calibration to establish harmony between them.

• Flow Profile: In simple words, flow profile is the actual flow of the liquid under consideration in the pipeline. No matter how straight the pipe is, you cannot expect the liquid to flow in an even manner. There will be the presence of bends, valves, and viscosity that will alter the velocity gradient of the fluid. In the method of calibration, all these anomalies are kept under consideration before calibrating the liquid flow meter. This helps in obtaining a generalized reading despite the constant changes that actually take place in the velocity gradient of the fluid.

• Traceability, Accuracy, and Uncertainty: Calibrated reading, as mentioned previously, is a comparative study. Therefore, this method actually establishes the relation that the standard of measurement and the quantity to be measured belong to the same category of physical quantities and units. Traceability is the process of comparing a measurement to an unbroken chain of similar national and international standards. Accuracy is the measure of how close the obtained reading is to the true measurement. Besides, the uncertainty is basically a non-negative parameter which features the dispersion of the quantity values attributed to the measurand based on the certain standard information. To establish these three parameters, it is important to calibrate the liquid flow meter. Otherwise, it would not be possible to obtain the specified results.

• Performance Indicators: In order to enable the performance indicators to provide the suitable and the desirable reading, it is important to calibrate the system so that the resultant output is truly satisfactory.

Hence, it can be perceived that the liquid flow meter calibration is an important task for understanding the flow of liquid and taking the correct readings. If the task of obtaining the required measurements remains incomplete then, the entire system would become non-functional. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to calibrate the device for securing optimum results.