Various Types of Liquid Flow Meters
The use of liquid flow measurement is vital is a number of different industries which include semiconductor, medical, power, oil, food processing, metallurgical, water and waste treatment. These industries need to know the accurate amount of liquid being flowed through a point. Liquid flow meters are utilized to determine the volume of liquid flowing through in order to control critical processes, determine the amount that needs to be billed or the quantity of product being produced. A liquid flow meter is an instrument utilized to gauge linear, non-linear, mass or volumetric rate of a liquid flow.
It is used in a number of different applications such as natural sources, pipelines, chambers, tanks, usable industry chambers, etc. Available with diverse technical features and mechanisms, the particular application defines the capacity and type of the liquid flow meter. The distinction in the functional method and technical aspects is based on their areas of applications, operational values, and nature of liquid that is being measured by them.
What are Various Types of Liquid Flow Meters?
Based on the nature of application, the particular liquid and the construction, including material, there a different types of liquid flow meters. Here are the 6 fundamental categories of the liquid flow meters.
- Differential Pressure Flow Meters
Being the most common flow meter in use, they can further be divided into Venturi Tube, Orifice Plate, Flow Tube, Flow Nozzle, and Rotameter. A differential pressure flow meter gauge measures the deferential pressure across an orifice or obstruction in the flow path. Bernoulii’s equation can be applied where the liquid flow is directly proportional to the square root of the differential pressure produced. The most common use of a differential pressure flow meter is within the oil and gas industry. It is also used in chemical, paper, mining, pharmaceutical, water, beverage and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, And Air Conditioning) applications.
- Velocity Flow Meters
This flow meter operates directly with the volume flow rate. It integrates the data of the velocity of fluid into its volume. When the flow meter is used with Reynolds number greater than 10,000, the flow meter becomes insensitive to the viscosity change of the fluid. Velocity flow meters can be divided into Vortex Shedding, Turbine, Swirl, Electromagnetic, Ultrasonic Doppler, Pitot Tubes, and Calorimetric. Velocity flow meters are used in all major industries for a variety of fluids.
- Positive Displacement Flow Meters
Positive displacement flow meters gauge a known volume capacity is filled with liquid, transported further and then filled again. This way it measures the quantity of liquid being transferred. In contrary to all other types of liquid flow meters, a positive displacement flow meter gauges the actual flow of any liquid whereas others calculate a different parameter and then convert the values into flow rate. The flow of liquid is gauged by the number of times the chamber is filled and emptied. This includes Oval Gear, Reciprocating Piston Meter, Rotary Vane Meter, Nutating Disc, and even a Bucket & Stopwatch. Positive displacement flow meters are well known for their precision. They are most commonly used in the transfer or fluids like oils and gasoline, hydraulic fluids, along with domestic use for gas and water applications.
- Mass Flow Meters
This flow meter measures the mass of fluid flowing through a particular point per unit time. This flow meter type includes Coriolis and Thermal Flow Meters. For mass related procedures, Coriolis mass flow meters are the most accurate ones as they gauge the force that is produced by the acceleration of mass. Usual applications for mass flow meters are related to chemical procedures in gas industries. Along with that, mass flow meters are used by power, pharmaceuticals, mining, and wastewater as well as standards in the calibration of other meters.
- Closed pipe flow meter:
The closed pipe flow meter is a type of flow meter that is used for fluids flowing in a closed conduit like sewer, kitchen pipeline, water pipeline, fuel pipeline, etc. and the open channel includes measuring the flow in a non-constricted area. The meters are placed near the pipelines to get the accurate result, and it is displayed on the meters attached to the conduits.
- Open Channel Flow Meters
It refers to the liquid flowing in the free surface and analyzes the flow rate by measuring the water depth. Weirs and Flumes are two categories of open channel flow meters. These use overflows or structures similar to a dam, let a restricted or concentrated free flow of the liquid on the basis of the innovative size and shape of the structure. Open channel flow meters require a level measurement in addition to velocity. Manning’s equation is then used to calculate the true flow. Most common application of these meters includes free flowing liquids such as rivers, irrigation channels, streams and sewer or wastewater systems.
