Types of Flow Meter

1. Ultrasonic Flow Meter

Ultrasonic flow meter is a measurement tool with method of indirect measurement (inferential), because sensor does not measure the speed of the fluid in the pipe directly, instead, it measures different in time of transit (differential transit time), by measuring time of transit of the sound pulse with high-frequency (high-frequency sound pulses) which travels in the pipe with fluid flow. Time of transit or transit time is the time needed by the sound pulse to travels along the pipe in two directions, in the same direction as the flow and the opposite direction. The difference in time between the two equals the average speed of the fluid flow. Because of its measurement based on transit time, this method also called ultrasonic transit time flow meter.

Ultrasonic can be defined as many things. Since  Portable Ultrasonic flow meter became popular, technicians think that flowmeter is a Portable Ultrasonic flowmeter. However, the ultrasonic flowmeter is a tool that is needed to measure flow velocity, volume, mass flow from liquids or gases with characteristics which can be moved around.

Principle of Operation

Basically people will distinguish one technology from two types of measurement techniques but this is not entirely true. An Ultrasonic flowmeter will be categorized into Doppler type (which is used to shift the Doppler principle). Or time transfer equipment in the form of measuring time difference. This difference may have brought a fairly simple reason to easily classify ultrasonic in the industry. If someone learns ultrasonic flowmeter measurement techniques, they will find several technologies that might be wrongly classified.

In this case, Doppler flow meter has Doppler shift which measures using continuous-wave in constant frequency or variations such as changes happening inside the Doppler shift is measured using vibrations.

In Ultrasonic flowmeter, transmission from a wave that passes the sensor indirectly connected with fluids is called non-contact type. There can also be misconceptions or simplification on transit time flowmeter.

Some information classified the new type as “phase shift” and compared to the older type which in starting meter uses “transit time“ and other use “Correlation transit time“.

Now a combination of the two transits is now made with ultrasound technology, this makes it possible to know exactly how many functions and calculations of the actual technique.

Ultrasonic Flowmeter type is this is quite popular especially for those who want the type of flow meter that can be moved around or in other words it is portable and it is also referred to as a Hand-held flow meter.

Its operations method is quite simple, just clamp it on to the pipe in which flow is going to be measured. For the output of the flow meter, while it can only be read on the display, there are also those equipped with printers so that the measurement results can be directly stored as hard copy, and there are also measurement results that can be stored on the memory card in the form of soft copies that can be read directly by the computer using a card reader.

2. Glass Tube Flow Meter

4. Coriolis Mass Flow Meter

Coriolis mass flow meter is a flow meter that directly measures the mass of fluids both liquid and gas. Sehingga Mass flow meter Coriolis cannot be affected by changes in temperature, pressure, viscosity, or even density. The basic method of Coriolis flowmeter is there is Coriolis force produced because the flow traveling inside the oscillating tube generates vibrations.

Force produced by the vibrations will be caught by a sensor which then will configure through Coriolis transmitter and produced linear flow. Coriolis flowmeter is highly accurate up to 0.1% and capable to operate in both high temperatures and pressure.

Coriolis mass flow meter in its application, will not be affected by changes in temperature because of the characteristic of Coriolis flowmeter the measures mass, so bubbles or air trapped inside the flow will not affect the measurement, because liquid mass measurement will ignore air.

5. Positive Displacement PD Meter

6. Turbine Flow Meter

Turbine Flowmeter basically uses the same principle as Woltmann rotating vane meter, where vane or turbine or impeller is placed inside the Flowmeter. This vane will rotate when fluid flows into the flow meter and make it very accurate when used to measure fluid with the slow flow but with really high pressure.

7. Electromagnetic Flowmeter

9. Laminar Mass Flowmeter

10. Variable Area Flowmeter

11.Vortex Flow Meters