An introduction to flow meters:
Flow meters have a wide selection of applications and are utilized in nearly every industry and in some laboratories too. A flow meter is a machine to measure large quantity fluid movement. You will find many methods used to calculate flow. Considered one of the common kinds of flow meters is the positive displacement flow meter. It basically gathers an allocated volume of the fluid then it will count the number of instances the volume is filled to sum up the flow. Others have a constriction and by calibrating the forces produced by the running stream across the constriction, this will compute the flow indirectly. If we need to employ a flow meter for any application, it is always good to purchase a top quality unit since it will give long years of trouble free service.
Much of the applications for flow meters are:
- Production process.
- To compute effluent emission.
- Steam movement
- Oil flows
- Air flows
- Gas movement
- For laboratory use.
- To compute water and gas usage.
- To measure stream of rivers and opportunities.
- To calculate fuel being dispensed.
These are only some of the uses. Flow meters have hundreds of applications and are of the various types. The form of flow meter depends upon its application. Flow meters can measure in minute quantities and in some massive applications they could measure fluid flow in large volumes.
Some of the different types of flow gauge are:
- Piston meter/Rotary piston: They are one of the commonest flow meters and are utilized to measure domestic water utilization.
- Variable area meter: This flow meter is also called a 'rotameter' and consists of a tapered tube with a float inside that is pushed upwards by the fluid flow and downwards by gravity. While the flow rate keeps increasing, the ball moves up in the tapered tube till the upward and down forces are in a state of equilibrium. The reading at that point is the flow. It is used mainly to measure flow of water or air and it is precise up to =/- 1%.
- Turbine flow meter: It obstructs the stream of the liquid only minimally and this design allows for measurement of greater flow rates. They are mostly used by large commercial users.
- Some of the other kinds of meters are Woltmann gauge, Single jet gauge, Paddle wheel meter, multiple jet meter, Pelton wheel, Oval gas meter, Nutating disk gauge, Current meter etc.
These are generally only a few of the many types of flow meters available. Some of the other types are Pressure based meters. They function on Bernoulli's principle by measuring differential pressure. Venturi meters shrink the flow of the fluid and by utilizing pressure sensors to measure the differential pressure, before and after constriction, the flow is calculated. The Pitot tube measures the fluid flow by computing the stagnation pressure and by making use of Bernoulli's equation, the rate of flow is determined.
Flow meters are regular and we are certain to encounter a flow meter practically daily. One of the most common flow meters is the diesel dispenser. The other is our domestic water meter. A flow meter may be manual or electronic, simple or sophisticated, but plays important part in our way of life either directly or indirectly.
Article Source : www.clintbrownlee.com
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