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Flow Sensor

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23 views5 pages

Flow Sensor

Uploaded by

ta003744
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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FLOW SENSOR

1. A flow sensor (more commonly referred to as a “flow meter”) is an electronic device that
measures or regulates the flow rate of liquids and gasses within pipes and tubes.
2. Flow sensors are generally connected to gauges for measurements, but they can also be
connected to computers and digital interfaces.
3. Applications: They are commonly used in HVAC systems, medical devices, chemical
factories, and septic systems. Flow sensors are able to detect leaks, blockages, pipe
bursts, and changes in liquid concentration due to contamination or pollution.

Classification
Flow sensors can be divided into two groups: contact and non-contact flow sensors.

(a) Contact flow sensors are used in applications where the liquid or gas measured in the
pipe when it comes into contact with the sensor’s moving parts.
(b) In contrast, non-contact flow sensors have no moving parts, and they are generally
used when the liquid or gas (generally a food product) being monitored would be otherwise
contaminated or physically altered by coming into contact with moving parts.

Non-contact flow sensors

A. Ultrasonic Flow Sensors


An ultrasonic flow meter can be defined as, a meter that is used to measure liquid velocity with
ultrasound to analyze the volume of liquid flow.

CLASSIFICATION

There are two types of ultrasonic flow measuring methods


 transit time travel and
 Doppler shift.
The difference between the methods is how directional measurement is acquired. With the time
travel method, sound waves are sent along a diagonal to the flow, and measurements are taken in
both directions. With the Doppler method, sound waves are projected along the flow path, and the
frequency of the return signal is measured.

CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING

1. An ultrasonic flow meter construction can be done by using upstream and downstream
transducers, sensor pipe and reflector.
2. The transducer, the device that calculates the flow rate, can be mounted parallel or at an
angle to the side of the pipe.
3. Ultrasonic flow meters have two transmitters that send the sound and two receivers that
receive the sound.
4. One transmitter sends sound waves along the direction of the flow. It is preferred because
it happens in the direction of the flow. The other transmitter sends sound waves in the
opposite direction of the flow. The signal from the first transmitter increases as the speed
of the fluid increases. The signal from the second transmitter decreases since it is sent in
the opposite direction of the flow.

Advantages of Ultrasonic Flow Meter


The advantages are
 It does not block the path of liquid flow.
 The o/p of this meter is different for density, viscosity & temperature of the liquid.
 The flow of liquid is bidirectional
 The dynamic response of this meter is good.
 The output of this meter is in analog form
 Conservation of energy
 It is appropriate for huge quality flow measurement
 It is handy to fit and maintain
 Versatility is good
 There is no contact to liquid
 There is no leakage risk
 There are no moving parts, pressure loss
 High accuracy
Disadvantages of Ultrasonic Flow Meter
The disadvantages are
 It is expensive as compared with other mechanical flow meters.
 Design of this meter is complex
 Auditory parts of this meter are expensive.
 These meters are complicated as compared with other meters, thus it requires specialists
for maintaining and repairing these meters
 It cannot measure cement or concrete pipes one they rusted.
 It doesn’t work once the pipe contains holes or bubbles in it
 Can’t measure cement/concrete pipe or pipe with such material lining
Applications
The applications of ultrasonic flow meters include the following.
 These meters are used in wastewater and dirty liquid applications
 These meters are used wherever chemical compatibility, less maintenance, and low-
pressure drop are required.
 These meters are used to measure the velocity of a liquid through ultrasound to analyze
volume flow.
 These meters measure the disparity between the transit time of ultrasonic pulses which
transmits with the direction of liquid flow
 The applications of these meters range from process to custody flow
 This is one kind of device for volumetric flow measurement for liquids as well as gases.
 These are excellent alternatives for both vortex & electromagnetic flowmeters.

Laser (Optical) Flow Meter


 A relatively recent development in industrial flow measurement is Optical flow meter
which uses light to measure the velocity of a fluid through a pipe.
 Optical flowmeter uses light reflection to measure the velocity of the flow stream. It
measures the time of flight of light to measure the flow of a stream.

CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING

1. One such technology referred to as Laser-Two-Focus (L2F) uses two laser beams to detect
the passage of any light-scattering particles carried along by the moving fluid as shown in
Figure.
2. A dual beam laser is used as the source
3. Opposite sides of the pipeline is attached with optical window to let the light into the
pipeline.
4. The light detecting sensors are placed at an inclination to the straight-line path of the light.
5. The light detected is then converted into an electrical signal and then signal processed.
6. The light is let pass through the optical window and the light propagate through the fluid
and comes out through the optical window at the other end.
7. If there is no fluid flow in the pipeline, the light goes straight and cannot be detected by
the sensors.

WORKING

8. If fluid flows through the pipeline. The incident light hits the particles in the fluids, the
light gets scattered and deviates from the main path.
9. The deviated light is getting detected by the detector. Consider this happens at the first
sensor. Then the particle moves further to the second beam of light.
10. The same happens for the second beam. The light beam gets deviated and detected at the
second sensor. The time delay between the two successive pulse is measured.
11. This time delay is proportional to the flowrate of the stream, described by the equation:

Where,
v = Velocity of particle
d = Distance separating laser beams
t = Time difference between sensor pulses
Pros:
High precision components that have minimum clearances
High repeatability and accuracy, limited only by the amount of slippage.
Low maintenance and cost-effective
Provide mechanical or electronic interface.
Require no power
Can handle high pressures, entrained gases, and suspended solids.
Relatively easy to design
Cons:
Expensive to install and maintain owing to moving parts.
Susceptible to corrosion by water-based fluids
Relatively complex design increases cost
Require clean fluid, and some meters can actually block the flow if a larger particle is trapped in
the wrong place.
If the flow rate increases, the size of the sensor seems to increase.

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