Correction of the reading of a flow meter in pipe flow disturbed by installation effects

Abstract

A method is described that allows the correction of the reading of a flow meter exposed to pipe flow disturbed by installations upstream of the meter. The method is aimed at minimising the distance between installation and meter and is based on characterizing the flow by "fundamental" disturbances, physically interpretable as vortical structures, and on the detection of these disturbances by a measuring device located slightly upstream of the meter. A functional relationship between fundamental disturbances and "error shift" of the meter is postulated, and its existence is demonstrated by a number of experiments. It is concluded that the correction method is applicable to any type of installation and flow meter. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.