Effects of velocity profiles on measuring accuracy of transit-time ultrasonic flowmeter

Abstract

Ultrasonic wave carries the information for flowing velocity when it is propagating in flowing fluids. Flowrate can be obtained by measuring the propagation time of ultrasonic wave. The principle of transit-time ultrasonic flowmeters used today was based on that the velocity is uniform along the propagation path of the ultrasonic wave. However, it is well known that the velocity profiles in a pipe are not uniform both in laminar flow and turbulent flow. Emphasis on the effects of velocity profiles across the pipe on the propagation time of ultrasonic wave, theoretical flowrate correction factors considering the real velocity profile were proposed for laminar and turbulent flow to obtain higher accuracy. Experiment data of ultrasonic flowmeter and weighting method are compared to verify the proposed theoretical correction factors. The average relative error of proposed correction factor is determined to be 0.976% for laminar flow and 0.25% for turbulent flow.