Part 1 The User
Having conducted over 500 clamp-on flow meter calibrations, Young Calibration was enlisted to undertake a correlation study, looking at the potential issues when using these meters to undertake simple flow measurements. Initial findings are limited to looking at the user to user variance of installation and setup when installed to the manufacturer guidelines.
The study was conducted using two transit time type meters on a 100 mm pipe under steady state flow conditions; the meters were (1) a low-cost single channel model and (2) a high-performance dual channel meter. The findings highlighted a large sensitivity to user installation on the low-cost model, with a flow rate error variance of 5 to 32% whilst the high-performance dual channel meter recorded error variance of -0.5 to 3%. In the first of our application notes for ultrasonic clamp on meters it is astoundingly clear that the user has an important role in the setup of the clamp on meter, but overrulingly the manufacturer meter quality plays a significant part in attaining accurate flow measurement results.
In later parts we will be discussing installation effects in more detail, with traverse type setup, coupling pastes, pipe sizes, particulate/bubbles, pipe condition and how meter diagnostics can help you.
For more information on flowmeter benchmarking or flow meter calibration, contact Young Calibration.
