Vortex-Shedding Flowmeters

Measuring with vortex-shedding flowmeters

The vortex-shedding flowmeter is a relatively new type of instrument which is rapidly gaining in popularity and being used as an alternative to traditional differential pressure meters in more and more applications. The operating principle of the instrument is based on the natural phenomenon of vortex shedding, created by placing an un-streamlined obstacle (known as a bluff body) in a fluid-carrying pipe. When fluid flows past the obstacle, boundary layers of viscous, slow-moving fluid are formed along the outer surface. Because the obstacle is not streamlined, the flow cannot follow the contours of the body on the downstream side, and the separate layers become detached and roll into eddies or vortices in the low-pressure region behind the obstacle. The shedding frequency of these alternately shed vortices is proportional to the fluid velocity past the body. Various thermal, magnetic, ultrasonic and capacitive vortex detection techniques are employed in different instruments.

Such instruments have no moving parts, operate over a wide flow range, have a low power consumption and require little maintenance. They can measure both liquid and gas flows and a common inaccuracy figure quoted is ±1% of full-scale reading, though this can be seriously downgraded in the presence of flow disturbances upstream of the measurement point, and a straight run of pipe before the measurement point of 50 pipe diameters is recommended. Another problem with the instrument is its susceptibility to pipe vibrations, although new designs are becoming available which have a better immunity to such vibrations.

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