Research Project :
Experimental and Numerical Study of the Installation Effects on Industrial Flow Meters
Principal Investigator : Dr Mohamed AICHOUNI
Researchers : Laribi,
B. , Benchicou, S. , Chirigui , M. , Karachira, F. , Messoul , A. and Mous M. Abstract
The Accuracy of flow meters is one of the most important metrological parameters in modern industries
dealing with increasingly expensive fluids such as petroleum, natural gas and water. The accuracy
of these devices depends mainly on their position in the pipeline network and their operating conditions.
Pipe fittings such as valves, bends and other fixtures generate turbulence and swirl and distort
the flow distribution in the pipe leading to a substantial amount of measuring error. Our current
research work concentrates on the metrological performances of industrial flow meters under real operational
conditions. The aim was to determine how flow conditions affet Venturi and orifice flow meters accuracy.
The effeciency of flow conditioners to produce the fully developed pipe flow condition and to reduce the
metering errors has been investigated.
Approach
Major Results
The results obtained during the research program show that the error caused by such
non-standards operating conditions can be very important and is well beyond the error limit
tolerated by international standards (ISO 5167). Flow conditioners such as the Laws Vaned plate, the tube bundle
and the Etoile have been shown to improve the quality of the metering operation and to reduce the errors to
an acceptable levels. The research program allowed to discuss several MSc and PhD Theses, and to publish
papers in refereed journals and international conferences.
Key Words :
Metering error, Accuracy, Orifice Flow meters, Venturi, Pipe flow, International Standards ISO, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Laser Doppler Anemometry.
Sponsors :
The research program has been sponsored under contracts numbers (J2701/04/04/99) and (OC399701) by the following
research institutions:
Both Experimental (LDA, pressure measurements) and Computational Fluid Dynamics techniques have been used
to carry on the investigation.
This page is designed and maintained by : Dr Mohamed Aichouni
Last Updated on : January 2005