Flow measurement

Flow measurement is the quantification of bulk fluid movement. Flow can be measured using devices called flowmeters in various ways. Volumetric flow meters quantity volumetric flow rate while mass flow meters quantify mass flow rates.

The common types of flowmeters with industrial applications are listed below:

  • Obstruction type (differential pressure or variable area)
  • Inferential (turbine type)
  • Electromagnetic
  • Positive-displacement flowmeters, which accumulate a fixed volume of fluid and then count the number of times the volume is filled to measure flow.
  • Fluid dynamic (vortex shedding)
  • Anemometer
  • Ultrasonic flow meter

Flow measurement methods other than positive-displacement flowmeters rely on forces produced by the flowing stream as it overcomes a known constriction, to indirectly calculate flow. Flow may be measured by measuring the velocity of fluid over a known area. For very large flows, tracer methods may be used to deduce the flow rate from the change in concentration of a dye or radioisotope.

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