AW-Lake Introduces Its Clamp–on Ultrasonic Flow Meter

AW-Lake introduces a new series of Clamp-On Ultrasonic Flow Meters that fasten on the outside of vertical or horizontal pipes ranging in size from ½” through 48”.  Housed in a water and dust-tight NEMA 4X polycarbonate enclosure, the Clamp-On Ultrasonic Flow Meters are compatible with a range of metal and plastic pipe materials and “difficult liquids” such as chemicals, viscous liquids, and abrasives that would damage standard flow meters.  As a result, the non-intrusive, clamp-on ultrasonic sensors feature enhanced flow measurement with no pressure drop in a range of applications such as food or chemical processing plants, oil refineries, and more.

Operating from 100 – 240VAC, the Clamp-On Ultrasonic Flow Meters offer an isolated 4-20mA output that can transmit flow readings to remote displays, recorders, or controllers. The programmable relays are useable for flow control, pump protection or flow proportional pulse.  A built-in keypad and simple menu system simplifies calibration and programming of pipe diameter, pipe material, liquid types and measurement units.  Users can choose to display and totalize flow readings in preferred volumetric engineering units including gallons and liters.

A 128MB data logger is standard, capable of capturing up to 26 million data points.  Optional MODBUS® RTU via RS-485 or HART® communication protocols are available for connection to automation systems that enables users to receive instantaneous flow rate, volume and total, run hours, and diagnostic information.  In addition to being password-protected, AW-Lake’s new Ultrasonic Flow Meters retain all settings, values, and totals in cases of power interruptions.

Designed to operate at temperatures of -40°F to 300° F (-40°C to 150°C), the Clamp-On Ultrasonic Flow Meters offer a measurement accuracy of ±1.0% of reading from 1.5 to 40 ft/sec (0.5 to 12.0 m/sec) and ±0.015 ft/sec (±0.0046 m/sec) for velocity below 1.5 ft/sec (0.46 m/sec).

For more information about AW-Lake products, contact M.S. Jacobs by calling 800-348-0089 or visiting their website at https://msjacobs.com.

The FLUXUS® F/G721: Non-intrusive Liquid and Gas Flow Measurement

The FLEXIM FLUXUS® F/G721 offers non-intrusive flow measurement of virtually any kind of liquid or gas, from the smallest tubing to the largest penstock, independent of the pressure inside the pipe and over a very large temperature range. Due to its advanced technology, the measurement is unaffected by solid or gaseous entrainments or gas wetness and distinguishes itself by its unrivaled turndown ratio: Even low flows down to only a few liters per hour can be recorded accurately.

As the flowmeter of choice for a very wide range of applications in virtually any industrial sector, the FLUXUS® F/G721 is available with two different enclosure types: aluminum housing for standard applications and stainless steel housing for operation in highly corrosive environments. Both can be used in explosion hazard areas (ATEX, IECEX Zone 2).

For more information, Contact:
M.S. Jacobs and Associates
https://msjacobs.com
800-348-0089

BTU Metering with Non-invasive, Clamp-on Ultrasonic Flow Meters

BTU Metering for HVAC
Energy Management

The modern business climate has, for some time now, been spooling up demand for accountability and, even more so, efficiency. Whether you think of efficiency as "doing more with less" or just avoiding the expenditure of financial, human, or natural resources the end result is the same and calls for similar prerequisites.

We live in a society of buildings, each with a mapped out function. Most buildings are predominantly occupied by people, bringing a requirement to maintain temperature, relative humidity, and air quality at levels of suitable comfort for human occupants. The energy consumption involved with providing that level of comfort stands as a bold line item in the operating expense ledger for any building. That is where accountability and efficiency come in. It is in the building stakeholders' interest to have knowledge regarding rates and quantity of thermal energy usage, as well as efficiency measures of delivered output per unit of input energy.

Installation of the BTU meter.
Typically takes about 4 hrs.

HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) primarily is an endeavor that generates and moves
thermal energy throughout an enclosed space. Commercially available technology now allows a building operator to accurately measure that movement of thermal energy throughout a system or building. The process is generally called BTU metering and has a number of justifiable benefits.

• Real time equipment performance measurement.
• Sub metering can indicate specific areas of consumption.
• Ability to directly bill multiple tenants in a single building for their thermal energy usage.
• Monitor and balance energy flows.

BTU metering essentially involves inlet and outlet temperature measurement of heat transfer liquids, along with their flow rate. While the principle is simple, the intricacies of the measurement methods and equipment accuracy can have a substantial impact on the accuracy, and thus the benefit, of the measurement data. Additionally, adding more instrumentation to an already complex system can create an additional on-going maintenance and calibration burden to retain the necessary levels of accuracy and function. Success at gaining the benefit of the performance data while minimizing the additional maintenance burden due to the instrumentation should be the goal.

Click for larger image.

One solution calls for the use of clamp on ultrasonic flow meters to measure liquid flow, coupled with temperature measurement in a single unit that will perform necessary calculations and provide output data in useful engineering units. An overarching benefit of the clamp on meter is its non-invasive nature, allowing its retrofit to in-place systems with no disturbance to existing piping. Here are some other characteristics of a highly effective BTU measurement unit:

• No wear mechanism as part of the flow measurement unit
• Traceable accuracy of flow and temperature measurements
• Simple installation in new or retrofit applications without disruption to system operation
• Reliable and maintenance free operation
• Accurate measurement from near zero flow rate to maximum system flow
• Stable sensing with no zero drift
• Communications protocol to match building energy management system
• Large storage cache for data, in case of communication failure
• Common output signals, 4-20 ma or other, usable with selected ancillary equipment

Selecting the right equipment or instrumentation is the most important step along the path of adding measurement capability to increase efficiency. Without a solid stream of reliable data, useful decisions become difficult. Contact a product application specialist and share your goals and challenges. Leverage your own knowledge and experience with their product application expertise to develop an effective solution.

Ultrasonic Clamp-On Flowmeter with SIL 2 Rating

FLUXUS F/G70X and F/G80X series meters
Courtesy Flexim

Measuring the flow quantity of gases and liquids is a common industrial processing task. There are numerous technologies available for measuring fluid flow, each with its own set of advantages and drawbacks for any particular application. Some of the technologies and methods have been in use for a very long time, with recent enhancements provided by electronics or smart sensor designs.

Ultrasonic flow measurement devices employ a comparatively recent technology to measure gaseous or liquid flow. Whether the transit time differential or Doppler method is utilized, ultrasonic flow meters have a distinctive characteristic in that they can be deployed in a form factor that does not require insertion into the fluid. A common installation method is to clamp the ultrasonic transducer assembly onto the exterior of a pipe. This makes the technology attractive for applications that involve adding a flow measurement point to an existing piping system.

Flexim, a globally recognized leader in ultrasonic flow measurement, offers a number of permanent and portable units for measuring liquid and gaseous flow rates. Some of their instruments have been certified as SIL 2 capable, along with a host of other third party certifications. The product range includes simple and accurate instruments designed for general industrial use, and extends to multi-beam units intended for applications, such as custody transfer of fluids, that require the highest accuracy and overall performance levels.

Share your flow measurement challenges and requirements with instrumentation specialists, combining your own process knowledge and experience with their product application expertise to develop effective solutions.

Non-Invasive Gas Flow Measurement from MSJacobs-Cali

Clamp-on Ultrasonic Flow Measurement Advantages in Pipes and Storage Tanks

Clamp-on ultrasonic flow meter
(courtesy of Flexim)

In order to accurately pump and store fluids, reliable and accurate flow measurement is essential. Intrusive flow meters such as turbine meters and orifice plates are problematic when it comes to maintenance and long-term accuracy.

A better solution is a clamp-on, externally mounted, ultrasonic flow meter. These types of meters simply mount right to the outside of the process piping and do not expose the sensor to the process media. Nor do they require the pipe of vessel to be open for maintenance. Furthermore, they provide high accuracy and repeatability needed for leak detection and minimization of product losses.

Another advantage of using clamp-on flow meters is to use sonic velocity to determine what hydrocarbons are flowing through the pipe. Sonic velocity, when corrected for temperature change, is a good way to distinguish most hydrocarbons. By comparing the actual sonic velocity in a given application, and comparing it to known sonic velocity data, hydrocarbons at given temperatures can be identified.

This comes in particularly helpful in detecting interface changes. Different product batches are easily recognized by the meter. As interface changes are detected with a high degree of sensitivity, product mixups are significantly reduced.

Additional advantages of clamp-on, ultrasonic flow meters:

• No wear and tear - no clogging effects
• Quick and accurate detection of Interface changes - reducing amount of product mixing
• Accurate measurement on thick walled pipes and exotic pipe materials