The impact of geometric parameters of a S-type Pitot tube on the flow velocity measurements for greenhouse gas emission monitoring

In the monitoring of greenhouse gas emission from industrial smoke-stacks, the most common device used to measure the stack gas velocity is the S-type Pitot tube in South Korea, which is used to estimate the volumetric flow rate by what is termed the Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS). The S-type Pitot tube installed in the stack is inevitably affected during velocity measurements by velocity changes, yaw and pitch angle misalignments due to the harsh environments. Various geometries of the S-type Pitot tube can affect the characteristics of the S-type Pitot tube coefficients, including the degree of sensitivity to velocity changes and yaw and pitch yaw angle misalignments. Nevertheless, there are no detailed guidelines pertaining to the S-type Pitot tube geometry considering accurate and reliable measurements in the ISO, EPA and ASTM international standards. In the present study, S-type Pitot tubes with various geometric parameters, in this case the distance between the impact and wake orifices and the bending angle of the orifices, were manufactured by a 3D printer. Wind tunnel experiments were conducted in the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) air speed standard system to determine the optimal geometry of an S-type Pitot tube for the accuracy velocity measurements in actual smokestacks which undergo velocity changes and yaw and pitch angle misalignments. Particle image velocimetry was also used to understand the flow phenomena around an S-type Pitot tube under various geometric and misalignment conditions by means of qualitative visualization. The results indicate that S-type Pitot tubes with a long effective length have more constant distributions of the S-type Pitot tube coefficients when the velocity changes from 2 m/s to 15 m/s. The error indexes for yaw angle misalignments show that S-type Pitot tube models with large effective lengths are less affected by yaw angle misalignments. The S-type Pitot tube coefficients were mostly insensitive to the both positive and negative pitch angle misalignments regardless of the velocity and geometry of the various models tested.     

Calculation of the Pitot tube correction factor for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids

This paper presents the numerical investigation performed to calculate the correction factor for Pitot tubes. The purely viscous non-Newtonian fluids with the power-law model constitutive equation were considered. It was shown that the power-law index, the Reynolds number, and the distance between the impact and static tubes have a major influence on the Pitot tube correction factor. The problem was solved for a wide range of these parameters. It was shown that employing Bernoulli's equation could lead to large errors, which depend on the magnitude of the kinetic energy and energy friction loss terms. A neural network model was used to correlate the correction factor of a Pitot tube as a function of these three parameters. This correlation is valid for most Newtonian, pseudoplastic, and dilatant fluids at low Reynolds number.     

Revisit the Pitot static tubes in the standards

A Pitot tube is a popular device used for the measurements of flow fields. To control the accuracy of the Pitot tube coefficient, the international standard organization (ISO), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), and the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) issued guidelines that recommended the shape and working conditions of these devices. However, many Pitot tubes on the market do not follow these guidelines. In the present study, various types of Pitot tubes in the market were tested at the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ) to determine the effects of the geometry and flow characteristics. The results revealed certain limitations in the existing ISO and JIS standards, specifically with regard to the recommended design parameters of the AMCA Pitot tube, the reference coefficient value for the JIS Pitot tube, and the redefinition and limitation of Reynolds numbers pertaining to Pitot tube working conditions.     

Investigation of the pressure response of different Pitot tubes

Pitot tubes are commonly used to measure gas flow in ducts. The integration of the velocity profile which allows the calculation of the gas flow is described in several international standards such as ISO 3966 or ISO 10780.The common working principle of Pitot tubes is based on the measurement of the differential pressure between the two different pressure taps. The gas velocity is related to this differential pressure through a flow coefficient depending on the Pitot tube type.In case of stable flow, in a pressurized duct, fluctuations of the in-line pressure, even low, can occur. If the response times of the two pressure lines (static and total) between the Pitot tube head and the differential pressure sensor are not equal, these fluctuations can be seen as fluctuations of the measured differential pressure and then of the calculated velocity.This phenomenon is investigated for different design of Pitot tubes and the difference in behaviour of the two pressure lines is highlighted.     

A Pitot tube system for obtaining water velocity profiles with millimeter resolution in devices with limited optical access

An automated, miniature, S-type Pitot tube system was created to obtain fluid velocity profiles at low flows in equipment having limited optical access, which prevents the use of standard imaging techniques. Calibration of this non-standard Pitot tube at small differential pressures with a custom, low-pressure system is also described. Application of this system to a vertical, high-pressure, water tunnel facility (HWTF) is presented. The HWTF uses static flow conditioning elements to stabilize individual gaseous, liquid, or solid particles with water for optical viewing. Stabilization of these particles in the viewing section of the HWTF requires a specific flow field, created by a combination of a radially expanding test section and a special flow conditioner located upstream of the test section. Analysis of the conditioned flow field in the viewing section of the HWTF required measurements across its diameter at three locations at 1 mm spatial resolution. The custom S-type Pitot tube system resolved pressure differences of <100 Pa created by water flowing at 5–30 cm/s while providing a relatively low response time of ~300 s despite the small diameter (<1 mm) and long length (340 mm) of the Pitot tube needed to fit the HWTF geometry. Particle imaging velocimetry measurements in the central, viewable part of the HWTF confirmed the Pitot tube measurements in this region.     

光电非接触式表面流速测量

针对水工物理模型试验中尚无简单易行的表面流速测量方法,提出了一种新型光电非接触式表面流速直接测量法。在对光束入射水体后散射光强度公式进行推导的基础上,根据水体浅层泥沙浓度的统计继承效应,得出了经上下游浅层泥沙调制的散射光强成相关特性的结论。根据上下游散射光的相关特性,推导了流速测量公式,并分析了上下游测量间距、水流流速、采样率对测量结果的影响。搭建了实验系统,在6种不同标定流速下,分析了不同含沙量对测量精度的影响。实验结果表明,在0～50kg/m36种不同含沙量情况下,实测流速与标定流速的一致性均较好,但水体在10～50kg/m3适量含沙情况下,测量精度较不含沙情况有所提高,测量绝对误差均小于0.1m/s,相对误差能控制在8%以内。     

皮托管在气流测量中一些问题的探讨

皮托管在气流速度测量中受多种因素影响。怎样使测量的数据准确可靠，除了仪器设备外，还要找出影响测量结果的其他原因并对其修正，就显得十分重要。本文的主要目的就是探讨在气流测量中风速的有关修正问题（如水的密度、压力损失、压缩性影响）。以国家气象计量站的设备和测量数据为例，经过水的密度、压力损失、压缩性影响的修正，60m／s时，其修正量为-0．5m／s。这就是为什么在高速时，标准风速偏高的原因。这一结果对于国内国际比对，使气流速度的量值与世界统一具有重要意义。     

Experimental research into a new design of flow-averaging tube

This paper presents the results of investigations into a new design of flow-averaging tube (FAT). The design uses two flow-averaging profiles that affect each other. One of these profiles receives a positive pressure p⁺, and the other a negative pressure p⁻. The differential pressure obtained, , is considerably higher than the differential pressure in other probes on the market. The research reported here aimed to optimize the respective positioning of the profiles. The experiments were performed in an aerodynamic tunnel. Subsequently, tests of prototypes with the profiles were conducted in pipelines with diameters of 104–296 mm. The results are presented in the form of the characteristics of the flow coefficient K as a function of the mean velocity of the air passing through a pipeline. It was found that the new probe design was associated with relatively high measured differential pressures. The observed characteristics are flat over an extensive flow range. This makes it possible to use a constant flow value without degrading the measurement uncertainty.     

The effect of turbulence on a multi-hole Pitot calibration

Accurate calibrations of multi-hole Pitot tubes require thousands of measurements spanning ranges of the fluid's velocity, and the pitch and yaw angles. When calibrating a commercially-manufactured multi-hole Pitot tube in NIST's low-turbulence wind tunnel, we found hysteresis in certain ranges of airspeed, pitch angle, and yaw angle. In the worst case, the hysteresis caused a calibration error of 30%. We demonstrate that the hysteresis was caused by a flow instability associated with flow separation. A turbulence intensity of only 1% removes the hysteresis; however, the calibration depends on the turbulence intensity over the entire range of our measurements (0.25–2%). Therefore, multi-hole Pitot tubes should be calibrated and used at the same turbulence levels.     

Flow measurement of CO2 in a binary gaseous mixture using an averaging Pitot Tube and Coriolis mass flowmeters

To combat the growing emissions of CO₂ from industrial processes, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Carbon Capture and Utilization technologies (CCU) have been accepted worldwide to address these pressing concerns. So as to efficiently manage material and financial losses across the entire stream, accurate accounting and monitoring through fiscal metering of CO₂ in CCS transportation pipelines are core and required features for the CCS technologies. Moreover, these technical requirements are part of the legal compliance schemes and guidelines from various regulatory bodies. The CO₂ transportation pipelines will likely have multiple inputs from different capture plants, each with varying composition of CO₂ and thus introducing impurities into the CO₂ stream. The presence of other ordinary or hydrocarbon gases in the CO₂ gas stream could affect the functionality of metering instruments by introducing additional errors, particularly in the case of volumetric flowmeters. In this study, volumetric and direct mass measurement methods for the flow measurement of CO₂ mixtures using two totally different metering principles are experimentally evaluated. An Averaging Pitot Tube with Flow Conditioning Wing (APT-FCW) and Coriolis mass flowmeters (CMF) are used to assess the flow metering of CO₂ in a binary gaseous mixture. Different gases (nitrogen, air, oxygen, argon and propane) are diluted as contaminants into the pure CO₂ gas flow for various mass fractions to produce an adulterated mixture of the CO₂ gas. Comparative analysis of the measurement results under these flow conditions relative to that of pure CO₂ gas show that the measurement error of the APT-FCW sensor increases with the mass fraction of the diluent component, and gases with density closer to that of CO₂ have a much lesser effect on the performance of the APT-FCW flow sensor for smaller mass fractions. The CMF proved to be very reliable in the gas combination processes and as a reference meter for the APT-FCW sensor. Further analytical observations are discussed in detail.     

Experimental and numerical investigations of the factors affecting the S-type Pitot tube coefficients

In greenhouse gas emission monitoring from industrial stacks, the most common device used to measure stack gas velocity is the S-type Pitot tube. Various factors such as the Reynolds number and misalignment of the installation angle can be additional error sources for the S-type Pitot tube coefficients due to harsh environments. Manufacturing quality of the S-type Pitot tube is also a factor affecting on the measurement uncertainty of stack gas velocity. In the present study, wind tunnel experiments were conducted in Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) standard air speed system to examine the effects of various factors on the S-type Pitot tube coefficients. Numerical simulations were also used to understand flow phenomena around the S-type Pitot tube in the presence of misalignment and distortion of the geometry. The results indicate that misalignment of the pitch and yaw angle change within ±10° changes the S-type Pitot tube coefficients by approximately 2% compared with normal values. The manufacturing quality resulted in unstable values of the coefficients within 2%. However, variations of the Reynolds number (Re_D=3.0×10³–2.2×10⁴) had no significant effect on the S-type Pitot tube coefficients.     

基于阵列探头的 PFA 管超声导波流量测量

PFA管材耐腐蚀性好、性能稳定,被广泛应用在半导体等行业的药液运输中,为精确控制药液的用时和用量,需要研究小管径PFA管的非接触式流量测量方法。本文使用超声阵列外卡探头在PFA细管上激励超声导波,并利用导波测量流量。首先比较超声斜探头模态选择和阵列探头模态选择原理的不同,说明阵列探头的频率选择特性,进而设计阵列探头阵元宽度、厚度并制作了三种间距的阵列探头,通过频率扫描得到阵列探头的激励接收特性,比较分析了阵列探头的模态选择效果,并进行了流量测量实验。结果表明阵列探头可增强接收信号强度,提高测量灵敏度,改变阵列间距可以选择不同导波模态,在3 mm PFA管上选择L(0,5)导波模态时流速范围0～6.70 m/s内的测量结果误差限为±0.22 m/s。     

New techniques for multi-component flow velocity measurement using high-frequency pulsed diode lasers

The application of high-frequency pulsed laser diodes for fringe-type laser Doppler anemometry allows multi-component flow velocity measurements by using only one receiver and one signal processing chain. This is effected by synchronization of the laser pulses with the sampling process of the data acquisition system. Consequently, an identical wavelength can be used for all components. The experimental verification of this new technique is described. The technique permits the design of miniaturized and low cost optical flow sensors which can be used for low and high speed flows.     

Double S-type Pitot Tube for velocity field study of fire whirls

In this paper we present a pressure measurement instrument based on the S-type Pitot tube modified to measure the two velocity components of a high temperature flow assuming that the flow is locally two-dimensional. The development of this new device, which we designate as the Double S-type Pitot Tube, is related to the difficulty and the lack of precision of measurements with a standard S-type Pitot tube in flows with unknown directions like the case of fire whirls in laboratory experiments. The design construction and calibration method of the device are described. The pitch angle of the flow and the velocity coefficients of the probe are analysed experimentally in a wind tunnel calibration as well as the associated errors. The use of this sensor in a fire whirl laboratory test is shown and the results are compared with those of simple S-type Pitot tubes in the same test. The obtained results show the applicability and better performance of the novel device.     

用于两相流流速测量的极性导向式自适应算法

提出利用导向式自适应算法处理两相流的流动噪声信号,以估计出的流动噪声传输参数计算两相流流速,对这种算法的收敛性和流速测量性能进行了论证.当流动噪声信号量化为1 bit时,则形成极性导向自适应算法,它便于用比较简单的硬件实现快速运算,适于制作成专用的流速检测集成芯片.理论分析和实验结果表明,这种方法测量结果的实时性和分辨率优于相关法.文中给出气水两相流垂直管段与极性相关法进行对比实验的结果.     

Application of averaging bidirectional flow tube for measurement of single-phase flow rate in a piping system

A new instrument, an averaging bidirectional flow tube (BDFT), is proposed to measure single-phase flow rates. This averaging BDFT has unique measuring characteristics foremost among which is the capability to measure bidirectional flow and insensitivity of the fluid attack angle. Single phase calibration tests were conducted to demonstrate the performance of the averaging BDFT. Likewise, to enhance the applicability of the averaging BDFT on various flow conditions, flow analyses using CFD code were performed focusing on design optimization of the BDFT. The calibration test results indicated that this averaging BDFT has a linearity within 0.5 % in the Reynolds (Re) number range of above 10,000 where it is meaningful in terms of application. The flow analyses results demonstrate a good linearity of the averaging BDFT with various design features. Therefore, averaging BDFT can be applied for measurement of flow rates within a wide range of flow conditions. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Won-Gu Joo Kyoung-Ho Kang received his B.S. and M. S. degrees in Nuclear Engineering from SNU (Seoul National University), KOREA in 1993 and 1995, respectively. He then received his Ph.D. degree in Nuclear and Quantum Engineering from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) in 2009. Dr. Kang is currently a senior researcher at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in Daejeon, Korea. Dr. Kang’s research interests include analysis and experiments for the nuclear safety, thermal hydraulics, and experiments and modeling for the severe accidents. Byong-Jo Yun received his B.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering from SNU (Seoul National University), KOREA in 1989. He then received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from SNU in 1991 and 1996, respectively. Dr. Yun is currently a principal researcher at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in Daejeon, Korea. Dr. Yun’s research interests include analysis and experiments for the nuclear safety, thermal hydraulics, two-phase flow, scaling analysis, and development of instrumentation for two-phase flow. Dong-Jin Euh received his B.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering from Seoul University, Korea, in 1993. He then received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from same university in 1995 and 2002, respectively. Dr. Euh is currently a researcher at thermal hydraulic safety research department of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in Daejeon, Korea. Dr. Euh’s research interests include two-phase thermal hydraulics in the Nuclear Systems and Fundamental Phenomena. Won-Pil Baek has been working at KAERI as the general project manager (director) for development of nuclear thermalhydraulic experiment and analysis technology since 2001. He received his B.S. degree in nuclear engineering from Seoul National University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from KAIST. In 1991–2000, he worked for KAIST as a researcher and research professor. Currently he also serves as an executive editor of the Nuclear Engineering and Technology, an international journal of the Korean Nuclear Society. His research interests include critical heat flux, integral effect tests, modeling, nuclear safety, and advanced reactor development.     

An anomalous method of using a camera in determining the velocity distribution within a boundary layer

The current study proposes a cost-effective technique wherein a camera can be used anomalously in tandem with the working of a pitot tube in determining the velocity distribution within a boundary layer. The technique involves the traversal of a pitot tube at a uniform velocity inside the width of boundary layer and simultaneously imaging the change in meniscus location of liquid column in the corresponding manometer, inside a wind tunnel set-up. The study aims in establishing a relation between the traversal velocity and the free stream velocity. The proposed approach holds the advantage of providing velocity values at equally spaced locations within the boundary layer, with the number of values depending on the velocity of retraction (traversal away from the surface) as well as the frame rate of recording. Experiments were performed at different combinations of retraction velocity ($V_r$) and Fan Speed for establishing the method. An optimum velocity at which the pitot tube should be retracted was determined based on convergence of trend of the variation in instantaneous meniscus locations to a standard reference trend. Results show that dimensionless optimum velocity (${\overline{V}}_o$) defined as the optimum ratio between tunnel velocity ($U_t$) and $V_r$ is related to the Fan Speed (FS) by ${\overline{V}}_o\propto$ FS${}^{0.6}$. Additionally, with regard to the manual traversing performed, the probability density function plots show that traversing manually at $\overline{V}\gg {\overline{V}}_o$ introduces higher non-uniformity in the results, thereby preferable to perform the traversal closer to values of ${\overline{V}}_o$. Using the results obtained from the developed imaging technique, the velocity variation within the boundary layer was studied. The technique was successful in precisely locating the prominent points inside a boundary layer for a particular flow condition. Finally as a case study, the imaging approach was also utilized in determining the effect of roughness change across the seam of a cricket ball on its aerodynamics. This case study also shows that the technique is successful in obtaining the flow characteristics of a general boundary layer as well as a flow separation case.     

Quality measurement of refrigerant two-phase flow in refrigeration cycles

In refrigeration cycles, quality measurement of two-phase refrigerant flow is required to monitor the cycle operation. Although sectional void fraction of the two-phase flow can be detected in several ways, the quality of the two-phase flow is hardly obtained from the sectional void fraction since velocities of liquid- and gas-phase in the pipe are different from each other. In this study, a new quality measuring method was developed by installing multiple narrow tubes in a test section. By installing a gas bypass tube with the multiple narrow tubes, the quality measurement having an accuracy within 0.03 was achieved in the quality range from 0.05 to 0.8. In addition, the influence of oil contamination in the refrigerant flow on the flow pattern in the narrow tube was examined. It was found that the flow pattern in the narrow tube became bubble flow by the mixing of oil.     

Pitometry as a validation tool for water flow measurement in large diameter pipelines

Accurate measurement of water flow rates in large diameter pipelines is a challenge for water companies that need to produce, transport and distribute increasing quantities of water. To a large extent, this challenge results from the impossibility of recalibration of the flow meters within the periodicity established in the metrological regulations since the removal of a large size flow meter from its site of operation in the field and its transport to a calibration laboratory is in most cases technically and economically impracticable. Because of this scenario, this paper presents the pitometry technique as an interesting alternative to solve problems related to the validation of water flow measurements performed by flow measurement systems installed in large diameter conduits. The technique is based on the determination of the water flow rate by mapping the velocity profile of the water flow inside the pipe by means of Cole type Pitot tubes. The water flow rate is determined in a cross section of the pipe located near and in series to the flowmeter to be evaluated. Based on the results obtained in a great number of water flow measurements already performed by applying the pitometry technique in large diameter pipelines in the field, it is possible to conclude that this methodology is perfectly applicable in the validation of the performance of flow meters installed in these conduits solving satisfactorily the issues related to its operation.