Ultrasonic pulse-Doppler flow meter application for hydraulic power plants

At hydraulic power stations, Pitot tubes have commonly been used to measure flow rates in steel penstocks for performance testing of hydraulic turbines. Due to the difficulties of Pitot tube installation, transit-time ultrasonic flow meters are becoming a popular replacement, but their accuracy is sensitive to velocity profiles that depend on Reynolds numbers and pipe surface roughness. Ultrasonic pulse Doppler flow meters have recently gained favor as suitable tools to measure flow rates in steel penstocks because they can measure instantaneous velocity profiles directly. Field tests were conducted at an actual hydraulic power plant using an ultrasonic pulse Doppler flow meter, and it was found capable of measuring velocity profiles in a large steel penstock with a diameter of over one meter and Reynolds number of more than five million. Furthermore, two ultrasonic transducers were placed on the pipe surface to validate the multi-line measurement of asymmetric flow. Each transducer recorded the velocity profile simultaneously from the pipe centerline to its far wall during plant operation. Velocity profiles were obtained from three-minute measurements to improve the accuracy of flow rate measurements.     

Assessment of combined V/Z clamp-on ultrasonic flow metering

Clamp-on ultrasonic flow metering can provide a non-invasive and portable means for flow measurement. However, it indicates flow rates with low measurement accuracy at low flow velocity in pipe flows. Typical accuracy of the clamp-on ultrasonic flow metering amounts as low as ±1% if the flow velocity in a pipe is greater than 0.5 m/s. The accuracy can be increased greater than ±2% if the flow velocity is lowered smaller than 0.5 m/s. Inner pipe diameter can be also an influential factor in flow metering when the exact value of the inner diameter is not known. The inner pipe diameter cannot be found if the pipe is too large to measure or if there are erosions or adhesions on the inner pipe surface due to small particles in the flow. These shortcomings of the clamp-on ultrasonic flow metering can be overcome by combining two transit times along a Z-shaped and a V-shaped ultrasonic path. This technique is termed combined V/Z clamp-on ultrasonic flow metering. With the water flow standard system in KRISS, this combined technique exhibited intermediate performance between the two flow metering techniques along the Z-shaped and the V-shaped ultrasonic paths. Notably, the combined technique showed better performance (expanded uncertainty less than 0.76%, k = 2) than the two flow metering techniques (1.61% and 1.17%, k = 2) in the flow range of (100–400) m³/h with pipe diameter of 250 mm.     

Correction of flow metering coefficients by using multi-dimensional non-linear curve fitting

Flow disturbances can significantly affect flow metering because the downstream flow of flow disturbances can become unstable and asymmetric, thus resulting in measurement errors in the flow meter. A clamp-on type ultrasonic flow meter is an example of a flow meter that is susceptible to flow disturbances given its diametrical configuration of ultrasonic paths. Several flow rate correction formulas have been suggested to mitigate the effect of flow disturbance for improved flow metering. As a novel method, a multi-dimensional non-linear correction formula is suggested to overcome limitations in flow metering that are attributed to the non-linearity of flow disturbances. The non-linear correction formula comprises n-th order polynomials with multiple variables. To validate the usefulness of the non-linear correction formula, the standard error of estimate (SEE) is introduced. Four types of flow configurations, namely, downstream of a contraction pipe, an expansion pipe, a single elbow joint, and a tee joint, are used to show the effect of the non-linear correction formula. The expanded uncertainty based on the SEE indicates estimated values of 1.29%, 11.14%, 1.07%, and 6.31% for the four upstream flow configurations, respectively. Thus, the effect of the non-linear correction formula is limited according to the upstream flow conditions. In the downstream flow of the contraction pipe and of the single elbow joint, the non-linear correction formula not only harmonizes the distribution of the flow rate deviations but also removes the biases of flow rate deviations with respect to the flow velocity, the installation location, and the diameter ratio.     

A new approach to detection of vortices using ultrasound

The measurement principle of vortex flowmeter is based on von Karman vortex shedding phenomenon. Frequency of vortices, behind the bluff body, is proportional to the mean flow velocity. There are different ways of detection of vortices, and different sensors are used (presser sensors, capacitive sensors, thermo-resistance sensors, ultrasonic sensors, etc.). Proposed method to vortex identification, presented in this paper is based on simultaneous detection of pair of vortices with opposite circulation, by means of two pairs of ultrasonic transducers. A beam of ultrasound, from ultrasonic transmitter to ultrasonic receiver is transmitted perpendicularly to the vortex street. The received ultrasonic signal is amplitude and phase modulated. Frequency of demodulated signal is equal to the frequency of vortices. This technique allows a number of advantages comparing to conventional solutions: reduction, or elimination of noises caused by installation vibration and disturbances in the flow, higher sensor sensitivity, which as a result leads to a possibility of a reduction of the bluff body size, i.e. reduction of the pressure drop on the flow meter, increase of the measurement range in the low flow region, the possibility of redundant operation of the flow meter, reduced measurement uncertainty, instrument technology improvements, improved reliability of the instrument, assured improved statement of complete uncertainty contributions, improved metrology of the equipment as such and calibration procedures that contribute to measuring capabilities etc. For experimental testing a prototype vortex flowmeter of a nominal inner diameter (ID) 50 mm is developed. A cylindrical bluff body for vortex shedding is used. Ultrasonic transducers based on piezo-crystal PZT-5A, inserted in the wall of the vortex meter casing are utilized. The testing of prototype ultrasonic vortex flowmeter is realized on the calibration station on the water. The results at the testing point to the possibility of measuring flow of liquid fluids at velocities less than 0.5 m/s, with an uncertainty better than ±1%.     

Couette-Taylor-Poiseuille流的数值模拟

对中等半径比同心旋转圆柱间Couette-Taylor-Poiseu ille流进行了数值计算,并与已有的实验数据进行比较以获得流场的更多信息。结果表明,数值计算与实验结果吻合较好,依次再现了层流涡、波动涡、非波动螺旋涡以及波动螺旋涡;轴流可以起到稳定流场的作用,轴流存在时,流场转捩的临界泰勒数Ta值会变大,涡胞变小,涡心不再位于轴间隙的中间,从左向右的轴流比较明显,交替指向内轴和外轴,并缠绕在涡胞的周围;除去平均轴流速度后,速度矢量场显示出不同的涡形,形状与相同Ta时的涡胞基本相同;在不同的泰勒数Ta和雷诺数Re下,涡心的轴向传播速度约为平均轴向流速的1.17倍,相传播速度约为内筒转速的0.42倍。     

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF TIP CLEARANCE FLOW FOR AN AXIAL FLOW FAN ROTOR

The flow field in the tip region of an axial ventilation fan is investigated with a particle image velocimeter (PIV) system at the design condition. Flow fields with three different tip clearances are surveyed on three different circumferential planes, respectively. The phase-locked average method is used to investigate the generation and the development of a tip leakage vortex. The result from PIV system is compared with that from a particle dynamics anemometer(PDA) system. Both data are in good agreement and the structure of the tip leakage vortex for the rotor is illustrated. The characteristic of a leakage vortex is described in both velocity vectors and vortical contours. The unsteadiness of the leakage vortex and the position of the vortex are surveyed in detail, which interprets the discrepancy between the numerical simulation and PDA experimental results to a certain extent. The center loci of tip leakage vortex at different times and the mean center loci of the leakage vortex are displayed particularly. Finally, the trajectories of the tip leakage vortex by the experimental measurement are compared with predictions from the existing models for high speed and high-pressure compressors and turbines when appropriately interpreted. A good agreement is obtained.     

Reproduction of air velocity in the entrance region of the test pipe in a wind tunnel

The airflow development in the pipe, in the entrance region of the wind tunnel located in the Lithuanian Energy Institute, the laboratory of Heat Equipment Research and Testing is investigated to analyze the conditions for the reproduction of air velocity values. The analysis is performed to reveal undeveloped flow conditions where the calibration of the devices is usually made, the entrance region of the pipes, or free stream from the nozzles. In this study, different flow regimes have been investigated using different air velocity measurement methods. Experimental and numerical results clearly show the features of the developing flow. They both demonstrate the stable core of the velocity profile up to 5 D in the pipe and ≤1 D from the entrance into the free stream in the testing chamber. Ultrasonic anemometer (UA) installed in the aerodynamic test facility shows reliable and highly comparable results with another non-intrusive device – laser Doppler velocimeter (LDA) in a range of velocities from 0.05 m/s up to 30 m/s. UA integrated into the wind tunnel is not found to be used for metrological issues for air velocity. Due to the fast response, they both enabled to analyze fluctuations in the flow. Local vortices identified in the flow have influenced the low-frequency fluctuations and the scatter of measurement results. Moreover, high-frequency fluctuations found in the flow originated from the flow turbulence and might be due to the electronic or acoustic noise. The stabilization of the entrance region in the pipe influences the mean value of air velocity, the transversal distribution of velocity and the development of axial velocity in different test sections of the pipe in a wind tunnel. Along with the recirculation zones in cavities of ultrasonic transducers, these factors are essential that make an impact on the reproduction of air velocity value.     

Flow Field Characteristics of the Rotor Cage in Turbo Air Classifiers

The turbo air classifier is widely used powder classification equipment in a variety of fields. The flow field characteristics of the turbo air classifier are important basis for the improvement of the turbo air classifier's structural design. The flow field characteristics of the rotor cage in turbo air classifiers were investigated under different operating conditions by laser Doppler velocimeter(LDV), and a measure diminishing the axial velocity is proposed. The investigation results show that the tangential velocity of the air flow inside the rotor cage is different from the rotary speed of the rotor cage on the same measurement point due to the influences of both the negative pressure at the exit and the rotation of the rotor cage. The tangential velocity of the air flow likewise decreases as the radius decreases in the case of the rotor cage's low rotary speed. In contrast, the tangential velocity of the air flow increases as the radius decreases in the case of the rotor cage's high rotary speed. Meanwhile, the vortex inside the rotor cage is found to occur near the pressure side of the blade when the rotor cage's rotary speed is less than the tangential velocity of air flow. On the contrary, the vortex is found to occur near the blade suction side once the rotor cage's rotary speed is higher than the tangential velocity of air flow. Inside the rotor cage, the axial velocity could not be disregarded and is largely determined by the distances between the measurement point and the exit.     

Vortex wake transit time measurements for flow metering

A method of flow measurement is described based on using a vortex wake as a flow tracer shed from a low-blockage-ratio bluff body, the velocity of which is measured by cross-correlation. Preliminary comparisons are made between measurement iof the vortex shedding frequency and the vortex wake transit time between the two ultrasonic beams to determine the flow rates. Whilst preliminary results are confined to a 50 mm diameter sensing head, there is no upper limit to pipe size using the same suitably extended bluff body.     

Simulation and experimental study of the sensor emitting frequency for ultrasonic tomography system in a conducting pipe

Ultrasonic tomography techniques provide flow visualization capability, non-invasively and non-intrusively, to enhance the understanding of complex flow processes. There is limited ultrasonic research in tomography imaging systems in the tomogram analysis of fluid flow in a conducting pipe because of a high acoustic impedance mismatch, which means that very little ultrasonic energy can be transmitted through the interface. The majority of industrial pipelines are constructed from metallic composites. Therefore, the development and improvement of ultrasonic measurement methods to accommodate a stainless steel pipe are proposed in this paper. Experimental and simulation distribution studies of the ultrasonic emitting frequency in acrylic versus stainless steel pipes were studied, measured and analyzed. During the simulation, ultrasonic transducers were placed on the surface of the investigated pipe to inspect the ultrasonic sensing field. The distribution of the sound wave acoustic pressure was simulated based on the physical dimensions and parameters of the actual experimental hardware set-up. We developed ultrasonic acoustic models using the finite element method with COMSOL software, and experiments were carried out to validate the simulation results. Finally, by performing the static phantoms tests, a feasibility study of ultrasonic tomography system was presented to investigate the void fraction of liquid column inside a stainless steel pipe.     

New measurement method for very low liquid flow rates using ultrasound

A very small ultrasonic flowmeter for liquids with measuring pipe diameter down to 0.5 mm was developed using disk ultrasonic transducers. The transducer has a hole in the center and the measuring pipe passes through the hole. The vibration mode in the radial direction of the transducer was used, and ultrasound was transmitted and received from outside the pipe wall. The flowmeter can measure a liquid flow rate below 1 ml/min, which corresponds to a Reynolds number of about 40 based on the measuring pipe diameter. The standard deviation of flow rate measurement was 0.01 ml/min (1%) at the flow rate of 1 ml/min.     

超声波换能器测风阵列的优化设计

为了减弱风场在超声波换能器测风阵列中产生湍流,降低湍流对信号采集精度的影响,分析了换能器阵列影响流场的因素,采用6个收发一体的超声波换能器,设置独立的3条测风路径,根据不同来流方向,建立了风速计算模型,结合换能器晶片的工作特性,改进测风阵列的设计,降低了阴影效应的影响。利用FLUENT软件,通过设置不同的雷诺数、来流风速和风向参数,仿真了流场在阵列中分布特性,得到阵列速度云图和测风路径速度变化图,验证了改进后的测风阵列性能有效提升,说明了所设计阵列能满足测风精度提高的要求。     

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION FOR THE EFFECT OF ROTATION ON THREE-DIMENSIONAL FLOW FIELD IN FILM-COOLED TURBINE

An experimental investigation of three-dimensional flow field in a film-cooled turbine model is carried out by using particle image velocimeter (PIV) in a low-speed wind tunnel. The effects of different blowing ratios (M=1.5, 2) on the flow field are studied. The experimental results reveal the classical phenomena of the formation of kidney vortex pair and secondary flow in wake region behind the jet hole. And the changes of the kidney vortex pair and the wake at different locations away from the hole on the suction and pressure sides are also studied. Compared with the flow field in stationary cascade, there are centrifugal force and Coriolis force existing in the flow field of rotating turbine, and these forces bring the radial velocity in the jet flow. The effect of rotation on the flow field of the pressure side is more distinct than that on the suction side from the measured flow fields in Y-Z plane and radial velocity contours. The increase of blowing ratio makes the kidney vortex pair and the secondary flow in the wake region stronger and makes the range of the wake region enlarged.     

Linear computed tomography of two-phase distribution in a rectangular channel

Two-phase flow is closely linked with the efficiency and safety of industrial processes in many fields, and there are various instruments for measuring the two-phase distribution. Among them, γ-ray and ultrafast X-ray tomography systems are most promising to break the technical barrier of gas-liquid measurement in the flow channel of high-temperature and high-pressure (up to 15 MPa/342 °C) nuclear reactors. Hence, A CT measurement method has been developed for imaging a two-phase distribution of a central plane oriented in axial direction in a rectangular duct, which was tested theoretically using a numerical phantom and experimentally on a preliminary tomographic hardware with a mechanically traversed gamma source and a detector unit, as well as a static phantom simulating gas bubbles in the pipe. After completing experimental and numerical imaging of a multi-bubbles phantom, the two-phase contrast and locations of bubbles in the experimental and simulated reconstruction images showed a good agreement and supported the feasibility of applying the linear scanning technique to realize two-phase detection in rectangular channels. The sensitivity analyses of scanning range, photon-registering time and scanning step length conveyed the optimal experimental strategy for this system. Morphological operation has also been imposed on image processing achieving elimination of severe ringing artefacts.     

COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERI-MENTAL STUDY ON TIP LEAKAGE VORTEX OF CIRCUMFERENTIAL SKEWED BLADES

In the steady operation condition,the experiments and the numerical simulations are used to investigate the tip leakage flow fields in three low pressure axial flow fans with three kinds of circumferential skewed rotors,including the radial rotor,the forward-skewed rotor and the back-ward-skewed rotor. The three-dimensional viscous flow fields of the fans are computed. In the ex-periments,the two-dimensional plane particle image velocimetry (PIV) system is used to measure the flow fields in the tip region of three different pitchwise positions of each fan. The results show that the computational results agree well with the experimental data in the flow field of the tip region of each fan. The tip leakage vortex core segments based on method of the eigenmode analysis can dis-play clearly some characteristics of the tip leakage vortex,such as the origination position of tip leak-age vortex,the development of vortex strength,and so on. Compared with the radial rotor,the other two skewed rotors can increase the stability of the tip leakage vortex and the increment in the for-ward-skewed rotor is more than that in the backward-skewed one. Among the tip leakage vortices of the three rotors,the velocity of the vortex in the forward-skewed rotor is the highest in the circumfer-ential direction and the lowest in the axial direction.     

Calibration tests of pulse-Doppler flow meter at national standard loops

Calibration tests of UdFlow, the ultrasonic pulse-Doppler flowmeter manufactured by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, were conducted at the national standard loop in Mexico, CENAM (The Centro National de Metrologia), in order to evaluate the accuracy of the flowmeter. Four ultrasonic transducers were mounted circumferentially on the surface of 100 and 200 mm stainless steel pipes to measure four velocity profiles. Flow rates can be obtained by integrating each measuring line and averaging them. Air was injected upstream of the measuring point to provide bubbles as ultrasonic reflectors. Tests were conducted at five different flow rates with Reynolds numbers from 200,000 to 1,200,000. Tests were repeated six times at each flow rate to evaluate repeatability. In addition, a take-off and put-back test was carried out on the 100 mm pipe at a flow rate of 3000 L/min to evaluate reproducibility. The values of the CENAM loop are based on the average of weighing time while those of the ultrasonic-Doppler flow velocity-profile flowmeter are based on the time average of instantaneous values. The calibration tests found a deviation of less than 0.3% between the two devices in terms of the average of the values recorded in six rounds of measurement. Measurement at a different Reynolds number showed that the overall average deviation between the two devices was less than 0.3%.     

Separated two-phase flow regime parameter measurement by a high speed ultrasonic pulse-echo system

In this work, a high speed ultrasonic multitransducer pulse-echo system using a four transducer method was used for the dynamic characterization of gas-liquid two-phase separated flow regimes. The ultrasonic system consists of an ultrasonic pulse signal generator, multiplexer, 10 MHz (0.64 cm) ultrasonic transducers, and a data acquisition system. Four transducers are mounted on a horizontal 2.1 cm inner diameter circular pipe. The system uses a pulse-echo method sampled every 0.5 ms for a 1 s duration. A peak detection algorithm (the C-scan mode) is developed to extract the location of the gas-liquid interface after signal processing. Using the measured instantaneous location of the gas/liquid interface, two-phase flow interfacial parameters in separated flow regimes are determined such as liquid level and void fraction for stratified wavy and annular flow. The shape of the gas-liquid interface and, hence, the instantaneous and cross-sectional averaged void fraction is also determined. The results show that the high speed ultrasonic pulse-echo system provides accurate results for the determination of the liquid level within +/-1.5%, and the time averaged liquid level measurements performed in the present work agree within +/-10% with the theoretical models. The results also show that the time averaged void fraction measurements for a stratified smooth flow, stratified wavy flow, and annular flow qualitatively agree with the theoretical predictions.     

Ultrasound flow mapping of complex liquid metal flows with spatial self-calibration

Investigating the complex interaction of electrically conductive fluids and magnetic fields is relevant for a variety of applications from basic research in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) to modeling of industrial processes involving metal melts, such as steel casting and crystal growth. However, experimental studies in this field are often limited by the performance of flow instrumentation for opaque liquids. Commercially available measurement systems usually lack the ability to provide a time-resolved imaging of transient flow structures. We present an ultrasound array Doppler velocimeter (UADV) for flow mapping in opaque liquids near room temperature. It is modular and flexible regarding its measurement configuration, for instance it allows capturing two velocity components in two planes (2d–2c) of 67×67 mm² with a frame rate of 30 Hz. It uses up to 9 linear arrays with 25 ultrasound transducers each driven in a parallelized time division multiplex (TDM) scheme. A FPGA-based signal processing allows a continuous realtime operation of the measurement system. Combining the single-component velocity data of each linear array to a 2d–2c flow field demands precise knowledge of the relative geometric position of the transducer arrays. We present a novel method that performs a spatial self-calibration by a mutual time of flight measurement, significantly reducing alignment errors. A measurement example of a magnetically stirred flow of GaInSn in a rectangular container is given. The UADV is applied to experiments in the context of manufacturing crystalline silicon ingots for photovoltaics.     

Neural network approach to ultrasonic flow measurements

Mathematical models and numerical methods offer a flexible tool to investigate flow disturbance effects on flowmeters of different types. In this paper a simple neural network based approach has been used to study the velocity profile dependence of ultrasonic flowmeters. Neural networks have been used in two ways: to interpolate the velocity profiles in the points needed for the modelling of ultrasonic flow measurement, and to compute the weights for different paths of multipath ultrasonic flowmeters. In the former case two types of neural networks, multilayer perceptron networks and radial basis function networks, have been investigated. In the latter case, a single layer neural network with linear neurons is first trained with known velocity profiles, and the weights determined by the network have then been used in the computation of the errors in other piping configurations. The results have been compared with the errors computed with the weights for different paths given in Pannel CN, Evans WAB, Jackson DA. A new integration technique for flowmeters with chordal paths, Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 1990;1:216–224.     

多声道超声流量计在弯管段安装的适应性研究

针对在不具备直管段安装条件时,如何合理地选取多声道超声流量计的声道数量、测量断面及安装角度,本文从数学建模、误差分析、数值计算仿真与试验分析等方面,对DN400多声道超声流量计在弯管中的适应性进行了综合研究.利用高斯-雅克比数值积分法,给出了试验数据处理与数值仿真的数学模型,并分析了模型误差及横流的影响,提出利用双断面测量可减小横流的影响,并在数值仿真和试验中得到了验证.通过对声道数量、测量断面、安装角度进行数值仿真和试验表明,安装角度对低流速测量影响显著,最佳安装角应为0°;高流速测量应选用双断面,可根据测量精度的要求选用8声道或18声道.仿真结果与试验结果得到了很好的吻合,为进一步指导试验奠定了理论基础.