There are many industrial applications that require long-term installations of reliable and accurate flow meters. If this describes your setting and you are looking to measure the flow rate of liquid, gas, or steam, consider the vortex flow meter. This guide covers the definition, operating principles, features, applications, and benefits of vortex flow meters.
What is a Vortex Flow Meter?
A vortex flow meter is a type of volumetric flow meter that is ideal for settings with moving parts that present measurement challenges and require long-term installation. They can measure the flow rate of liquid, gas, and steam and support a wide range of applications. Vortex flow meters are easily installed at piping and use two upstream and downstream connections. It detects frequency and outputs frequency zero if there is no flow rate. At frequency zero, no adjustments are required.
How Does a Vortex Flow Meter Work?
A vortex flow meter relies upon the vortex shedding principle, named the Von Karman Effect, that describes how vortices are shed alternately downstream of a bluff (shedder bar). The frequency at which the vortex sheds is directly proportional to the velocity of the liquid flowing through the meter.
In terms of design, a vortex flow meter is typically built of stainless steel and includes a housing made of stainless steel or plastic and a single shredder bar that includes sensors and bluff body. They are available in a variety of styles that include:
- Standard Type
- Reduced Bore Type
- Multi-Variable Type
- High Temperature /Cryogenic Version
- Remote Version
Vortex Flow Meter Features
Vortex flow meters have a variety of features and capabilities. The standard type of vortex flow meter is ideal for liquid, gas, saturated steam, and superheated steam. It combines a durable sensor and body assembly with a unique and powerful digital technology called spectral signal processing (SSP). In the standard vortex flow meter the spectral signal processing (SSP) provides enhanced vibration immunity and optimum, stable flow measurements even under fluctuating flow rate conditions. By using vortex flow meters, plant efficiency can be improved in addition to reducing operating costs.
Vortex Flow Meter Applications
Vortex flow meters are useful in many applications, including:
Measurement of Air Supply to Reaction Tank
Vortex flow meters are used to measure air supply to reaction tanks to enable more accurate management of the amount of supplied air. The air supply to reaction tanks need to be maintained to yield the proper reaction of raw materials.
Measurement of Steam and Saturated Steam Flow Rate
In many cases, steam measurements require temperature measurement and calculators to measure mass flow. With a vortex flow meter that has a temperature sensor built into the shredder bar, an additional temperature sensor is not required which simplifies construction and reduces costs.
Control of Steam Supply to Plating Process and Clean Room
Vortex flow meters can be used to control the flow of steam in an electronics manufacturing factory. By controlling the flow of steam with a vortex flow meter, the manufacturer can save energy, reduce fuel, and improve utilization efficiency.
Vortex Flow Meter Benefits
Vortex flow meters offer a number of advantages, including:
High Accuracy
Vortex flow meters deliver high accuracy within a 1% margin of error of the indicated value for both liquids and gases.
Wide Rangeability
Rangeability is the ratio of maximum value to minimum value of the measurable range. Vortex flow meters have broad rangeability that allows them to operate in processes that have a highly fluctuating measuring point.
Output is Proportional to Flow Rate
Since the output of the Vortex flow meter is directly proportional to the flow rate, no square root calculation is needed. .
No Zero-Point Fluctuation
Vortex flow meters output frequency from the sensor so a zero-point shift does not occur.
Minimal Pressure Loss
Vortex flow meters have minimal pressure drop due to the shedder bar being in the center of the pipe and the process flows past the shedder bar.
Where to Buy Vortex Flow Meters
Since 2001, Techstar has been a one-stop-shop for quality instrumentation and analytical products. TechStar also provides onsite field service support and hands-on training programs to meet your needs. For high quality vortex flow meters, and a full range of flow solutions, visit TechStar today.