Numerical simulations of Coriolis flow meters for low Reynolds number flows

Autor: Martin Anklin, Vivek Kumar
Rok vydání: 2011
Předmět:
Zdroj: MAPAN. 26:225-235
ISSN: 0974-9853
0970-3950
DOI: 10.1007/s12647-011-0021-6
Popis: In process industries Coriolis mass flow meters (CMFs) are widely employed for measuring mass flows. Quite often, especially in the oil and gas (O&G) industry, owing to fluids with high viscosities, flow measurements may lie in low Reynolds number regions. At low Reynolds numbers (Re), a CMF reading may deviate under the influence of fluid-dynamic forces. With the help of extensive Fluid-Structure-Interaction simulations (FSI), a detailed insight into physical mechanisms leading to this deviation is provided. The main finding is that this deviation is a function of the Reynolds number and the effect can be explained by a periodic shear mechanism which interacts with the oscillatory Coriolis force and reduces the tube deflection. Experimental results with and without a correction for this effect are shown and compared with corresponding numerical results. If the low Reynolds number effect were ignored, it would lead to errors as large as 0.5% to 1% at Re = 800, however by measuring the Re and making corrections, the effect is reduced to < 0.2%.
Databáze: OpenAIRE