Dry calibration of electromagnetic flowmeters based on numerical models combining multiple physical phenomena (multiphysics)
- State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power Transmission and Control, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)
- Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0405 (United States)
This paper presents a method for dry calibration of an electromagnetic flowmeter (EMF). This method, which determines the voltage induced in the EMF as conductive liquid flows through a magnetic field, numerically solves a coupled set of multiphysical equations with measured boundary conditions for the magnetic, electric, and flow fields in the measuring pipe of the flowmeter. Specifically, this paper details the formulation of dry calibration and an efficient algorithm (that adaptively minimizes the number of measurements and requires only the normal component of the magnetic flux density as boundary conditions on the pipe surface to reconstruct the magnetic field involved) for computing the sensitivity of EMF. Along with an in-depth discussion on factors that could significantly affect the final precision of a dry calibrated EMF, the effects of flow disturbance on measuring errors have been experimentally studied by installing a baffle at the inflow port of the EMF. Results of the dry calibration on an actual EMF were compared against flow-rig calibration; excellent agreements (within 0.3%) between dry calibration and flow-rig tests verify the multiphysical computation of the fields and the robustness of the method. As requiring no actual flow, the dry calibration is particularly useful for calibrating large-diameter EMFs where conventional flow-rig methods are often costly and difficult to implement.
- OSTI ID:
- 21476562
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 108, Issue 8; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3499643; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALGORITHMS
BAFFLES
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
CALCULATION METHODS
CALIBRATION
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE
FLOWMETERS
FLUX DENSITY
LIQUID FLOW
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC FLUX
SENSITIVITY
SURFACES
CONTROL EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
FLOW REGULATORS
FLUID FLOW
MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METERS