In meteorology, an anemometer is a device that measures wind speed and direction. It is a common instrument used in weather stations. The earliest known description of an anemometer was by Italian architect and author Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) in 1450.
Pressure measurement is the measurement of an applied force by a fluid on a surface. Pressure is typically measured in units of force per unit of surface area. Many techniques have been developed for the measurement of pressure and vacuum. Instruments used to measure and display pressure mechanically are called pressure gauges,vacuum gauges or compound gauges. The widely used Bourdon gauge is a mechanical device, which both measures and indicates and is probably the best known type of gauge.
Flow measurement is the quantification of bulk fluid movement. Flow can be measured using devices called flowmeters in various ways. The common types of flowmeters with industrial applications are listed below:
A mass flow meter, also known as an inertial flow meter, is a device that measures mass flow rate of a fluid traveling through a tube. The mass flow rate is the mass of the fluid traveling past a fixed point per unit time.
An orifice plate is a device used for measuring flow rate, for reducing pressure or for restricting flow.
An ultrasonic flow meter is a type of flow meter that measures the velocity of a fluid with ultrasound to calculate volume flow. Using ultrasonic transducers, the flow meter can measure the average velocity along the path of an emitted beam of ultrasound, by averaging the difference in measured transit time between the pulses of ultrasound propagating into and against the direction of the flow or by measuring the frequency shift from the Doppler effect. Ultrasonic flow meters are affected by the acoustic properties of the fluid and can be impacted by temperature, density, viscosity and suspended particulates depending on the exact flow meter. They vary greatly in purchase price but are often inexpensive to use and maintain because they do not use moving parts, unlike mechanical flow meters.
Originally the gas flow computer was a mechanical or later a pneumatic or hydraulic computing module, subsequently superseded in most applications by an electronic module, as the primary elements switched from transmitting the measured variables from pneumatic or hydraulic pressure signals to electric current as explosion-proof ) and then intrinsically safe transmitters became available, that simply provided a dedicated gas flow computer function. Today "gas flow computers" as such have become uncommon, since gas flow computing is a subfunction of a data acquisition and control program implemented with programmable logic controller (PLCs) and remote terminal unit (RTUs); with the rise of smart transmitters in the early 1980s, these functions have also been incorporated within the field transmitters themselves.
A wet gas is any gas with a small amount of liquid present. The term "wet gas" has been used to describe a range of conditions varying from a humid gas which is gas saturated with liquid vapour to a multiphase flow with a 90% volume of gas. There has been some debate as to its actual definition, and there is currently no fully defined quantitative definition of a wet gas flow that is universally accepted.
Level sensors detect the level of liquids and other fluids and fluidized solids, including slurries, granular materials, and powders that exhibit an upper free surface. Substances that flow become essentially horizontal in their containers because of gravity whereas most bulk solids pile at an angle of repose to a peak. The substance to be measured can be inside a container or can be in its natural form. The level measurement can be either continuous or point values. Continuous level sensors measure level within a specified range and determine the exact amount of substance in a certain place, while point-level sensors only indicate whether the substance is above or below the sensing point. Generally the latter detect levels that are excessively high or low.
A mass flow controller (MFC) is a device used to measure and control the flow of liquids and gases. A mass flow controller is designed and calibrated to control a specific type of liquid or gas at a particular range of flow rates. The MFC can be given a setpoint from 0 to 100% of its full scale range but is typically operated in the 10 to 90% of full scale where the best accuracy is achieved. The device will then control the rate of flow to the given setpoint. MFCs can be either analog or digital. A digital flow controller is usually able to control more than one type of fluid whereas an analog controller is limited to the fluid for which it was calibrated.
Ultrasonic transducers and ultrasonic sensors are devices that generate or sense ultrasound energy. They can be divided into three broad categories: transmitters, receivers and transceivers. Transmitters convert electrical signals into ultrasound, receivers convert ultrasound into electrical signals, and transceivers can both transmit and receive ultrasound.
Water metering is the practice of measuring water use. Water meters measure the volume of water used by residential and commercial building units that are supplied with water by a public water supply system. They are also used to determine flow through a particular portion of the system.
A positive displacement meter is a type of flow meter that requires fluid to mechanically displace components in the meter in order for flow measurement. Positive displacement (PD) flow meters measure the volumetric flow rate of a moving fluid or gas by dividing the media into fixed, metered volumes. A basic analogy would be holding a bucket below a tap, filling it to a set level, then quickly replacing it with another bucket and timing the rate at which the buckets are filled. With appropriate pressure and temperature compensation, the mass flow rate can be accurately determined.
Custody Transfer in the oil and gas industry refers to the transactions involving transporting physical substance from one operator to another. This includes the transferring of raw and refined petroleum between tanks and railway tank cars; onto ships, and other transactions. Custody transfer in fluid measurement is defined as a metering point (location) where the fluid is being measured for sale from one party to another. During custody transfer, accuracy is of great importance to both the company delivering the material and the eventual recipient, when transferring a material.
Turndown ratio refers to the width of the operational range of a device, and is defined as the ratio of the maximum capacity to minimum capacity. For example, a device with a maximum output of 10 units and a minimum output of 2 units has a turndown ratio of 5. The term is commonly used with measurement devices and combustion plant like boilers and gasifiers.
Instrumentation is used to monitor and control the process plant in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Instrumentation ensures that the plant operates within defined parameters to produce materials of consistent quality and within the required specifications. It also ensures that the plant is operated safely and acts to correct out of tolerance operation and to automatically shut down the plant to prevent hazardous conditions from occurring. Instrumentation comprises sensor elements, signal transmitters, controllers, indicators and alarms, actuated valves, logic circuits and operator interfaces.
A heat meter, thermal energy meter or energy meter is a device which measures thermal energy provided by a source or delivered to a sink, by measuring the flow rate of the heat transfer fluid and the change in its temperature (ΔT) between the outflow and return legs of the system. It is typically used in industrial plants for measuring boiler output and heat taken by process, and for district heating systems to measure the heat delivered to consumers.
Flow conditioning ensures that the "real world" environment closely resembles the "laboratory" environment for proper performance of inferential flowmeters like orifice, turbine, coriolis, ultrasonic etc.
A density meter (densimeter) is a device which measures the density of an object or material. Density is usually abbreviated as either or . Typically, density either has the units of or . The most basic principle of how density is calculated is by the formula:
Digital indicator
All-analog indicator
