Theoretical, Numerical, and Experimental Study of the Time of Flight Flowmeter

2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Gaskin ◽  
Evgeniy Shapiro ◽  
Dimitris Drikakis

Time-of-flight flowmeters offer advantages over other flowmeter types since these are less sensitive to the physical properties of the fluid. However, calibration of the flowmeter for a particular working fluid is still required. A flowmeter that does not require re-calibration with different fluids is desirable in many applications. This paper investigates the performance of a device that measures the time of flight of a heat pulse in a gas stream to determine the flow rate in a pipe. A fusion of the theoretical, experimental, and numerical data is used to suggest a gas-independent correlation function between the response time and flow rate. In particular, the numerical data augmented by the theoretical analysis to account for the wire response time is validated against experimental data and used to further enhance the experimental data set. Nitrogen, helium, and tetrafluoroethane (R134a) are investigated, as these gases provide a wide range of physical and thermodynamic properties. Simulated results match the trends of experimental data well and allow good qualitative analysis. The results also show that using detected pulse width information together with the time of flight can yield a 20% reduction in the errors due to gas type than by using time of flight data alone. This gives a relatively gas-independent function over a dynamic range of 1:400.

Author(s):  
A. Andreini ◽  
A. Bonini ◽  
G. Caciolli ◽  
B. Facchini ◽  
S. Taddei

Due to the stringent cooling requirements of novel aero-engines combustor liners, a comprehensive understanding of the phenomena concerning the interaction of hot gases with typical coolant jets plays a major role in the design of efficient cooling systems. In this work, an aerodynamic analysis of the effusion cooling system of an aero-engine combustor liner was performed; the aim was the definition of a correlation for the discharge coefficient (CD) of the single effusion hole. The data were taken from a set of CFD RANS (Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes) simulations, in which the behavior of the effusion cooling system was investigated over a wide range of thermo/fluid-dynamics conditions. In some of these tests, the influence on the effusion flow of an additional air bleeding port was taken into account, making it possible to analyze its effects on effusion holes CD. An in depth analysis of the numerical data set has pointed out the opportunity of an efficient reduction through the ratio of the annulus and the hole Reynolds numbers: The dependence of the discharge coefficients from this parameter is roughly linear. The correlation was included in an in-house one-dimensional thermo/fluid network solver, and its results were compared with CFD data. An overall good agreement of pressure and mass flow rate distributions was observed. The main source of inaccuracy was observed in the case of relevant air bleed mass flow rates due to the inherent three-dimensional behavior of the flow close to bleed opening. An additional comparison with experimental data was performed in order to improve the confidence in the accuracy of the correlation: Within the validity range of pressure ratios in which the correlation is defined (>1.02), this comparison pointed out a good reliability in the prediction of discharge coefficients. An approach to model air bleeding was then proposed, with the assessment of its impact on liner wall temperature prediction.


Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Arun Kumar Narasimhan ◽  
Mengjie Bai ◽  
Li Zhao ◽  
Shuai Deng ◽  
...  

Abstract Solar driven ORC system is a possible solution for small-scale power generation. A scroll expander is considered due to its better suitability among other positive displacement expanders for small-scale power outputs. This work conducted a test of an ORC system with an expansion valve by varying the working fluid mass flow rate in two scenarios. A dynamic system-level model of ORC was developed and validated with experimental data. The validated model was used to predict the ORC performance considering off-design conditions of expander and solar insolation. The experimental data showed that pressures and temperatures exhibited the same trend as that of the working fluid mass flow rate, of which the evaporation pressure was the most sensitive to this variation. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results. Results from the dynamic model showed that the ORC power output was underestimated by up to 54.7%, when off-design performance of expander was not considered. Considering the expander off-design performance and solar insolation, a highest thermal efficiency of 7.6% and an expander isentropic efficiency of 80.6% were achieved.


2020 ◽  
pp. 60-64
Author(s):  
R. A. Korneev ◽  
A. R. Tukhvatullin ◽  
V. A. Fafurin ◽  
R. R. Nigmatullin ◽  
A. V. Shchelchkov

The publication presents an experimental method for estimating the minimum time interval for filling a storage tank with a working fluid with a fixed geometry of the nozzle of the flow switch of the calibration plant when playing units of mass and volume of fluid in the flow, mass and volumetric flow rates of the fluid. Experimental studies were performed in a wide range of mass flow rate 11,10–83,26 kg/s (40–300 t/h) with repeated static weighing of the working fluid. The flow switch is made with a fixed geometry of the flow part of the nozzle exit, which is typical for a large number of calibration units in use in our country with weighing devices. The graphical dependences of the mass flow rate on the time of filling the storage capacity obtained from the research results are the basis for optimizing the process of reproducing units of mass and volume of liquid in the flow, mass and volumetric flow rates of the liquid for calibration plants with weighing devices. These graphical dependencies made it possible to formulate recommendations on the reasonable choice of the minimum interval for filling the storage tank with working fluid in the studied range of mass flow rate. Optimization has been tested and can be extended to calibration units with weighing devices from various manufacturers with individual design and operating parameters.


2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel T. Leitkam ◽  
Tamara Reid Bush ◽  
Laura Bix

The human hand has a wide range of possible functional abilities that can change with age, disease, and injury, and can vary from individual to individual and subsequently can affect a person's quality of life. The objective of this work was to develop a theoretical model of the space that is reachable by the hand, weighted to represent three types of functionality, and to compare this model to an experimental data set obtained from a healthy hand population. A theoretical model, termed the Weighted Fingertip Space, was developed using 50th percentile published hand data and ranges of finger motion. The functional abilities calculated in the model were the abilities to position the fingertip pad, orient the fingertip pad, and apply directional forces through the fingertip pad at all the reachable points in space with respect to the palm. Following the development of this theoretical model, experimental data sets from nine individuals with healthy hands were obtained through motion capture techniques. The experimental data were then compared to the theoretical model. Comparisons between a 50th percentile theoretical model and a subject with a similar sized hand showed good agreement in weighting parameters and overall size and shape of the model spaces. The experimental data set from the entire sample, which ranged from the 2nd to 95th percentile hand sizes, showed resultant models that, on average, reached smaller volumes of space, but yielded higher values of the functional measures within those volumes. Additionally, in comparison to the theoretical model, the variability of the experimental models showed that small changes in hand dimensions and ranges of motion of the finger joints had a large influence in the functional measures of the model. Combined, these results suggest that the modeling technique can calculate functional ability of the hand, but should be used on an individualized basis for evaluating changes in function (e.g., rehabilitation). Further, scaling to hand size has the potential to yield “average” models for larger population samples.


Author(s):  
W. Adrugi ◽  
Y. S. Muzychka ◽  
K. Pope

In this paper, the pressure drop of liquid-liquid segmented flow in small-scale tubing is investigated with experimental and analytical methods. A theoretical model is developed for describing the total pressure drop as a function of slug length and Capillary number. The experiments are conducted with low Reynolds number flows in horizontal, straight mini-scale tubes. A segmented (Taylor) flow is created using several low viscosity silicone oils (1, 3, 5 cSt) and water with a wide range of flow rates. The experimental setup allows the independent variation of liquid slug lengths. The liquids are injected into the mini-scale tubes at a variable (pulsed) flow rate for one liquid, and a constant flow rate for another liquid. The variation of liquid types and flow rates causes numerous combinations of Prandtl, Reynolds, and Capillary numbers to be tested. The theoretical and experimental data is presented in terms of the dimensionless groups fRe or ΔP* and Le* to predict pressure drop in liquid-liquid Taylor flow. The new experimental data agrees well with the new theoretical model of Taylor flow in miniscale tubes. The results of this paper indicate the pressure drop for Taylor flow is higher than in single-phase flow, likely due to the interfacial effects in liquid slugs.


Author(s):  
Shu-Min Tu ◽  
Shuichi Torii ◽  
Yang-Cheng Shih

Flows in channels and pipes are often used in the chemical and mechanical engineering applications. In the past, several studies of micro-channels have focused on the mixture characteristics in the C-shaped and the T-shaped with complex flow field of temperature gradient, velocity vector, and pressure change. However, the purpose of this study is to research the flow transport phenomenon by employing different angles to the converging and diverging area in X-shaped micro-channels. As the working fluid, water is injected to micro-channel at different mass flow rate. Over a wide range of flow condition, 0.88 < Re < 661, in X-shaped micro-channels, the mixture performances of numerical simulation, flow visualization, and temperature distribution remain the same. At the same mass flow rate, the bigger the angle, the lower the pressure drops and the slower the low velocity becomes. Therefore, it is the biggest angle that has the best mixture of performance and needs the shortest distance in the mixing area. It is clear that the angle plays an important role in both converging and diverging area in the X-shaped micro-channels.


Author(s):  
N. S. Aryaeva ◽  
E. V. Koptev-Dvornikov ◽  
D. A. Bychkov

A system of equations of thermobarometer for magnetite-silicate melt equilibrium was obtained by method of multidimensional statistics of 93 experimental data of a magnetite solubility in basaltic melts. Equations reproduce experimental data in a wide range of basalt compositions, temperatures and pressures with small errors. Verification of thermobarometers showed the maximum error in liquidus temperature reproducing does not exceed ±7 °C. The level of cumulative magnetite appearance in the vertical structure of Tsypringa, Kivakka, Burakovsky intrusions predicted with errors from ±10 to ±50 m.


1992 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 257-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akimi Serizawa ◽  
Isao Kataoka ◽  
Itaru Michiyoshi

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document