Turbine Flow Meter Explained | Operation and Calibration

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▶ Check out the full blog post over at
realpars.com/turbine-flow-meter
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⌚Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - How does a turbine flow meter work?
01:22 - Magnetic pickup sensor
02:02 - Volumetric flowrate
02:54 - The K-Factor
04:51 - A typical field control loop
05:07 - Installation
05:31 - The downsides
06:08 - Where are they used?
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In this video, we’re going to discuss a very common flow measuring device called a Turbine Flow Meter.
We’ll consider the Turbine Flow Meter as a 2-part device:
- the Mechanical component
- the Electrical component.
A Turbine Flow Meter is inserted in a pipe directly in the flow path.
The mechanical part of the Turbine Flow Meter has a turbine rotor placed in the path of a flowing stream.
The only moving part of the Turbine Meter is the mechanical rotor. The rotational speed of the rotor depends upon the flow velocity. The rotor blades are usually made of stainless steel.
As the rotor spins, the passage of each rotor blade past a pickup point will generate an electrical pulse.
The electrical pulses are created in different ways depending upon the rotor blades themselves and the pickup unit characteristics.
In most Turbine Flow Meters, magnets are fitted to the blades, and a magnetic pickup sensor is used to create the pulses.
The higher the rate of flow, the faster the rotor turns and the greater the number of pulses.
The shape and the voltage level of the generated pulses depend entirely upon the type of pickup unit used:
1) The electrical pickup sensing device could be a simple 2-wire passive magnetic pickup producing an AC-type output.
2) The electrical pickup sensing device could be a 3-wire active device such as a Hall Effect sensor that produces cleaner and more uniform square wave pulses.
Fluid Velocity plays a very important role in the operation of a Turbine Flow Meter, but in most applications, a Turbine Flow Meter is used to measure Volumetric Flowrate.
Volumetric Flowrate indicates the volume of fluid that passes a point in a unit period of time.
Volumetric Flowrate is expressed in units such as:
- gallons per minute (GPM)
- cubic meters per second (m³/s)
- cubic feet per second (ft³/s)
When you buy a Turbine Flow Meter it should arrive with a tag or a calibration certificate declaring its K-Factor.
K-Factor will be expressed in terms of the number of pulses produced such as 150 pulses per gallon.
If we have a K-Factor of 3 pulses per gallon, the output frequency at a Volumetric Flowrate of 200 gallons per minute (GPM) is 10 Hertz or 10 pulses per second.
If you are wondering where we derived these values, we’ve included a very handy K-Factor Calculator for you to use: bit.ly/3q2brY7
We can connect the Turbine Flow Meter to a PLC Frequency input card. The input frequency now represents the Volumetric Flowrate.
If we are troubleshooting or performing loop calibration, we can use a Calibrator with a variable frequency output to simulate the Turbine Flow Meter.
Typical installation requires 10 pipe diameters upstream of straight pipe and 5 pipe diameters downstream.
The Turbine Meter can only be used in clean, lubricating fluid because suspended particles can easily damage the device.
The turbine rotor must be positioned in the exact center of the flow and laminar flow is critical often requiring straightening vanes.
Even though they are one of the most accurate Volumetric Flow Meters in use today, they do have some downsides.
You will find Turbine Flow Meters in oil and gas including fracking, water and wastewater, chemical, power, food and beverage, aerospace, pharmaceutical, and pulp and paper.
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To learn more, you might want to review our other articles:
How Flow Meters Work realpars.com/how-flow-meters-...
What is Sensor Calibration and Why is it important? realpars.com/sensor-calibration
What are 2-wire and 4-wire Transmitter Output Loops? realpars.com/transmitter-wiring
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Missed our most recent videos? Watch them here:
realpars.com/sinking-output/
realpars.com/instrument-calib...
realpars.com/plcnext-starterkit
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[@MehrMoon1335]

Very concise, precise and complete video on turbine flowmeters including their advantages and drawbacks

[@realpars]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ahmetozbekler]

The best of the best videos. Perfect explanation 👍👏👏👏👌

[@realpars]

Thank you!

[@leonardobandeira7948]

Vocês da Real Pars são demais. Obrigado. Muito bom mesmo todos os vossos vídeos.

[@realpars]

Thank you!

[@hamidseervat]

Awesome,i really injoy watch your post,in linkedin and youtube and instageram❤👌🏻

[@realpars]

Happy to hear that!

[@mohammedshahedhossain9627]

very informative lecture

[@InstrumentCalibration]

Great Video

[@nikolaydubina]

thank you for this video!

[@realpars]

You're very welcome!

[@richmond4884]

Thank you very match continue your imformative work.... Thank you very match godbless

[@realpars]

You're very welcome, Richmond! Thanks for your support.

[@jimbass924]

Great video!!!

[@realpars]

Glad you liked it!

[@mesfinnegate5062]

it is good and I need next part

[@ericmarcelo8976]

Information-wise, it's a very good video; well explained and easy to follow. There's just one thing wrong with it. The turbine is rotating in the wrong direction. If flow seems to be from left to right. If so, your turbine should spin in the other direction from that shown.

[@realpars]

Hi Eric, Thanks for your message and eagle eye!

[@mhdjalalp]

Excellent explanation

[@realpars]

Thank you, Jalal!

[@nilfanwadood3923]

Superb Explanation Sir.

[@realpars]

Thank you!

[@hussain6953]

Fantastic. Thanks.

[@realpars]

You're very welcome!

[@IngDzib]

Muy bueno excelente, muchas gracias :)

[@Techwem]

For more videos related to DeltaV, Honeywell, Yokogawa or ABB DCS, Visit our Channel and Subscribe.

[@sg-dm4ji]

Dear sir u r doing great job thank you sir Love from India

[@realpars]

Thanks for the support!

[@100fulomar]

The best KZbin channel ever!!

[@realpars]

Thanks a million!

[@3makelmadridy]

شو عم تعمل هون 😂

[@100fulomar]

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[@Techwem]

For more videos related to DeltaV, Honeywell, Yokogawa or ABB DCS, Visit our Channel and Subscribe.

[@vietelectrical88]

very good. My work in automation. i am really happy to meet you all. thank you

[@Techwem]

For more videos related to DeltaV, Honeywell, Yokogawa or ABB DCS, Visit our Channel and Subscribe.

[@alterator]

Perfect

[@iieenedelectronics1814]

❤👍very very helpful..

[@realpars]

Glad to hear that!

[@tusharkodlinge3308]

Excellent vedio👍👌

[@realpars]

Thank you!

[@karimsh4281]

Thank you so much

[@realpars]

You're very welcome!

[@chappagiridhar5109]

Nice

[@nischalchhabra3261]

Its nice explanation

[@realpars]

Glad to hear that!

[@souvikdey6257]

Sir your videos are very helpful to us and i request u pls make video for - Mass flow meter , MOV valve , Three way MOV valve , SOV valve and what is the difference between normal MOV & MOV inching type valve pls give those details in depth , thanks

[@realpars]

Hey! Thanks for your comment and your suggestion. I will pass this on to our course developers! Thanks for sharing and happy learning!

[@Pourya.baghalpour]

exccccccellent and usefullllllll😊😊😊😊

[@realpars]

Great to hear that, happy learning!

[@majidborairi5196]

Excellent

[@realpars]

Thank you!

[@user-sn5pt7sv3q]

that was great

[@realpars]

Thank you very much!

[@zebafridikhan2541]

Nice video

[@realpars]

Thank you!

[@birukkassa1344]

Very good

[@realpars]

Thank you, Biruk!

[@user-vf9vg2zy1u]

good work

[@realpars]

Thank you!

[@DemetriusHazardus]

Good

[@HemantKumar-ej2qd]

Best animation

[@realpars]

Thank you!

[@aminokamad1681]

Awesome video sir.. more instrumentation topic videos to come sir..

[@realpars]

Thanks a lot!

[@Techwem]

For more videos related to DeltaV, Honeywell, Yokogawa or ABB DCS, Visit our Channel and Subscribe.

[@kiranchoudhari4717]

Very good 👌 team real pearl,, can you make same type video on Pressure transducer

[@realpars]

Hi Kiran, Thanks for your kind comment and your suggestion. I will pass this on to our course developers! Thanks for sharing and happy learning!

[@hedjazyassine7800]

thank you

[@realpars]

Our pleasure!

[@erickontiveroslara209]

Super! This is so good. I do not really know, but I guess turbine flow metters are often used in some filling machines. One interesting aplication I've heard of is using the measere of flow in order to determine the weight of the liquid with wich bottles are filled, ¿how accurate and reliable is that speaking in terms of the different viscosity and temperature of fluids?

[@realpars]

Hi Erick. Turbine flowmeters are used in many applications, and perhaps filling machines as you suggest. I’m not familiar with flow measurement to determine weight. As we mention in the video, viscosity is certainly an issue with turbine flowmeters. On another note, the Coriolis mass flowmeter can be used to determine density as well as flow rate.

[@jonwatson9765]

Or you can use the turbine meter with s density meter.

[@rakeshsharma8463]

Sir, very nice video & supportive. Please explain can we measure weight in kilograms or litter through turbine flow meter of flow of material.

[@realpars]

Thanks for your topic suggestion, Rakesh! We appreciate you sharing that

[@HoHoMoMoo]

Cool

[@HabibNO]

Hi, Thanks for your informative video! Please explain, what are the 3 cables used for. What kind of logger matches this type of flow meter with 3 wires? Oscilloscope logger?

[@realpars]

Hello HabibNO, Thank you for your question. I am assuming the 3 cables you are referring to are the 3 wires coming from the sensor. These wires bring the voltage to the sensor for it to work. One wire is positive. Normally, the brown wire depends on the manufacturer and where it is made. The common wire can be a blue or pink color, again depending on the standards used to manufacture the sensor, and the signal wire that comes out of the sensor can be the black wire, which is the output signal voltage to your measuring device. As we mentioned in our video, you can use a measuring device that meets your electrical and Engineering requirements. We showed you a Hertz meter and a Siemens PLC. Whatever meets your requirements. Here is a link to an international company you might want to learn more about flow meters in your part of the world for more technical information. Happy learning! www.us.endress.com/en/field-instruments-overview

[@jonwatson9765]

Laminar flow? The purpose of straight pipe and, often, the tubes or vanes used to suspend the rotor is to avoid swirl. K factor does change with flow rate but it has been common for decades to use curve fitting to compensate for this non linearity as much as possible. Yes viscosity is a factor with straight blade rotors but higher tolerance with helical blades ( faure Herman) Then too calibration can be compensated for using inline viscometers (Smith Meters). One key factor is the response to a step change in flow rate can be measured in milliseconds. This fast response is key in some applications such as 'snap testing" jet engines.

[@realpars]

Hi Jon, Good stuff. Thanks for the input!

[@kazimabdulhafeez7356]

Great video. Are turbine flowmeters unidirectional or bidirectional?

[@realpars]

Hi @Kazim Abdul Hafeez. Thanks for your kudos and question. Turbine flowmeters are unidirectional. Some flowmeters have a flow direction arrow printed on their side.

[@fedorin1234]

Maybe pneumatic valve systems could be the next topic?

[@realpars]

Thanks for sharing your suggestion with us! I have sent this over to our course developers. Happy learning!

[@InstrumentCalibration]

Can the flowmeter be adjusted by changing K factor ?

[@realpars]

Hi there. Having a different K factor will certainly change flowmeter characteristics. Unfortunately, the K factor is an inherent characteristic of each individual turbine flowmeter and cannot be adjusted.

[@InstrumentCalibration]

@@realpars That's good to know..Thanks

[@mohammedabuqunaydah5942]

So when calibrating flowmeters,shall I change the K factor? and how to calculate the new K factor?

[@realpars]

Hi. Thanks for your question. The K Factor is unique to the flowmeter and is determined at the time of production by the manufacturer. The meter K Factor will be included with your documentation when the meter is purchased.

[@mohammedabuqunaydah5942]

@@realpars I do have the K factor but when testing the meter I got higher error ,so should I correct the factor?

[@jamesowusu-ansah595]

Great video...but i want to know, do they also have transmitters just like Temperature transmitters, which would input 4-20mA into the the PLC analog input?

[@realpars]

Hello James. Yes, there are vendors that offer transmitters with a 4-20mA output. Omega is one of these vendors for example.

[@jamesowusu-ansah595]

@@realpars ok ...but in this video, there's no need for a transmitter

[@derina.maleek9408]

We reached 600k wow

[@ydoom1able]

I have 2" turbine meter, but I did not have it's k-factor! how I can find it's k-factor

[@realpars]

Hi there. Thanks for the question. Finding the k-factor of an existing turbine flowmeter is possible, but not easy. As we discussed in the video, k-factor is pulses per gallon. If you are able to move a known volume of liquid through the turbine meter, it's possible to determine the k-factor. You need a device that can measure the pulse generated from the turbine meter. You need to pump the known volume, (let's say in gallons), through the meter and record the number of pulses. The k-factor can be calculated using the pulses per gallon relationship. Testing to verify would be required afterwards of course.

[@asadiqbal87]

very informative lecture

[@realpars]

Glad to hear that!