Turbine Flow Meters vs Ultrasonic Flow Meters: Advantages and Disadvantages

One of the most important purposes for flow measurement is custody transfer. For custody transfer applications, a variety of flow metering systems are used. DP flow meters, turbine flow meters, ultrasonic meters, and other types of custody transfer metering systems are among the solutions. In this blog, however, we will talk about the turbine flow meter and ultrasonic meter in this blog.

Turbine flowmeter

Reinhard Woltman, a German engineer, devised the turbine flow meter in 1790. Turbine flow meters consist of a rotor with propeller-like fixed blades that spin when water or another fluid is carried through it. The flow rate is proportional to the rotor rotations.

Advantage

The turbine flow meter is useful for determining a clean, steady, high-speed flow of low-viscosity fluids. These are more cost-effective than ultrasonic flow meters, especially for larger lines. When it comes to cost, a single turbine flow meter can replace numerous DP meters.

Disadvantage

The only disadvantage of turbine flow meters is that they have moving elements that can wear out. To prevent corrosion, increasingly durable materials such as tungsten carbide bearings and titanium rotor blades are employed in the construction of turbine flow meters.

Ultrasonic flowmeter

Ultrasonic flow meters are non-infiltrative flow measurement systems that use sensors to generate ultrasonic waves that go through the flow transducers to identify flow velocity and then calculate the flow rate. An ultrasonic flowmeter is made up of several pairs of transducers, each of which measures transit time quickly. As a consequence, there is quite a plethora of basic data to work with when aggregating and determining flow rates.

Advantage

Ultrasonic flowmeters feature a very low-pressure drop and a very high turndown capacity. They are capable of a wide range of tasks, including crude oil production, transfer, and refining. Ultrasonic flow meters optimize the overall accuracy and there are no notable disadvantages.

On an ending note, each of the flow meters mentioned above holds significance in custody transfer. Its application depends on the requirements and processes.