Innovative MFT enhances flowmeter accuracy

Multi-Frequency Technology compensates errors caused in Coriolis mass flowmeters by bubble and resonator effects in gas-liquid mixtures, ensuring precise density and flow measurements, Rodrigo Quintero Bejarano tells OGN

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Coriolis mass flowmeters are widely accepted and used in various industries because of their high reliability and accuracy for density and mass flow rate measurements. These meters can achieve an accuracy of ±0.1% o.r. or even ±0.05% o.r. for mass flow rate, while density measurements can reach ±0.1 kg/m³ under reference conditions by some manufacturers.

ADVANTAGES OF CORIOLIS MASS FLOWMETERS

The Coriolis measuring principle offers a distinct advantage over other meter types as it directly measures the true mass flow rate instead of volumetric flow rates (Figure 1). Most other flowmeters measure flow velocity, which requires further calculations to determine mass flow. As explained by Rodrigo Quintero Bejarano, Advanced Expert Industry Manager Oil & Gas at Endress+Hauser, this principle makes Coriolis meters highly effective in various applications.

These advantages stem from the measurement principle based on the Coriolis effect, which reveals the fact that a Coriolis force is generated when an object on a rotating body moves away or towards the centre of rotation.

This force is related to the inertia of the object and has a direction perpendicular to both the velocity of the object and the axis of the rotation body.

Challenges: In practice, Coriolis flowmeters are usually only used for single-phase fluids, that is, liquids or gases, as it is known that their accuracy can be affected by the existence of entrained gas in a liquid flow.

Extensive research has identified, among others, two primary sources of error; the bubble effect and the resonator effect (also known as the compressibility effect).

UNDERSTANDING THE BUBBLE EFFECT