TRANSPORTATION AND

METERING OF FLUIDS
CONTENT:

• Fans
• Blowers
• Bore meters
• Insertion meters
 FANS
• Fans are turbo machines which deliver air at a desired high velocity but at
relatively low static pressure.
• They are high speed rotating machines of order 250mm of water gauge and
0.04 atm.
POINTS TO KNOW:

• Fans operate on the principle of centrifugal pumps.

• Their impeller blades are curved forward, this would lead to instability in
pumps, but not in fan.
• Clearances are large and discharge heads are low, from 5 to 60 in. water.
• Sometimes, as the ventilating fans, nearly all the added energy is converted
to velocity energy and almost none to pressure head.
IMPELLERS:

• It is the rotating part of fan which is used to create movement in a fluid by

rotation.
• Fans have a set of blades and this hub is known as impellers.
• The impellers are mounted inside light steel casings.
CENTRIFUGAL FANS:
Large fans are usually centrifugal.
Centrifugal fans are constant displacement
devices
BLOWERS:

• Blowers are turbo machines which deliver air at a desired high velocity but at
a desired high velocity but at relatively low static pressure and more than that
of a fan.
• Blowers are relatively high speed rotating devices of order 1000mm of water
gauge and 2 atm.
CONDITIONS:

• When the pressure on a compressible fluid is increased adiatically the

temperature of the fluid also increases.
• Work done is easier in isothermal than in adiabatic since pressure and
temperature are directly proportional.
• Excessive temperatures leads to problems with lubricants, stuffing boxes and
materials of construction.
BASIC PARAMETER:
𝑇𝑎 𝑃𝑏
=
𝑇𝑏 𝑃𝑎
Where Ta, Tb = inlet and outlet absolute temperatures, respectively
Pa, Pb = corresponding inlet and outlet pressures
𝐶𝑝
𝛾 = ratio of specific heats
𝐶𝑣
This ratio is a basic parameter in the engineering of blowers.
TYPES OF BLOWER:

There are two major types of blowers discussed:

• Positive displacement blowers
• Centrifugal blowers
POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT BLOWERS:
• It is also called roots type blower.
• These machines operate as gear pumps with a special
design of the “teeth”.
• The relative position by heavy external gears.
• A single stage blower can discharge gas at 0.4 to atm
gauge, a two- stage blower at 2 atm.
• The blower has 2 lobes shown in this figure. Three-lobe
are also very often used.
WORKING PRINCIPLE:

• The basic principle is based on a set of two symmetrical rotors rotating in

opposite directions.
• By means of the rotors rotating motion the inlet air volume is expanded.
While one of the lobe sweep past the inlet port, one part of the air is
captured, compressed and expelled through the outlet port.
• Root blower operates by pumping a fluid with a pair of meshing lobes.
• Fluid is trapped in pockets surrounding the lobes and carried from the
intake side to the exhaust.
I
N
L
E
T IIMPELLER
APPLICATIONS:

• These blowers are widely used for air compressor applications and are
typically used for such application where the volume of air moved is large
compared to its pressure.
• The Industrial applications are water/sewage treatment plants, Central
vacuum cleaning system, Water treatment plants, Air drying .
CENTRIFUGAL BLOWER:

• A centrifugal blower is a mechanical device which is

used for circulating air or other gases at a pressure
of 1.5 to 2.75 bars.
• It resembles a centrifugal pump in appearance.
• The operating speed is high – 3,600 r/min or more.
• The velocity appearing in a centrifugal blower is 10
times those in a centrifugal pump.
WORKING PRINCIPLE:

• The working principle of a centrifugal blower is air compression under the

action of centrifugal force.
• Blower has a high-speed rotating rotor and the rotor blade drives the air at
high speed, the centrifugal force moves the air with casing of the involute
shape along the involute flow wind turbine exports.
APPLICATIONS:

• Cooling electrical equipment

• Food processing
• Conveying materials in dust collector systems.
• Circulating air in ovens and dryers.
• Combustion air for burners.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FANS AND
BLOWERS:

FANS BLOWERS
• A fan circulates air around an • A blower circulates the air only on
entire room, or space. the specific or pointed area.
• It is used at less pressure to • It is used at high pressure to
produce large amount if gas. produce large amounts of gas.
• It consists of a motor and blades, • It consists of a fan, outer cover,
which run of electricity. inlet and outlet.
FULL BORE METERS:
There are wide types of full bore meters used in every day life:

• Venturi meters • Vortex – shedding meters.

• Orifice meters • Turbine meters.
• V-element meters • Positive – displacement meters.
• Rotameters • magnetic, ultrasonic meters.
• Target meters • Coriolis meters.
VENTURI METER:
DEFINITION & MAIN PARTS:

• Venturi meter is a device used for measuring the rate of flow of a fluid
flowing through a pipe.
It consists of three parts:
Converging part
Throat
Diverging part
DESCRIPTION:

• A short conical inlet section leads to a throat section, then to a long

discharge cone.
• Pressure taps at the start of the inlet section and at the throat are connected
to a manometer .
• In the upstream cone the fluid velocity is increased and its pressure
decreased.
WORKING PRINCIPLE:

• Venturi meter works on the principle of Bernoulli’s equation and continuity

equation.
• By Bernoulli’s statement, the total energy at any point of an incompressible
fluid is constant.
• The difference in pressure calculates the rate of flow through venturimeter.
DERIVATION:
• Let d1, p1, v1 & a1 are the diameter at the inlet, pressure at the inlet, velocity
at the inlet and area at the cross section 1.
• And d2, p2,v2 and a2 are the corresponding values at section 2.
• Applying Bernoulli’s equation at section 1 and 2.
APPLICATIONS:

• Venturi meter is used in a wide variety of applications that includes gas,

liquids, slurries, suspended oils and other processes.
• It is widely used in large diameter pipes such as waste treatment process.
• It is also used to measure fluid velocity.
ORIFICE METER:

• An orifice meter is a device used for measuring flow

rate for reducing pressure or for restricting flow.
• Either volumetric or mass flow rate is calculated
depending upon calculation associated with it.
• More power consumption takes place in orifice
meter and pressure loss is high.
WORKING PRINCIPLE:

• The working principle of orifice meter is Bernoulli’s principle. It states that

there is a relationship between pressure and velocity of a fluid.
• When velocity increases, pressure decreases and vice versa
• One important complication is due to sharpness of orifice plate and forms a
free flowing jet in the down stream fluid.
• Vena contracta forms (point at which diameter is least and velocity is
maximum)
Description:
• An orifice plate is a thin plate with a hole in it, which is usually placed in a
pipe.
• Here an enough straight pipe is used for upstream and downstream
otherwise velocity may change
• Pressure taps one above and below the orifice plate are installed and are
connected to manometer .
FORMULA:

𝑐 2(𝑥−𝑦)
𝑢=
1−𝛽4 𝜌

Where u is velocity through orifice

𝛽 is the ratio of orifice diameter to pipe
diameter.
x,y are the pressures at a and b.
 Applications:
• These are most commonly used to measure flow rates in pipe when the fluid
is single phase, well mixed.
• Orifice meters are also used to restrict flow or reduce pressure in that case
they are often called as restriction plates.
• Even compressible flow of gases can be measured using orifice plates.
Rotameter :
• A rotameter is a device that measures the volumetric flow rate of a fluid in a
closed tube.
• Belongs to the class of meters called variable area meters.
• It is a device in which the pressure drop is constant and the
area through which the fluid flows varies with flow rate
Description:
• It consists of a freely suspended float which acts as a indicating element and
at greater flow rate the float rides in the tube.
• Since in a metal tube the float is invisible so a transmitting
meter reading is provided.
• This is accomplished by attaching a rod called an extension
• It is used for both liquid and glass flow measurements.
TARGET METER:

• Target meters sense and measure forces caused by liquids impacting on a

target or disc suspended in the liquid stream.
• A direct indication of liquid flow rate is achieved by
measuring the forces exerted on the target.
• These are inexpensive and rugged, can be used for
an variety of fluids even viscous liquids and slurries.
• The flow rate is proportional to square of the force and that
of fluid density
VORTEX- SHEDDING METER:

• A vortex flow meter is a flow measuring device best suited for flow
measurements where the introduction of moving
parts presents problems.
• They operate under the vortex shedding principle where
an oscillating vortex occur when fluid such as water
flow past a bluff which is a target
(Bluff- An body which when kept in fluid flow
fluid does not touch whole boundary of object)
POINTS TO KNOW:

• When flow is turbulent wakes are created.

• Sensor close to bluff body measure pressure fluctuations thereby volumetric
flow is determined.
• These are used for many types of fluids including high temperature gas and
steam.
TURBINE METERS:

• A turbine flow meter is a liquid or gas velocity measurement device. It

contains a free spinning turbine rotor that rotates at speed proportional
to flow velocity.
• They are exceptionally accurate when used properly
but their maintenance cost is high.
Positive displacement meters:
• It is a type of flow meter which requires fluid to mechanically displace
components in the meter for flow measurement.
• They are highly accurate and applicable to clean gases and liquids.
• More expensive.
V-ELEMENT METERS
• In these meters flow is restricted by V- shaped indentation in the side of pipe
or by a metal wedge inserted in the pipe.
• They are relatively expensive but accuracy is high.
• The flow coefficient is 0.8.
• They can measure flow rate of liquids containing
impurities or condensate.
INSERTION METERS:

• An insertion meter is defined as a meter a strategic pointer that measures

flow at the pipe a strategic point in a pipe, then uses that measurement to
determine the average flow through the pipe.
• Insertion meters measure the flow rate or fluid velocity at one point only.
TYPES:

There is a wide classification in the insertion meters.

• Pitot tube
• Thermal meters
PITOT TUBE:

• A pitot tube also known as Pitot probe, is a pressure measurement

instrument used to measure fluid flow velocity.
• It consists of a tube pointing directly into the fluid flow.
• A pressure can be measured and the moving fluid is brought
to rest as there is no outlet to allow flow to continue.
• This pressure is called stagnation pressure.
• It is measured by Bernoulli’s equation.
APPLICATIONS:

• It is widely used to determine the airspeed of an aircraft, water speed of a

boat.
• The pitot tube is used to measure the local velocity
at a given point in the flow stream but not the average
flow velocity in the pipe or conduit.
THERMAL METERS:

• Thermal mass flow meters, also known as thermal dispersion or immersible

mass flow meters for measurement of total mass flow rate of a fluid.
• These meters measure the flow directly by measuring the temperature rise in
the fluid as it pass over a heating element
DESCRIPTION:

• It consists of an electrically heated stainless steel tube adjacent to a similar

tubes, tube containing a resistance thermometer, and a separate unheated
tube also adjacent to a tube with a matched resistance thermometer.
• Gas passes transversely through the tubes, and the one next to the heating
element becomes hotter than the other tubes.
• The temperature difference is inversely proportional to mass flow rate of the
gas.
APPLICATIONS:

• It is used for measuring cooling water in the nuclear, oil refinery,

petrochemical industries.
• It measures the lowest of flow rates with very negligible pressure drop to
your application.
Dinakar- (2643)
Priya- (2641)
Divya- (2647)
Abdul- (2606)