Flow Conditioning

VORTAB and Vortab Elbow flow conditioners enhance accuracy for many flow meter technologies

flow meters require a swirl-free repeatable and symmetric velocity profile to operate within stated accuracy specifications. Flow disturbances caused by ball valves, elbows, headers, and blowers for example may adversely affect a flow meter’s accuracy. There are two ways to mitigate flow disturbances. 1. Maintain sufficient straight run upstream of the meter. 2. Utilize VORTAB or Vortab Elbow flow conditioners.

VORTAB and Vortab Elbow flow conditioner’s technology is ideally suited to work in various medias including gas, stream, liquids, slurries, sludges, hydrocarbons, and more. The VORTAB flow conditioner outperforms all other flow conditioning technologies with respect to minimal pressure loss, non-fouling design, and repeatable flow profiles. The following highlights summarize the advantages of using this tab-type technology with various flow metering technologies.

Thermal Dispersion flow meters: Thermal Dispersion designs deliver proven performance and reliability in the harshest gas environments. The typical sensing element contains two thermowell-protected Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTDs). When placed in the process stream, one RTD is heated and the other RTD senses the process temperature. The temperature difference between the two RTDs is related to the process flow rate. Based on line size there may be one or more sensing points in the line. The swirl-free, repeatable velocity profile created by VORTAB and Vortab Elbow Flow Conditioners provide the ideal flow regime for this flow metering technology, which may only sense flow at one point in the line.

Transitional Flow Effects: Vortab Flow Conditioning Eliminates Transitional Flow Effects. Find out how in this article, Transitional Flow Effects on Flow Meter Measuring Accuracy.

Ultrasonic flow meters: Ultrasonic flow meters can be either Doppler effect meters or time of flight meters. Doppler meters measure the frequency shifts caused by liquid flow as a signal is reflected off suspended solids or entrained gas in the fluid. The frequency shift is proportional to the liquid’s velocity. Time of flight meters use the speed of the signal traveling between two transducers that increases or decreases with the direction of transmission and the velocity of the liquid being measured. The swirl-free, flat, and repeatable flow profile created by VORTAB and Vortab Elbow flow conditioners provide the ideal flow regime because the flat velocity profile more closely mimics and is representative of an average flow rate.

Turbine flow meters: Turbine flow meters measure the rate of flow in a pipe or process line via a rotor that spins as the media passes through its blades. The swirl-free flat velocity profile created by VORTAB flow conditioners provides the ideal flow profile for this flow metering technology. VORTAB mitigates rogue vortices from crossing the meter.

Magnetic flow meters: Magnetic flow meters operate on Faraday’s Law of Magnetic Induction. This principle states that a voltage is generated in a conductive medium when it passes through a magnetic field. This voltage is directly proportional to the length of the conductor, the density of the magnetic field, and the velocity of the conductive medium.

Magnetic flow meters generate a magnetic field by passing current through wires that are mounted outside the pipe. They have electrodes that detect the amount of voltage as the conductive fluid passes through this magnetic field. Since this voltage is proportional to flow rate, magnetic flow meters use this value to compute flow rate. Upstream flow disturbances and inadequate straight run adversely affect performance. VORTAB and Vortab Elbow flow conditioners provide the ideal solution,

Pitot Tube flow meters: Pitot tubes consist of two hollow tubes, where one measures impact pressure (velocity head plus potential head) and the other measures static (potential). The swirl-free flat velocity profile created by VORTAB and Vortab Elbow flow conditioners provides the ideal flow regime for this flow metering technology.

Averaging Pitot Tubes: Averaging Pitot Tubes work with multiple Pitot Tube sensors and average multiple sensing points. The swirl-free flat velocity profile created by VORTAB and Vortab Elbow flow conditioners provide the ideal flow regime for this flow metering technology.

Vortex Shedding flow meters: Vortex Shedding flow meters measure the frequency of vortices shed from a bluff body placed in the flow stream where the frequency is proportional to material velocity. The swirl-free flat velocity profile created by VORTAB and Vortab Elbow flow conditioners upstream of the bluff body provides the ideal flow regime for this flow metering technology.