How do you Measure Steam Flow?
Steam flow measurement methods include direct mass flowmeters and derivative mass flowmeters. Derivation mass flowmeters include throttling differential pressure flowmeters and vortex flowmeters. Differential pressure flowmeters calculate flow by measuring the pressure difference when steam flows through the pipeline. Vortex flowmeters calculate flow by measuring flow velocity. Other steam flow measurement instruments include thermal flowmeters, electromagnetic flowmeters and mass flowmeters.
What is a Steam Flow Meter?
Steam flow meter is an instrument used to measure steam flow. It is often used in industrial production. It can monitor and control steam flow in real time to ensure the stability and safety of the production process. Its measurement principle is based on heat conduction and mass conservation. Categories of steam flow meters: differential pressure steam flow meter, vortex steam flow meter.
Why do We Need to Use a Steam Flow Totalizer with Temperature and Pressure Compensation for Steam Flow Measurement?
The density of saturated steam is highly correlated with the pressure and temperature of the steam. The same volume of steam has a large difference in mass due to different pressures. For example, when P=6 kg, ρ=3.111 kg/m3 of saturated steam, and ρ=3.6 kg/m3 when P=7 kg. The same volume has a mass difference of 14%.
The flow integrator with temperature and pressure compensation always calculates the steam density accurately by the table lookup method according to the changes in steam temperature and pressure. If a flow integrator without temperature and pressure compensation is selected. The flow integrator can only calculate the steam density according to the data provided by the user. In this case, there will be errors.
For measuring saturated steam flow, Sino-Inst recommends that customers use a vortex flowmeter. Because the vortex flowmeter is a velocity flowmeter, the measurement result is the volume flow rate of steam. In actual work, people are accustomed to expressing the flow rate of steam in mass units. It is generally said that several tons or kilograms flow in one hour. Volume is converted to mass flow (mass flow = medium density × volume flow). The most critical value in the middle is the medium density. The density of saturated steam is linearly related to the pressure. The accuracy of steam density directly affects the result of mass flow conversion.
If you use a flow integrator with temperature and pressure compensation for steam measurement. The chip inside the instrument can automatically identify the pressure of the steam in the current pipeline. The flow integrator automatically transmits the corresponding density to the flow integrator for steam mass conversion. In addition to the basic error of the instrument. The instantaneous flow displayed by the flow integrator is the actual flow of steam in the pipeline.
