Refining Plant

Vortex Flow Measurement

Uniquely designed for easy installation, reduced maintenance and superior reliability in gas, liquid and steam flows.

Advantages of Vortex Technology

Vortex flow meters offer many advantages for flow measurement including easy installation without impulse lines, no moving parts to maintain or repair, less leak potential and a wide flow turndown range. Vortex meters also offer very low power consumption, allowing for use in remote areas.

Additionally, Vortex meters are unique in that they can accommodate liquids, gasses, steam and corrosive applications. Vortex flow meters are also able to withstand high process pressures and temperatures.

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How It Works

Von Kármán Effect

Vortex flow meters measure fluid velocity using a principle of operation referred to as the von Kármán effect, which states that when flow passes by a bluff body, a repeating pattern of swirling vortices is generated.

 

In a Vortex flow meter, an obstruction in the flow path, often referred to as a shedder bar, serves as the bluff body. The shedder bar causes process fluid to separate and form areas of alternating differential pressure known as vortices around the back side of the shedder bar.

Flow Measurement

The vortices cause a small sensing element either behind or within the shedder bar to oscillate back and forth at a specific frequency. The velocity of the working fluid is directly proportional to this frequency of the vortices generated by the shedder bar’s unique geometry. With the known cross sectional area of the pipe, volumetric flow can be calculated.

 

Often Vortex flow meters will also utilize a pressure and/or temperature sensor to achieve a compensated mass flow measurement.

Common Uses

Vortex flow meters are well suited for a variety of applications across a wide range of industries including oil and gas, refining, chemical and petrochemical, and food and beverage. Vortex flow meters also excel in steam-related applications including steam injection and steam measurement for district energy systems and industrial plants.

Safety

For safety-related measurement in SIS applications, dual and quad Vortex flow meters with redundant, independent sensors and electronics are critical for the prevention of common modes of failure and spurious shutdowns. The non-clog, leak-free Vortex flow meter design is ideal in hazardous chemical applications, especially where fugitive emissions are a concern.

MultiVariable Vortex Flow Meters

Overview

The Rosemount™ 8800 MultiVariable Vortex Meter automatically adjusts for changes in density, making it easy to accurately measure mass and corrected volume in steam and liquid applications. With safety and reliability being at the pinnacle of our proprietary design, the all-cast, gasket- free, sealed meter body eliminates leak points to keep your operations up and running. No moving parts or need to install impulse lines means fewer process upsets and smoother operations for your plant.

Compensated Mass Flow

The Rosemount 8800 MultiVariable Flow Meter measures the volumetric flow rate and calculates the density of steam or liquid from process temperature and/or pressure to provide a compensated mass flow. Steam and water density calculations use ASME Steam Tables and IAPWS IF-97 standards.

Integrated Temperature Sensor

The integrated, removable temperature sensor is isolated from the process and separate from the Vortex flow sensor.  

Not only does the shedder bar serve as an obstruction in the flow path, it also serves as the thermowell for the integrated temperature sensor. This eliminates the need for a separate temperature measurement point. The temperature sensor provides reliable temperature measurement with excellent vibration immunity and wide temperature measurement range.

Pressure Compensation

The 8800 MultiVariable Vortex can provide a pressure compensated saturated or superheated mass flow measurement by receiving a pressure measurement from a HART pressure device. The 8800 MultiVariable Vortex paired with the industry-leading Rosemount 3051S Pressure Transmitter delivers a highly accurate steam mass flow reading. 

Steam Measurement

Steam applications are known for their relentless demands and inherent safety risks. The sealed all-cast, gasket-free design of the Rosemount MultiVariable Vortex (right) eliminates leaks, reducing steam safety concerns and maintenance issues experienced using traditional vortex technologies (left) that can cause leaking and plugging. Pressure and Temperature compensation capability provides accurate and reliable calculated mass flow measurement for saturated and superheated steam applications.

Superheat Diagnostics

Detect superheat steam degradation to protect your equipment from wear and tear and get insights into your superheat steam application. A custom alarm level can be set based on your process requirements to alert you when the temperature of your superheat steam (green line) has degraded to a specified temperature (yellow line) above the saturation temperature (blue line). 

Liquids

Temperature compensated liquids allow for precision measurement of high temperature liquids by correcting the liquid density as the process temperature changes. Select from water or enter up to five temperature and density pairs to accommodate any liquid type.

Micro Motion Density and Viscosity

Automation Experts Blog

Read our blog to learn about flow solutions for your most demanding process applications.

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