Development of a multifunctional ultrasonic flow meter for application in hydraulics
Research Task/Objectives
Ultrasonic flow meters show the potential to measure not only the flow rate with high temporal resolution but have the ability to measure the entrained free air of the fluid too. This leads to a multifunctional use of these measuring devices in hydraulic applications. With the high temporal resolution they have the ability for condition monitoring of pumps by monitoring their pressure fluctuation. But also hydraulic power monitoring gets possible with high accuracy, if the flow meter was combined with pressure and temperature sensors.
To fulfill these requirements, the characteristics of the flow meters have to be proved
experimentally with high accuracy.
Approach/Results
To assure the designated functionality in practical use with a robust sensors for harsh environment, extensive experimental investigation are conducted. Therefore the mass flow and all other essential parameters have to be measured with high precision. Further on the influence of free air and dirt-particles on the characteristics of the ultrasonic flow meter will be controlled and measured. Experiments will cover the steady and highly unsteady mass flow to prove the accuracy with high temporal resolution. All parameters which can’t be evaluated experimentally will be obtained from numerical simulation (CFD) which has to be validated by the experiment.
Qualification of the ultrasonic multifunctional flow meter is done by CFD-supported experiments
The presented research activities are part of the project “Development of a multifunctional ultrasonic flow meter for application in hydraulics with a time resolution of 1 ms” (Ref. No. ZF4163905RE6), which was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy within the ZIM programme.