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Flow Measurement with Orifice Plates

Dwyer Instruments offers many types of flow measuring products including orifice plates, which are used as a flow sensing element with a differential pressure monitor.

Orifice Plates

Orifice plates are a primary flow element, detecting the flow of a fluid passing through the plate by sensing the pressure drop across the plate. When a fluid flows through a restriction in a pipe, it creates a pressure difference between upstream and downstream of the restriction. This pressure difference is proportional to flow rate according to Bernoulli’s principal, similar to a Pitot tube.  Orifice plates are commonly used as they are simple to use, low cost, work with gases or liquids, and require low maintenance.  Adversely, they do have large pressure losses with about 50% of the pressure drop not recoverable.  Continue reading “Flow Measurement with Orifice Plates”

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How Electromagnetic Flowmeters Work

Electromagnetic flowmeters, also known as magnetic flowmeters or magmeters, use Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction to determine the flow of liquid in a pipe. In an electromagnetic flowmeter, a magnetic field is generated and channeled into the liquid flowing through the pipe. Following Faraday’s Law, flow of a conductive liquid through the magnetic field will cause a voltage signal to be sensed by electrodes located on the flow tube walls. When the fluid moves faster, more voltage is generated. Faraday’s Law states that the voltage generated is proportional to the movement of the flowing liquid. The electronic transmitter processes the voltage signal to determine liquid flow.

In contrast with many other flowmeter technologies, electromagnetic flowmeter technology produces signals that are linear with flow. As such, the turndown associated with magnetic flowmeters can approach 20:1 or better without sacrificing accuracy. Continue reading “How Electromagnetic Flowmeters Work”

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Discover an Easier Way to Water Balance with the Series 490W

Wireless Hydronic Differential Pressure Manometer, Series 490W

Earlier this year, Dwyer Instruments released its new look and updated features for the wireless hydronic differential pressure manometer, Series 490W. This product is used for applications including: refrigerant pressure testing, hydronic valve balancing, measuring pressure drop across pumps, and measuring pressure drop across chiller and coils for freeze protection.

The original Series 490W hydronic balancing kit was recognized in 2018 at the AHR Expo Innovation Awards as the winner of the Tools and Instruments product category. Prior to this win, the 490W was also recognized as a Silver Award Winner in the Electronic and Hand Tools product category of the Dealer Design Awards Program sponsored by The Air Conditioning Heating & Refrigeration News magazine (ACHR News). Continue reading “Discover an Easier Way to Water Balance with the Series 490W”

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Understanding Air Velocity Sensors

Dwyer Instruments offers a multitude of sensors for monitoring air velocity in HVAC systems. Some of this instrumentation has a simple construction (Pitot tubes, for example) while others are more complex, such as hot-wire anemometers.

The initial term and first “hot-wire anemometer” was developed back in 1914 by Louie Vesso King. He is also accredited for King’s Law, which mathematically describes heat transfer in air flows using a heated wire. As the air moves over the wire, it causes a loss of temperature in the wire and removes some of the wire’s heat energy. Continue reading “Understanding Air Velocity Sensors”

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How Ultrasonic Flowmeters Work

animation of flow moving through ultrasonic flowmeter

animation of flow moving through ultrasonic flowmeterUltrasonic flowmeters use sound waves to determine the velocity of a fluid flowing in a pipe. At no flow conditions, the frequencies of an ultrasonic wave transmitted into a pipe and its reflections from the fluid are the same. Under flowing conditions, the frequency of the reflected wave is different due to the Doppler effect. When the fluid moves faster, the frequency shift increases linearly. The transmitter processes signals from the transmitted wave and its reflections to determine the flow rate. Continue reading “How Ultrasonic Flowmeters Work”