n t

d I
e Like Coriolis
B

Understand the basics of Coriolis

flowmeter design.Dual curved-tube
and single straight-tube meters offer
different advantages
by Chuck Stack

A
discovery made by Gaspar Gus- spawned a whole new family of accu- In process plants, mass is a vital meas-
tav de Coriolis (1792-1843) in rate meters. urement—the basis of all chemical
1835 made possible the develop- reactions, mass and energy balances,
ment of the highly accurate dual First, the weather report and almost all process flow operations.
curved-tube Coriolis flowmeter, and the Most people are familiar with the Cori- Before the availability of Coriolis
more compact single straight-tube olis effect on weather patterns. Because meters, mass was measured by weigh-
meter. of the jet streams, the clouds tend to ing liquids on a scale. This can be
It was Napoleon who asked de Cori- move east and west across the planet. appropriate for batch process opera-
olis to explain why his cannon balls However, the rotation of the planet tions, but not for continuous
never went straight. History doesn’t tell creates the Coriolis effect, which processes. There, methods such as ori-
us whether he ever gave Napoleon a deflects clouds as they move, causing fice plates and magnetic flow tubes
good explanation - that phenomenon is them to spin or rotate. That cloud rota- measured only volumetric flow and
caused by an entirely different effect - tion causes the planet’s storms. required temperature and pressure
but de Coriolis’ research led to his dis- Applied to instrument design, Cori- corrections and calculations using
covery of the Coriolis effect. A century olis flowmeters can measure mass flow additional instruments to convert
or so later, Coriolis technology directly, as well as volume and density. readings to mass.

Figure 1. Coriolis Forces in Action

Outlet
Support Support
Twist Axis Outlet
Axis Outlet Side Axis
Inlet Outlet Side
Inlet Curved Tube,
Inlet Side No Flow
Response to Flow Inlet Side
Fluid Reacitve
Inlet Side Outlet Side
Force (Outlet)

Fluid Reacitve
Force (Inlet)

In a dual-tube Coriolis meter, the two vibrating tubes rotate around the fixed end points. When fluid is flowing, reactive force on the inlet side is opposed to the
motion of the tube, twisting it ever so slightly. The amount of twist is proportional to the mass flow rate.
 FLUID FLOW

A volumetric flowmeter is affected

by changes in the temperature, as well as Dual-Tube vs. Straight-Tube
by pressure, density, viscosity, and the
flow profile of the process fluid. By
comparison, a Coriolis flowmeter pro- TECHNICAL CHALLENGES
vides a direct mass measurement that is Dual curved-tube meter Single straight-tube meter
unaffected by changing process fluid Meter mounting effects Symmetric construction
characteristics. Dual tubes Less mechanical filtering
Mechanical filtering Rigid case
Pipe loads through spacer Asymmetric vibration
Figure 2. Phase Change Finds Flow

Unibracket FLUID DENSITY CHANGES

Flow Tubes Support
Dual curved-tube meter Single straight-tube meter
Coil
Magnet Inherent well-balanced system Imposed balance system
Inlet Side
Outlet (C2)
No changes in tube vibration Changes tube vibration
Side
(C1) Time Mass of tube changes
Sensor or Signals, No flow
M M
Time FLUID TEMPERATURE CHANGES
Sensor or Signals, Response to flow
Dual curved-tube meter Single straight-tube meter
Flow tubes not constrained Flow tubes constrained
To exploit the Coriolis phenomenon, a magnet is attached to No induced thermal stresses Induced thermal stresses
one tube and a pickoff coil is attached to the other tube at the
inlet and the outlet. Under flow conditions as the tubes twist,
the generated sine waves shift apart. The instrument measures USER NEEDS
the twisting, which is directly proportional to the mass flow. Dual curved-tube meter Single straight-tube meter
Superior accuracy Compact
Direct mass measurement Superior repeatability Sanitary
In a dual-tube Coriolis meter, a mani- Superior immunity to field effects Self-draining
fold splits the flow through each of the High turndown Inspectable
two tubes. The full flow always goes High and low flows sizes (1/10 inch to 6 Non-plugging
through the sensor. The two vibrating inch) Low pressure drop
tubes rotate around the two fixed end Optional materials of construction (e.g., Cleanable
points, creating a Coriolis effect when Hastelloy and Inconel) Shear sensitive fluids
mass flows through. Gas applications Surface finish
When there’s no flow, fluid on Custody transfer Secondary containment
both sides of the U-shaped tube is
subject to the same force, so there is
no tw ist (Figure 1). When fluid is
flow ing , it acceler ates (chang ing into the magnetic field and generates Get it straight
direction) on the inlet side and decel- a sine wave propor tional to that The same analogy applies to a single
erates on the outlet side. As a result, motion. Because the coils and mag- straight-tube meter. The tube is
reactive force on the inlet side is nets are referenced to each other (one vibrated along the center of the axis.
opposed to the motion of the tube, element moves with each tube), the Because the tube is fixed at the ends, the
and reactive force on the outlet side sine wave represents the relative vibration creates two rotating reference
operates in the same direction as the velocity and position of the tubes. frames. The rotation of the inlet side is
motion of the tube. The tube is When the waves cross zero, the tubes in the opposite direction of the outlet
tw isted e ver so slig htly by these are momentarily at rest before chang- side, creating the opposing Coriolis
opposing forces. The amount of twist ing direction. forces.
is proportional to the mass flow rate. Under no-flow conditions, the two At the inlet side, the tube is rotating
To exploit the Coriolis phenome- sine waves are in phase, or on top of in one direction, say upward, but the
non, a magnet is attached to one tube each other. Under flow conditions as the fluid is restrained by the wall and the
and a pickoff coil is attached to the tubes twist, these sine waves shift apart. substrate and now it is vibrating up, cre-
other tube at both the inlet and the The instrument measures the twisting, ating a force downward. When the fluid
outlet of both tubes (Figure 2). which is directly proportional to the passes the centerline lengthwise and is
Because of vibration, the coil moves mass flow. rotating in the opposite direction, the
 FLUID FLOW

Figure 3. Single-tube, same technology

A volumetric
flowmeter is Vibrating tube that has 2 axes of rotation, no flow or twist

affected by

3
m m

changes in the Inlet axis of Outlet axis of

F=0
temperature, rotation (RI) rotation (RI)

pressure, density,
Distribution of forces, superimposed cause tube to deform
viscosity and flow
profile of the
process fluid. By F

3
v m
3

comparison, a m
v

Coriolis flowme- F = -2m w x v

ter provides a The resulting force will cause points A and B to be out of phase

direct mass meas- The angle is proportional to mass flow rate

y
urement that is A
B
t
unaffected by
changing
process fluid w A
F
B w
characteristics.
tube wall restricts the rotation, which The Coriolis effect is generated, as it is in the double curved tube, through the rotation of the tube about
creates a force in the opposite direction. fixed ends. The two sine waves on the inlet and the outlet are shown as Point A and Point B. The inlet side
Figure 3 shows an exaggeration of lags the outlet side, which is identical for either straight or curved tubes.
the deflected shape. Here again, there
are two forces proportional to the mass which is relatively immune to environ- more immune to meter-mounting vari-
flow rate. The Coriolis effect is gener- mental changes, takes into account that ations. The two tubes are essentially
ated, as it is in the double curved tube, the Coriolis forces are changing with identical. When they vibrate in opposi-
through the rotation of the tube about fluid density at the appropriate vibra- tion to each other, they are extremely
fixed ends. The two sine waves on the tion levels. well-balanced. All the energy is con-
inlet and the outlet are shown as Point A tained within these two tube sets, and
and Point B in Figure 3. The inlet side Each design has merit nothing is transmitted out to the envi-
lags the outlet side, which is identical for There are similarities between dual, ronment. The tubes are “unaware” of
either straight or curved tubes. curved-tube and single, straight-tube the environment, because everything is
Software allows designers of single meters, but also some significant differ- maintained within the sensing elements
straight-tube meters to ensure the ences. The key differences are how they themselves.
response of the Coriolis signal is not behave to mounting effects, fluid den- The same attributes make the dual
affected by changes in the density or sity changes, and temperature changes. curved-tube meter reliable despite fluid
mounting options. The sensor element, The dual curved-tube meter is much density changes. Because these two
 FLUID FLOW

Software allows inherently balanced. The reference part The most chal-
was designed to maintain that balance,
designers of sin- but it responds to vibration as if no lenging design
vibration leaked out the ends.
gle straight-tube As fluid density changes, it only aspect of single
changes in a single tube, not in the ref-
meters to ensure erence tube. A great deal of research was straight-tube
invested to understand the dynamics
the response of and make these meters stable as fluid meters is
density changes. The design of the refer-
the Coriolis sig- ence tube is vital for stable vibrations dealing with
throughout the entire density range.
nal is not affect- The most challenging design aspect temperature
of single straight-tube meters is dealing
ed by changes in with temperature changes. Its case is changes.
fairly rigid, so it holds pipeline loads. It
the density or also holds the tube very rigidly. A fluid
temperature change will change the materials, if operators are changing the
mounting tube, but the case will not allow it to amounts of materials that they are com-
expand. bining, they might add them at different
options. flow rates. The dual curved-tube meter’s
Best use increased accuracy also gives it a higher
The differences between curved tubes rangeability, from 100 percent of flow to
tubes are identical, when the fluid den- and straight tubes will impact user 2 or 3 percent of flow, with very little
sity changes within them, they respond applications. Every plant or facility has a degradation of the measurement.
identically. variety of needs for applications and In some cases, when operators are just
These tubes extend from the measurement points, which often blending and filling, a mass measurement
pipeline and are relatively free to require significantly different specifica- is required but it doesn’t need to have the
expand. Therefore, as the temperature tions. One example would be a material same accuracy as in the material balance
changes, they grow in length, unre- balance, in which many different situation.
strained, with no stresses or loads gen- streams are combined. The output Despite the dual meter’s superiority,
erated through expansion. A single should be very consistent, but the error some users will want to select the single
measurement compensates for the effect tends to increase as more streams are straight-tube meter. If a volumetric meter
of temperature on the modulus of the added together. In this case, users will is being replaced, there might be a limited
material. want very high accuracy, because the amount of space to install a new meter
In contrast, single straight-tube errors will multiply throughout the between closely spaced pipe flanges. The
meter mounting presents challenges. measurement points. compactness of the straight tube might
The single-tube system was designed to To solve this problem, the user could make it preferable. The straight tube is
be symmetric from inlet to outlet, but choose a dual curved-tube meter also easy to make highly sanitary. CP
during vibration, the flow tube and ref- because of its ability to deliver highly
erence tube don’t vibrate to the same accurate and repeatable measurements. Chuck Stack is director of sensor technology
extent, so the single-tube meter is not When blending or combining different for Micro Motion, Boulder, Colorado.

Reprinted with permission from Chemical Processing, October 2003.

© PUTMAN. All Rights Reserved. On the Web at www.chemicalprocessing.com.

AR-00862