3D Isosceles Triangular Ultrasonic Path of Transit-Time Ultrasonic Flowmeter: Theoretical Design and CFD Simulations

Increasing the coverage rate of ultrasonic path to flow field is helpful to improve measurement results' accuracy of transit-time ultrasonic flowmeters while asymmetric flow or turbulence exists. In this paper, a 3D isosceles triangular ultrasonic path is presented considering the width of the ultrasonic signal and the maximum coverage rate of the ultrasonic path to flow field. To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the path proposed, computational fluid dynamics simulations of three pipeline configurations, including straight pipeline, single elbow, and contracted pipeline upstream ultrasonic flowmeter 3Dpipe(diameter of pipeline, Dpipe), 5Dpipe, or 8Dpipelong are performed. In particular, inlet velocity of flow ranges from 0.1 to 10 m/s. Meanwhile, control simulation of U-type ultrasonic path is discussed to verify the effect of coverage rate of ultrasonic path to flow field on measurement results. It is shown that the proposed 3D isosceles triangular ultrasonic path, whose coverage rate is 54%, does well in improving the stability and accuracy of measurement results while pipeline configuration upstream flowmeter changes.