Q&A: Advances In Coriolis Flow Meter Technology
By Matt Migliore
Flow Control is offering a free webinar on Nov. 10, presented by Anthony Gentile, a product marketing specialist with Micro Motion. The webinar will cover Coriolis basics – how it works, why it’s chosen, industry applications – plus a few key developments and new capabilities, including improvements in two-phase flow measurement, zero verification, and smart meter verification, which is increasingly being used to extend the time between factory calibrations and meter proving in the field.
REGISTER NOW: Advancements In Coriolis Flow Measurement
The following Q&A previews the upcoming "Advancements in Coriolis Flow Measurement" webinar. We hope you’ll join us!
Anthony Gentile is a product marketing specialist with Emerson Process Management, Micro Motion. He has 10 years’ experience in the area of Coriolis flow measurement and holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Refining from Colorado School of Mines, as well as an MBA from Regis University.
Q: How has Coriolis flow meter technology evolved over the past five to 10 years?
Coriolis flow meter technology has added transmitter electronics that will allow the end-user to gain process insight by capturing flow data with internal memory. The end-user can extract this information easily and use it to increase their process efficiency. In addition, diagnostics that can alert the end-user when something has changed in their process or verify that the meter is within its specification limits are also new features.
Q: To some, the operating principle on which Coriolis flow meter technology is based is somewhat mysterious. How do Coriolis meters generate their flow measurements?
Coriolis mass flow meters use a curved or straight tube as a sensor and apply Newton’s second law of motion to determine the flow rate. An electromagnetic drive coil is located in the center of the tube bend (if the meter is a bent-tube design), and it causes the tubes to vibrate like a tuning fork. There is a pickoff coil located on the inlet and outlet side of the sensor. At no-flow conditions, these pick off coils create voltages that are in phase with each other. When flow is introduced into the sensor, the voltage created by the pickoff coils will be out of phase, and that amount of phase shift is measured as a time difference. This time difference is directly proportional to the mass flow in the sensor.
Coriolis meters can measure online liquid density and temperature as well. We will cover how the meter measures these process variables during the Nov. 10 "Advancements In Coriolis Flow Measurement" webinar.
Q: Why is two-phase flow such a difficult condition for most flow meter technologies to handle?
Two-phase flow is difficult for most flow meter technologies to handle because most flow meters have moving parts, which can be damaged when two-phase flow is present or cause inaccuracies in the flow measurement.
Q: What is zero verification, and why is it an important feature of Micro Motion’s latest generation of Coriolis flow meter technology?
Performing a meter zero in unstable conditions can introduce uncertainties into the measurement. Zero Verification is a diagnostic that is used to determine if the meter requires a new zero by running an algorithm that checks the meters current zero and determines if a new zero is required based on the current process conditions. Zero Verification is an important feature because it takes all of the guesswork out of performing a meter zero.
Q: What are the top three things attendees will learn during the "Advancements in Coriolis Flow meter Technology" webinar on Nov. 10?
The top three things that attendees will learn during the webinar are:
- Coriolis Principle of Operation
- Handling Two-Phase Flow Measurement
- Process Insight and Zero Verification
REGISTER NOW: Advancements In Coriolis Flow Measurement
Matt Migliore is senior editor, content marketing, for the Process Flow Network, including Flow Control, Processing and Water Technology magazines. He has covered technology and industry for 15 years.
