Using flow conditioners to improve flow meter performance and reduce piping costs

The process controls industry is required to measure flow more accurately to meet plant operation and cost accounting objectives. Recent studies have shown that the accuracy of many flow meter technologies are adversely affected by flow disturbances of up to forty diameters upstream of the flow meter mounting location. In addition, many flow meter installations are not designed with the flow meter manufacturer's recommended straight run of piping, because plant sizes are being reduced to save costs. This results in poor flow meter performance and unacceptable errors in flow meter accuracy. The opposing concerns of reducing plant size and improving flow meter accuracy is resolved by using flow conditioners to improve flow meter performance in non ideal piping installations. This improvement can be demonstrated through the use of flow visualization (a technique that visually demonstrates flow conditioner performance) and empirical testing of various flow meter technologies with flow conditioners.