Demanding role for ultrasonic flowmeter
September 1st 2007

When engineers at British Nuclear Group were faced with a difficult flow measurement application, the problem was solved by a clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeter and expertise from Katronic Technologies.

Chris Fairclough, senior technical adviser with British Nuclear Group, explains "We have a series of systems on our test rig that require calibration. We needed to be sure what flow we were running at and certain areas do not contain a flow meter." The challenge was finding a device that would cope with the varying measurement conditions found on rigs.

A portable ultrasonic flowmeter was considered the best solution. It avoided the need to make any pipe modifications and could be moved easily to different locations.

As the device would be used to measure the nitric acid flow through an air sparged pipe and the recycled flow through the rig, the clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeter means there is no risk of either personnel or plant being exposed to the hazardous chemicals.

A key feature of the KATflow flowmeter is its ability to measure in both Transit Time and Doppler mode. Chris Fairclough and his colleagues were aware that in some locations on the system the flow condition was not conducive to standard transit time measurement and, therefore, the flowmeter from Katronic provided an appropriate solution.

Fairclough says "The flowmeter allows us to validate commissioning data in a wide variety of locations, where measurements are only required for a short period of time, and to calibrate the system without the need for a permanent meter.

These are necessary sometimes, but a portable meter saves time and money." He says that the flowmeter has performed well, is easy to use, durable and accurate. He has also been impressed by the quick, friendly and efficient service provided by Katronic.

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