Ultrasonic water measurement in irrigation pipelines with disturbed flow

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TR Number
Date
2001
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
Abstract

Ultrasonicflow meter accuracy was investigated over a range of flow conditions (3 pipe materials, 2 pipe sizes, 4 Reynolds numbers, 7 flow-disturbing devices) commonly found in irrigation systems. Flow rate measurements were taken at five locations downstream from a flow disturbance. The measurement accuracy was within +/-5% of actual flow at a minimum of 10 pipe diameters downstream from the flow disturbances. Errors as high as 36.5% occurred when measurements were taken close to some flow disturbances. A multiplier was developed to correct for directional bias for devices that fell into the Group I category (single elbow, two elbows, check valve, and 50% open butterfly valve with vertical and horizontal orientation). Applying the multiplier at 4.5 pipe diameters and higher resulted in accuracies within +/-4% of actual flow. The regression analysis performed on Group I devices showed that the USFM performance was not significantly different for the three pipe materials, two pipe diameters, and four flow rates.

Description
Keywords
Ultrasonic measurement system, Water measurement, Irrigation pipeline, Metering, Agricultural engineering
Citation
Johnson, A. L.; Benham, B. L.; Eisenhauer, D. E.; Hotchkiss, R. H., " Ultrasonic water measurement in irrigation pipelines with disturbed flow," Transactions of the ASAE. Vol. 44(4): 899-910. (doi: 10.13031/2013.6254) @2001