Virginia TechJohnson, A. L.Benham, Brian L.Eisenhauer, D. E.Hotchkiss, R. H.2014-05-302014-05-302001Johnson, 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) @20010001-2351http://hdl.handle.net/10919/48213Ultrasonicflow 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.application/pdfenIn CopyrightUltrasonic measurement systemWater measurementIrrigation pipelineMeteringAgricultural engineeringArticle - Refereedhttp://elibrary.asabe.org/abstract.asp?aid=6254&t=3&dabs=Y&redir=&redirType=https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.6254