Shipboard, Water and Oil, High Performance Flowmeter Needs in the United States Navy

摘要

The results of a study of present and future Navy shipboard flowmeter needs and applications are presented. Required and desirable performance characteristics are compared with existing Military Specifications, commercially available equipment, and the state of the art. Existing and potential applications are described. Applications described in this report are restricted to water and fuel oils except for a brief discussion of the need for two-phase and steam flowmeters. It is concluded that a universal or general-purpose flowmeter is highly desirable. It should measure mass flow rates with an accuracy of + or - 1 percent over the entire range of flow rates encountered on Navy ships. It should be compatible with all pipe sizes, pipe materials, fluids, temperatures, pressures, and flowstream characteristics. It should be obstructionless, reliable, repeatable, easily calibrated, and easily maintained. Unfortunately, ther is no flowmeter or family of flowmeters available which meet the above requirements. The most likely candidate is an acoustic sensor to measure both flow velocity and fluid density from which mass flow rate could be computed. The most serious unknown is the capability of acoustic techniques involving the transmission of sound through low-density fluids such as steam.