Articles
The Brief History of Flow Meters
by Will S. Flow Meter and Switches
The concept of flow meters and flow measurement
became known to people as early as a thousand years ago, particularly as water
conservancy, farming, and irrigation became important to human civilizations.
Flow meters serve two purposes: the first is
process control and check and the second is for improving product quality which
reduces material costs and increases efficiency. Flow meters are frequently
used in industries such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, home energy, pulp
and building, and metallurgy.
The development and use of flow meters have
changed with time, but their requirement remains the same: precision and
accuracy.
Ancient
Civilizations
In ancient Egypt, people utilized weir rudiments
to assess the flow of the Nile River. This provided an indication of whether
the harvest would be favorable or unfavorable.
In China, around 256 BC, the State of Qin
implemented the Dujiangyan irrigation system as a way to control floods and
provide water conservation. The infrastructure of this irrigation system is
located on the Min River which is the tributary of the Yangtze River. Before
Dujiangyan irrigation system was implemented, water from the Min River would
rush down the Min Mountains and abruptly reach the Chengdu Plain, causing an
abrupt buildup of silt, leaving the area susceptible to flooding. The governor
of the state of Qin and his son headed up the construction of the Dujiangyan
irrigation system. It harnessed the power of the river by way of dividing and
channeling the water instead of relying on the traditional dam building. This
irrigations system is still in use today. It presently irrigates more than
5,300 square kilometers of land in the area.
Modern Times
In the 1700s, modern
flow meters saw more enhanced development. In 1738, Swiss Daniel
implemented differential pressure to judge water flow. Later on, in 1791,
Italian researcher G. B. Venturi conducted studies on the Venturi tube to
measure flow. His results were published later that year.
Much later in 1886, Hershel in the USA devised
the Venturi device to effectively measure water flow in open channels. Parshall
later changed the Venturi flume to a Parshall flume in 1922.
From 1911 to 1912, American Hungarians Tollbar
devised a new theory called the Tollbar vortex. By the 1930s, ultrasonic flow
meters were being utilized to measure liquid air flow velocity, but they did
not achieve good results. In 1955 Maxon created the sound cycling method to
accurately measure flow in aviation fuel.
Due to the limitations of technology and economy
up to and during the 1950s, only Orifice plate flow meters were being used in
all industries, including the rotate flow and pilot tube.
The 1960s saw the creation of instruments that
leaned towards miniaturization and precision. As the 1990s appeared, the demand
for flow meters took an upsurge. It was estimated that in 1989 alone, 15
million flow meters were mounted. Ultrasonic flow meters, in particular, saw
advanced development.
Currently, there are more one hundred types of
flow meters being used in the world. In the USA alone, there are more than 200
companies that produce flow meters.
Some of these are:
- Differential pressure flow meters
- Turbine flow meters
- Ultrasonic flow meters
- Rotary flow meters
- Vortex flow meters
- Positive displacement flow meter
- Thermal flow meter
- Coriolos mass flow meter
As the brief history of flow meters illustrates
above, this is an important technology. They are used in a variety of
industries around the globe and continue to be developed.
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About Will S. 
Flow Meter and Switches
7 connections, 0 recommendations, 38 honor points.Joined APSense since, March 28th, 2018, From Mountain View, United States.
Created on Jun 20th 2019 09:22. Viewed 321 times.
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