Effect of upstream velocity profile and integral flow straighteners on turbine flowmeters

One of the most important factors determining the shape of the calibration curve for a given turbine meter is the change in the upstream velocity distribution with flowrate. A theoretical model is evolved which can be used to predict the effects of velocity profile, viscosity and swirl on the calibration curve. It has also been used to explain the calibration curve of a commercial meter having a geometry very different from that for which the theory was developed. The effect of different types of integral flow straighteners on turbine meters is also investigated and found to depend on both the number of vanes and their length. A correlation is suggested for radial-vaned flow-straighteners