Which Flowmeter to Choose for Vane Pump Operations?

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But in practical terms, the main question Blackmer’s technicians wanted to answer was: do these advantages still stack up when a Coriolis flowmeter is used in conjunction with the company’s sliding-vane pumps? To see how they perform, the company ran tests using Coriolis meters from two different manufacturers, with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and solvent.

The full details of the test methods and results can be found in Blackmer’s white paper. However, in broad terms, it was found that the advantages mentioned above for Coriolis meters are replicated when used with sliding-vane pumps.

Test Results

Both flowmeters used in the tests were equipped with software to damp pressure pulses. In practice, however, this feature was found not to be necessary, so it was deactivated. The tests gave unexpectedly smooth flow readings — much more so than with any PD meters that had been used previously. The greatest fluctuation recorded was some ±0.3 gpm on flows up to 300 gpm.

One significant aspect is that mass flowmeters are much quieter in operation than PD meters. This was especially noticeable with the meter on the LPG system. When the meters are powered and not filled with liquid, they do emit a high-pitched hum. This humming can be eliminated by keeping the meters filled with liquid or by de-energizing the meters. In op-eration, the lack of moving parts — in the conventional sense — means that the Coriolis meters do not vibrate at frequencies that will resonate with the associated piping. This is in contrast to the behavior of PD meters.

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Coriolis Flowmeters

Which Flowmeter to Choose for Vane Pump Operations?

Test Results