Research on Internal Flow and Performance of Swirlmeter with Different Swirler Cone Angle

Abstract

The performance of a swirlmeter (or vortex precession flowmeter) was numerically and experimentally evaluated. With methods from computational fluid dynamics, the flow fields of the swirlmeter were analyzed, revealing their flow characteristics. To obtain detailed flow information with the Re-Normalization Group k –  ε turbulence model and SIMPLE arithmetic, which couples pressure and velocity, the three-dimensional unsteady incompressible flow of a swirlmeter was numerically simulated. By varying the cone angle of the swirler, the performance of the swirlmeter was analyzed. The results show that the pressure fluctuation frequency inside has a linear response to flow rate, and the swirlmeter achieves high accuracy over a large measurement range. The pressure fluctuation near the region between throat and diffusor was stronger than other regions offering then an ideal location to mount the piezoelectric sensors. Different swirler cone angles were shown to influence both pressure drop and fluctuation; smaller cone angles produced higher frequency fluctuations but larger pressure loss.